Dr Zac Posada-Baynham

Head of Behavioural Science @HKStrategies. Learning about humans 🌍. Views evolving.

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

"Flags, poppies and pronouns are recent examples of cues that have organically become group-identity signals

Unfortunately for any company wanting to skip the culture wars, outbreaks are as hard to predict as they are to avoid."

@rorysutherland @DavidPinsof @robkhenderson

[PRWeek UK @prweekuknews]

M&S Xmas controversy points to polarisation challenge for brands #pr #comms @ZPosadaBaynham @HKStrategies https://t.co/APSQLoOMa1

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

@JamesKanag example of @DavidPinsof's 'alliance theory'

"When partisans mobilize support for their political allies, they generate patchwork narratives that appeal to ad-hoc, and often incompatible, moral principles"

https://t.co/oZr7hbFxS0

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

In this year of elections, are political stances good for business?

A clever online experiment from Sauter & Jungblut suggest not.

“Consistent with previous studies... socio-political CEO communication has mainly negative effects.”

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

@rorysutherland Reduces friction? (don't have to bother with tidying/pictures)

Reduces uncertainty? (now only need to worry about where to move, not when?)

[Cass Sunstein @CassSunstein]

A favorite quotation from Danny Kahneman: "Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking about it." (Except Danny.)

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

Bad news: bad news gets shared more

[Rob Henderson @robkhenderson]

Each additional negative word in a headline = 2.3% increase in click-through rate

Most frequent negative words in headlines :

1. Wrong
2. Bad
3. Awful
4. Hate
5. War
6. Worst
7. Sick
8. Fight
9. Scary
10. Hell

https://t.co/fCT1BkzgFF

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

Text to AI video is now out. @OpenAI

Torn between thinking we're all facing extinction (like these mammoths)

or optimistic that life will soon be so cool, these mammoths will be back for real.

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

@DavidPinsof as Sharot, @CassSunstein et al write:

"belief change can then be understood as an economic transaction in which the multidimensional utility of the old belief is compared against that of the new belief"

https://t.co/3EE8ClASln

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

"If mental gymnastics was an Olympic sport, liberal elites would win a clean sweep"

My invite for @wef got lost in the post, so here's my 3 thoughts on trust the talking heads shouldn't miss

Citing @FrancesFrei on trust, @danwilliamsphil on misinfo & @Freddygray31 on Trump

[PRWeek UK @prweekuknews]

What Davos can’t miss about trust #pr #comms https://t.co/VDbXb9WaMj

[richard shotton @rshotton]

Stockholm University study: New Years resolutions are more likely to be stuck to if they involve adopting a behaviour rather than avoiding it

From one of my favourite websites: @BBC_Worklife

[PRWeek UK @prweekuknews]

M&S Xmas controversy points to polarisation challenge for brands #pr #comms https://t.co/APSQLoOMa1

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

and finally...

"This year, there are no protests over pumpkins. No ‘All Guys Matter’.

Yet, the fact we can’t take this for granted is perhaps something we should all remember-remember."

[Dr Zac Posada-Baynham @ZPosadaBaynham]

As @FraserNelson and @JonHaidt discuss

"Social media has only expedited this process by rewarding more polarizing content with more eyeballs."

https://t.co/qUWaVt9qbB

[Rory Sutherland @rorysutherland]

My Wiki Man this week. HT Bernard de Mandeville.

https://t.co/xlW2ZtpUxn

[𝐷𝑖𝑛𝑜.𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠( ) @JustaNormalDino]

On average participants updated their opinion to be #closer to the opinion of the other participant. However, this attraction was stronger when they belonged to the same group.
Also, when exposed to an outgroup participants become more "#stubborn" (they changed less)
[3/7]

[Hannah Ritchie @_HannahRitchie]

@EmberClimate Electric vehicles are growing quickly across the world.

BloombergNEF expects that 1-in-3 vehicles sold globally could be electric by 2026.

In China, more than half.

In Europe, 42%.

[I think it could be even earlier]

https://t.co/wUVSXfie1r

3/