Why Ballers Go Broke: Isn't $100M Enough to Be Set For Life? Apparently, Not For Some!

Browsing my old copies of Bloomberg Businessweek that had been piling up before the holiday break, I came across an interesting article by Paul Wachter entitled "Why Ballers Go Bust" (here's the online version). It centered on a question that I often wondered myself...how much is enough money to set you free...free to do what you want, work on what you want, break out of the hierarchy, tell people to kiss your butt? Well apparently, $100M+ is not enough...it seems that if you don't have what psychologists call self-regulatory capacity and if you don't have experience with the devastating curse of debt, then even hundreds of millions of dollars can't ensure that you will stay out of lawsuits, bankruptcy, and moving back in with your parents. Scottie Pippen earned and lost $120M, Evander Holyfield blew $200M..., and it wasn't just African American athletes who were susceptible. Lenny Dykstra "sold his World Series ring to pay creditors" and Mark Brunell lost millions in the real estate crash. Sports Illustrated puts the number at 60% of NBA players who are in financial problems 5 years after they retire.

It is surprising to me that millions of dollars are not enough to live independently...do you know how much 5% interest on $1M earns annually, and that doesn't even begin to add in the benefit of compounding...but I guess the adage of "it's all relative" and "money can't buy you love" may be true after all!

I dream of retirement, when my time will truly be my own and money will cease to be a concern but maybe the dream is a mirage...but I haven't given up looking for that ideal number of dollars that will buy me my dream day (e.g., wake up, write in my pajamas cup of java in hand, take my kids skiing, skating, traveling, dinner (preferably out) with my husband, sleep), everyday for the rest of my life...

Substance Abuse Treatment Admission Rates Increase Across U.S.

Substance Abuse Treatment Admission Rates Increase Across U.S.

Gene Variant Puts You At Risk for Alzheimer's

MRI scans reveal brain changes in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's

ScienceDaily (2010-12-30) -- People with a known, high risk for Alzheimer's disease develop abnormal brain function even before the appearance of telltale, amyloid plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study. The findings suggest that a gene variant affects brain function long before the brain begins accumulating the amyloid that will eventually lead to dementia. ... > read full article

Sniff Test for Dementia

As hard as it is to tell if you or someone you care about is developing or at risk for developing dementia or Alzheimer's, I always worry if my own absent-minded professor habits like forgetting my train of thought means that I am at risk for eventually developing such a disabling disease. After all, my grandfather and both my grandmothers died from Alzheimer's and my mother is currently battling early onset dementia at the age of 65. Interestingly, there is a simple test that I used on my own mom to test her a year ago when she became worried that she wasn't feeling quite normal.

A sniff test.

It turns out that the beta-amyloid plaques that Will eventually end up destroying brain cells throughout the brain seem to attack the brain areas involved in smell first. So the inability to identify common kitchen smells like coffee, cinnamon, lemon, and menthol (like from chest rub...) may indicate that dementia is likely in the future. This was from a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. My mom didn't do spectacularly well on that test and our neuropsychologist a few months later confirmed with MRI scans what we already suspected. She had Alzheimer's - most likely a particular type called Alzheimer's with Lewy Bodies which has some similarities with Parkinson's disease in that it affects gait, posture and body control. A great paper from Johns Hopkins details more interesting insight on Alzheimer's detection!

I Can Beat That! - Putting A Human Face on Risk Changes Perception

Why do risks with human characteristics make powerful consumers feel lucky?

ScienceDaily (2010-12-23) -- People who feel powerful are more likely to believe they can beat cancer if it's described in human terms, according to new study. ... > read full article

Understanding Impulse Control...Depends on Who You Are

Unlocking the secrets of our compulsions

ScienceDaily (2010-12-20) -- Researchers have shed new light on dopamine's role in the brain's reward system, which could provide insight into impulse control problems associated with addiction and a number of psychiatric disorders. ... > read full article

Amygdala Size Key to How Social You Are

Structure deep within the brain may contribute to a rich, varied social life

ScienceDaily (2010-12-26) -- Scientists have discovered that the amygdala, a small almond shaped structure deep within the temporal lobe, is important to a rich and varied social life among humans. ... > read full article

Instinct in the Brain

Part of brain that suppresses instinct identified

ScienceDaily (2010-12-26) -- New research is revealing which regions in the brain fire up when we suppress an automatic behavior such as the urge to look at other people in an elevator. Researchers showed -- for the first time -- an increase in signal from the left inferior frontal cortex when study participants were confronted by a conflict between an image and a word superimposed on the image. ... > read full article

A Few Key Consumer Trends to Watch for 2011...

An article today in the Globe & Mail Report on Business Section listed some consumer trends to watch in 2011...A few of them I thought were especially interesting:

1. Urbanization: Every day 180,000 people move into cities around the world (I am a life long urbanite who only fantasizes about living off grid in the country)! People who live in cities tend to be more liberal (check), more likely to try out new products (check), and more tolerant (double check).

2. Owner-less society: Sorry Pres. Bush but the ownership society was a lousy, short-sighted idea that has thankfully gone by the wayside. Turns out that more and more consumers are happy to rent and/or share products, real estate, cars. Owning, especially when debt is required, is too onerous and burdensome as many of us have found! It has definitely been a trap for the baby-boomer generation - my parents dreamed of getting a credit card when they were broke and in their 20s and they are suffering under a mountain of consumer debt now that they are retired and in their 60s - me and my husband have previously felt the agony of a mortgage, 4 car leases, student loans, and business loans and have sworn ourselves to a life without debt - renting and sharing is the new way to consume that may finally work well for consumers!

3. Pursue big ideas! I like that! But how do you know your idea is big...I'm still working on that!

Ads Work Better If All Senses Are Involved

Taste Sensation: Ads Work Better If All Senses Are Involved

ScienceDaily (2009-07-22) -- Corporations spend billions of dollars each year on food advertising. For example, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, and McDonald's each spent more than $1 billion in advertising in 2007. A new study suggests those advertisers are missing out if their ads only mention taste and ignore our other senses. ... > read full article

The Taste Gene -- Psychobiologists Find Genetic Component in Children's Food Preference

ScienceDaily () -- In the first study to link taste genes to behavior in children, researchers looked at how natural variations in a recently discovered taste gene affected sensitivity to bitter tastes and food preferences in a group of children and adults. Collecting genetic samples from 143 children and their mothers, the researchers showed moms and kids who had at least one bitter-sensitive region in the gene were generally able to detect even a hint of bitter flavor in a test drink. The same group of children, carrying one or two bitter-sensitive regions of a gene, also preferred higher concentrations of sucrose solutions and had stronger preferences for sweet-tasting food and beverages than did the bitter-insensitive kids.

Liberals and Conservatives Don't See Eyes The Same

Politics and eye movement: Liberals focus their attention on 'gaze cues' much differently than conservatives do

ScienceDaily (2010-12-09) -- It goes without saying that conservatives and liberals don't see the world in the same way. Now, research suggests that is exactly -- and quite literally -- the case. In a new study, researchers measured both liberals' and conservatives' reaction to "gaze cues" -- a person's tendency to shift attention in a direction consistent with another person's eye movements. Liberals responded strongly to the prompts, consistently moving their attention in the direction suggested to them by a face on a computer screen. Conservatives, on the other hand, did not. ... > read full article

Princess Stories: Do girls (and boys) need new tales?

Today Globe and Mail ran a story on Disney's princess franchise, which I was interviewed for. It brought up an interesting dilemma that Disney is facing: how do they continue to exploit the princess myth which my daughter and millions of girls around the world absolutely relish, while keeping up with the changing ethos of girls and women and challenging the criticism that neo-femininists lobe on whether these models should be marketed at all! Having both a son and a daughter I not only question the values promoted in princess stories but also the ones permeating boy coming of age stories too! Is it time for a completely new set of myths and archetypes for new generations of children who need better tools to help them survive in the future. Instead of "the knight in shining armor will save you from evil" how about "self-control over the impulses that can drive bad choices is the key to triumph." Instead of "kill or be killed" how about "avoid being one of the crowd; find what makes you special in what makes you so different and you will go beyond the crowd." The Grimm fairytales were written over 100 years ago...time for new tales to be written?

Aging is More Than Wrinkles...Your Jawline Actually Shifts!

Facial aging is more than skin deep

ScienceDaily (2010-04-19) -- Facelifts and other wrinkle-reducing procedures have long been sought by people wanting to ward off the signs of aging, but new research suggests that it takes more than tightening loose skin to restore a youthful look. A new study indicates that significant changes in facial bones -- particularly the jaw bone -- occur as people age and contribute to an aging appearance. ... > read full article

Torturing Shoppers with Chicken Wire: How Retailers Uses Data to Increase Impulsive Buying

Did you know that the first supermarket was the King Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, TN used chicken wire to herd shoppers through all the aisles in order to be sure that they saw every item in the store. This little tidbit fact I discovered this morning reading my Globe and Mail newspaper. The article written by Michael Kesterton went on to report that stores like Walmart use data collected on consumers via scanner registers, radio frequency tagging, etc. to manipulate the retail environment in order to maximize consumer sales especially impulse purchases. My mother who worked in sales for Estee Lauder for 35 years talked about how they would use flashing lights, blaring music, distracting displays (full of flowers, banners, people, colors, etc.)to bewilder and overstimulate consumers. All of this works in my opinion because of what cognitive resource depletion theory states is our limited ability to resist distraction and temptation and the rampant impulsivity and risky behavior that follows depletion. Ever wonder why you feel sooo exhausted and traumatized when shopping in the monster box stores (especially exacerbated when small kids are in tow)? The previously mentioned large retailer allegedly has a database of behavioral information that is 2nd only to the Pentagon...amazing! People don't need to fear government...large corporations are scarier! The retail experience needs innovation and renovation...the consumer should be helped not harangued!

Addictions 2010 Conference in DC

This weekend I am making the long road trip (I got unceremoniously bumped from Delta flight) down to Arlington, VA for the Addictions 2010 Conference. This conference is focused on bridging research and public policy in treating and diagnosing addiction. To me this is an extremely important issue. The speaker list is great: H.W. Clark, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, R. Morrison, National Association of State Alcohol & Drug Abuse Directors,H. Perl, National Institute of Drug Abuse and many academics doing work in this area! I will probably be the only consumer behavior researcher there...alas! Should be an eye opening weekend!

What Drives Hoarding Consumption? - Is It At Epidemic Levels?!

Every day I receive email alerts of news reports of extreme and dire cases of hoarding behavior. Animal hoarding is one form and maybe one of the more tragic since it impairs and debilitates both the human owner and the animals hoarded. But there are types of products hoarded and the problem is claimed to be at epidemic levels either because the public is only now being made aware of the problem lurking behind many barricaded and seemingly normal doorfronts or because there may be some underlying percipitating factor in modern society that is triggering the compulsive consumption behavior. My belief is that as a comsumer behavior researcher, this is one type of consumer behavior that demands much more research!!

The Biological Basis of Business Behavior

A recent article in the Economist discusses research that combines biology, psychology, endocrinology, and genetics to better understand business behavior such as risk perception, trust, and innovation. A colleague at Ivey, Rod White, for example published a paper with co-authors Stewart Thornhill and Elizabeth Hampson which found that men with higher levels of salival testosterone were more likely to be entrepreneurs. A really important area where this type of research could be applied is ethical behavior (see my recent blog post on the neural differences of psychopaths from the general population and possible links to management behavior), leadership and consumer innovators or trend leaders.

Looking for Experimental Stimuli: Use Images from Wikimedia Commons

I use tons (I mean thousands+) of images and ads as stimuli in my consumer behavior experiments. For the most part I spend a lot of time wading through stacks of old magazines that I collect in my office, ripping out ads and scanning them in for potential manipulation in Photoshop (by my helpful and talented technologist husband!!). This of course takes a lot of time!!

A good colleague of mine at Stanford directed me to a great resource for images that are royalty free at Wikimedia Commons. This is a great place to get an image of a brain, a camera or a smiling face...everything a researcher could want!! Thanks to those who allow their images to be used without the expectation of compensation!!

Image Source: Jal2001, Wikimedia Commons

Consumer Debt Sinking Seniors

I find it ironic that my parents' generation, the one who railed against the "establishment" and scoffed at their parents' frugality and conservatism, are now the ones suffering so terribly under the weight of extreme debt. An article today in USA Today states that older consumers have 50% more debt than younger ones and over 2/3 of older consumers who have filed for bankruptcy say that credit card debt was the major problem. It has been reported that most people file bankruptcy because of medical debt, but I don't think that is entirely true. I think the rampant, largely unregulated marketing of debt products, including credit cards, reverse mortgages (WTF is that good for????), student loans and other completely usesless manipulations of the financial industry have duped the older generation who during their young adulthood didn't spend a lot of time working on their self-control skills (just put the LSD down!). Now the pain of overconsumption is settling in on people who should be in their golden years...how do we help consumers who lack the ability (for whatever reason - e.g., does heavy partying and drug use during your younger years contribute to the inability to control compulsive behavior later in life? A research question for sure!!) to self-regulate and control compulsive behavior?

Image Credit: Lotus Head from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Setting Neurostandards?

The Advertising Research Foundation recently held a conference in NYC on setting standards for testing advertising using neuroscience tools such as fMRI and EEG. Participant research firms included Innerscope, Mindlab International, MSW/LAB, Neurocompass, NeuroInsight, Neurosense, Sands Research, and Sensory Logic. These companies represent a new wave of firms moving into this still controversial field of consumer neuroscience. Hopefully a communication between neuroeconomics researchers and practitioners in this field will result!

Are Some Business Executives Really Psychopaths?

An article today in Globe and Mail discussed how new brain imaging research is revealing more details on what makes some people psychopaths. It's thought that about 1% of the population is psychopathic and that criminals may be suffering from brain disfunction stemming from the disorder. The article also stated that the behaviors that are characteristic of psychopathy - manipulation, cunning, lack of empathy, inability to feel true emotion - may, in its functional form, also be the hallmark of CEOs and business executives. The disorder seems to stem from an abnormal structure of the amygdala - the brain structure responsible for processing fear - and the corpus callosum - which transfer neural information between the brain hemispheres. Interestingly, the corpus callosum is supposed to be more developed in women and those individuals with better social and emotional intelligence. An interesting question is whether these neural abnormalities could predict unethical behavior in business, think financial meltdown, and whether we are teaching and promoting the right set of skills in business schools where young people could be trained to counteract behavioral and cognitive deficiencies.

Transformative Consumer Research Conference June, 2011

The next Transformative Consumer Research conference will be held at Baylor University by my colleagues Brennan Davis and Connie Pechmann. The sessions sounds extremely interesting: Addiction, Risk and Young People, Poverty, Materialism. The crowd at the last TCR conference held at Villanova was an amazing group and the resulting JPPM article and book chapters in a new TCR book made attending well worth it. These are critical issues that consumer behavior researchers need to devote time and energy to understanding if marketing is to change its poor reputation! Consumers are suffering in many ways and research needs to discover the why and how in order to make consumers' lives better! The application deadline for the TCR conference is January 10, 2011.

Using Mturk for Experiments

Dan Goldstein at London Business School recently posted a great piece on using Amazon's Mturk to recruit participants for online experiments! One of the biggest impediments to getting research done is finding subjects to participate in studies...UC Irvine just recently put a limit on how many subjects could be recruited per study per semester...I collected data from 1600 subjects for my dissertation. A limit of 200 subjects really puts the breaks of data collection. If Mturk can offer access to potential participants, with a broader range of demographics (they aren't necessarily college students) for a realtively low cost (pennies per question per subject), then this could be a huge boon to researchers! We will be testing out Mturk in an upcoming study to see how running an experimental design works and whether there is any significant difference from our lab subject pool participants!

Color Processed by the Brain - Color Perception May Be Universally Similar!

Color Perception Is Not In The Eye Of The Beholder: It's In The Brain

ScienceDaily (2005-10-26) -- First-ever images of living human retinas have yielded a surprise about how we perceive our world. Researchers at the University of Rochester have found that the number of color-sensitive cones in the human retina differs dramatically among people -- by up to 40 times -- yet people appear to perceive colors the same way. The findings strongly suggest that our perception of color is controlled much more by our brains than by our eyes. ... > read full article

Virtual fMRI at UPenn

This link has videos so that you can see what being in an fMRI study is like. This is great for acquainting potential subjects to the special conditions in the scanner before your spend valuable time on pre-screening them.

Striatum and the Pleasure of Gains

Monetary gain and high-risk tactics stimulate activity in the brain

ScienceDaily (2009-11-17) -- Monetary gain stimulates activity in the brain, Japanese researchers report. Even the mere possibility of receiving a reward is known to activate an area of the brain called the striatum. ... > read full article

Predicting Behavior Better Than You Do!

Neuroscientists can predict your behavior better than you can

ScienceDaily (2010-06-23) -- In a study with implications for the advertising industry and public health organizations, neuroscientists have shown they can use brain scanning to predict whether people will use sunscreen in the next week better than the people themselves can predict whether they will do so. This is the first persuasion study in neuroscience to predict behavior change. ... > read full article

Loud Music Makes You Drink More? Would it Make You Buy More?

Loud Music Can Make You Drink More, In Less Time, In A Bar

ScienceDaily (2008-07-21) -- Commercial venues are very aware of the effects that the environment -- in this case, music -- can have on in-store traffic flow, sales volumes, product choices and consumer time spent in the immediate vicinity. A study of the effects of music levels on drinking in a bar setting has found that loud music leads to more drinking in less time. ... > read full article

Can Genes Drive Addictive Tendencies?

Can I buy you a drink? Genetics may determine sensitivity to other people's drinking behavior

ScienceDaily (2010-07-23) -- Your friend walks into a bar to meet you for happy hour. He sidles up to the bar and orders a drink -- does that make you more likely to get a drink yourself? According to new findings, genetics may determine the extent to which you are influenced by social drinking cues -- signals such as advertisements, drinks placed on a bar, and seeing other people around you drinking. ... > read full article

OCD doesn't have to result in life filled with anxiety - Baylor College of Medicine

OCD doesn't have to result in life filled with anxiety - Baylor College of Medicine

Smoking Craving Habit Not Addiction?

Smoking mind over smoking matter: Surprising new study shows cigarette cravings result from habit, not addiction

ScienceDaily (2010-07-13) -- The intensity of cravings for cigarettes has more to do with the psychosocial element of smoking than with the physiological effects of nicotine as an addictive chemical, according to a new study by an Israeli scientist. He hopes this research will help clinicians and health authorities develop more successful smoking cessation programs than those utilizing expensive nicotine patches or gum. ... > read full article

Baby's Brains Show Evolutionary Path

Baby brain growth mirrors changes from apes to humans

ScienceDaily (2010-07-13) -- A study undertaken to help scientists concerned with abnormal brain development in premature babies has serendipitously revealed evolution's imprint on the human brain. Scientists found that the human brain regions that grow the most during infancy and childhood are nearly identical to the brain regions with the most changes when human brains are compared to those of apes and monkeys. ... > read full article

A Solution for Treating Alzheimer's? Paro the Robotic Pup!

Photo credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, post-gazette.com

A robotic pet, designed to look like a baby seal and response sensors throughout its body, is being used as a therapeutic tool for Alzheimer's patients...Could this also offer therapy for children with Autism or other learning disabilities? Or help patients with PTSD or depression? Worth doing the research on! I would love to buy one of these for my ailing mom and test out the theory!!

See the videos!

Are Some in Psych Wards Not Really Insane?

This is an amazing case of a young woman who went temporarily insane (I know the feeling) from a brain infection...in this case it was correctly diagnosed and treated. But how many mental illness cases such as those with Alzheimer's (my mom included) could maybe be treated by imaging the brain tissue!! The amazing brain and its power over us!

She went mad for a month

Jan. 15: Susannah Cahalan says she inexplicably lost her mind for a short period of time and has not received a proper diagnosis. TODAY’s Meredith Vieira and NBC’s chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman talk to her about the medical mystery

Two Excellent Books That Discuss the Neural Differences Between Men and Women

Two books I highly recommend look at the academic literature that investigates the biological and neurological differences between men and women...amazing stuff and definitely an area that needs more consumer behavior research!!

Sex On The Brain by Deborah Blum
The Essential Difference: The Truth About the Male and Female Brain by Simon Baron-Cohen

How to Achieve a Goal

Asking 'why' instead of 'how' helps consumers achieve goals of saving money or losing weight

ScienceDaily (2010-05-19) -- People who become focused on how to achieve a goal may have a harder time achieving their aims than people who think abstractly about why they want to do something, according to a new study. ... > read full article

Are Healthy Thinkers also Healthy Shoppers? | Nielsen Wire

Are Healthy Thinkers also Healthy Shoppers? | Nielsen Wire

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The meaning of colors across cultures

This is chart shows how cultures perceive the meaning of colors...
it is interesting to to see where cultures agree on the meaning, for example the color black means evil, and where they diverege. It is argued in the literature that behavioral reactions to colors are learned and reinforced by culture. But the effects of color on behavior is still being debated. Does red make us more cautious, more error prone or more aggressive? Does blue make us more creative, more calm or more risk-seeking? Is our perception of color context specific? This is an area of study that I am currently investigating based on the debated findings of Mehta and Zhu 2009.

Is This Your Brain on Drugs? Imaging Allows A View In...

Researchers develop technique to visualize 'your brain on drugs'

ScienceDaily (2010-04-27) -- Researchers at the US Department of Energy have developed an imaging protocol that allows them to visualize the activity of the brain's reward circuitry in both normal individuals and those addicted to drugs. ... > read full article

From the Well Being List Serve...

Researchers say its official: TGIF, baby!
January 15, 2010 6:00 am

The Los Angeles Times
By: Shari Roan

People are happier and feel better on the weekends, according to new research. Now that may be obvious to you. Indeed, this is the type of study that we at Booster Shots call "one for the duh files." However, on closer examination, the study reveals some interesting observations about leisure time.

For example, everyone is happier on the weekend -- even people who love their jobs and no matter what type of profession one is in or how much one is paid. The study found that people love the freedom associated with weekends and even feel better physically. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that people say they feel more competent during the weekend than they do while at their day-to-day jobs.

Researchers based their findings on responses from 74 volunteers age 18 to 62. Participants monitored their experiences three times daily for 21 consecutive days using simple forms or pagers.

The study reinforces what is known as the "self-determination theory," which means that well-being is based on one's personal needs for autonomy, competence and social relationships. People can tap into those needs more readily on the weekend. Conversely, they may experience time pressures, work demands and unpleasant relationships while at work.

"Far from frivolous, the relatively unfettered time on weekends provides critical opportunities for bonding with others, exploring interests and relaxing -- basic psychological needs that people should be careful not to crowd out with overwork," the lead author of the study, Richard Ryan, from the University of Rochester, said in a news release. The study was published in the January issue of Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

The research reaffirms how important leisure time is to well-being. But, the authors note, it also shows that work really can be a bummer. "These results point to possibilities for improving wellness both through enhancing need satisfactions at work and providing more time for adults that is free from work," the authors wrote.

So, it's true. Down time is really up time. Enjoy your weekend. And if you're working, I'm truly sorry.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

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