Sam McNerney on Muck Rack

Sam McNerney

New York
As seen in: OneZero, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, Fortune, Scientific American, Big Think, PSFK, The Creativity Post
Founder of McNerney Insights & Marketing. Frmly @Publicisna. Bylines @sciam @washingtonpost
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Sam McNerney’s Biography

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Objective

My goal is to use my expertise in behavioral economics to help businesses think smarter about consumer psychology. Writing is my way of making the complex understandable. I am someone who is able to translate patterns in consumer perception and decision making into business opportunity. I believe that small and inexpensive behavioral interventions can have large effects.

Background

I’ve written for Scientific American, Scientific American Mind, Fortune, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Washi…

Articles

The Idea That People are Irrational is Getting in the Way of Better Survey Questions — Sam McNerney | Behavioral Insights & Strategy

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By Sam McNerney
| sammcnerney.com
This week’s survey question: “If your house was robbed and you received insurance money, would you buy new pillows?” Here are three twisted questions from real psychological experiments: Is it okay to have sex with your sibling if it is consensual, birth control is used, and both people enjoy it? Is it okay to cut a piece of human flesh from a dead body, cook it, and eat it?
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How Marketers Became Storytellers Without Ever Telling A Story — Sam McNerney | Behavioral Insights & Strategy

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By Sam McNerney
| sammcnerney.com
This week’s survey question: “What does your favorite book ‘do’ for you?” Years from now, when historians study marketing trends of the early 21st century, they will discover a fad. Within the span of 10 years, from around 2010 to 2020, marketing professionals, data analysis, branding experts, and dozens of other creative and data professionals started using a new word to describe what they do: storytelling. The data will make the trend as clear as day.
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Dear CMO: Tell Your Research Department to Ask Your Customers Deeply Personal Questions — Sam McNerney | Behavioral Insights & Strategy

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By Sam McNerney
| sammcnerney.com
This week’s survey question: “Are you scared of dying?” Advertising works on at least two levels. The first level is functional. Procter and Gamble learns that people need help removing stains from their clothes, so it creates a stronger detergent and an ad campaign to tell people that it exists. The message: you have a problem, we have a product that will solve it. The second level is emotional. Nike sells shoes and shirts and hundreds of other commodities.
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