Archive for April 18th, 2013

Gotcha: You probably paid too much … especially if you’re bad at math.

April 18, 2013

Awhile ago, we reported a study that consumers almost invariably pick 33% more stuff than a 33% price discount.

Ouch.

Consumers are notoriously bad at spotting real values. Why?

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According to the Atlantic ….

  • First: Consumers don’t know what the heck anything should cost, so we rely on parts of our brains that aren’t strictly quantitative.
  • Second: Although humans spend in numbered dollars, we make decisions based on clues and half-thinking that amount to innumeracy.

More specifically, here are some more ways consumers end up paying too much …

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Posted in Behavioral analytics, Behavioral Economics, Predictive Analytics | Leave a Comment »

Nums: Do big companies or small companies create more jobs?”

April 18, 2013

Bit of a trick question since the constant refrain is that small companies are the ones that generate job growth.

According to a Business Week analysis of ADP National Employment data …

Since the U.S. economic recovery began in june 2009, big employers have increased employment 7.5%, while small employers have boosted payrolls only 4.9%.

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Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, was on the McCain team in 2008 but has changed sides and now regularly advocates for the Administration of TV.

He says: that there are three explanations for why large employers (1,000 employees and up) grew faster than small ones (fewer than 50 workers).

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Posted in Employment - Jobs, ObamaCare, Small Business, Unemployment | Leave a Comment »