Insights From

Manel Baucells

Understanding Decision-Making: Inherent Risk Preferences

How do individuals make decisions in situations involving risk? How do we instinctually trade off the potential for a gain with the potential for loss? Most individuals fear losses more than they like gain, and the choice of reference point shifts our perception of gains and losses. Can we better understand the way we make choices?

Too Much of a Good Thing? Satiation and Satisfaction

Everything really is better in moderation: Research shows that once a person hits the satiation point, consuming more of something means enjoying it less. A new study by Professor Manel Baucells offers a model charting where that point is and what to do about it — with implications for business as well as optimizing your own personal experiences.

Enjoyment and Memory in Concert: The Ideal Set List

The psychology of the set list: How can we increase enjoyment of an experience in the moment and in our memories? And how can this be used in business? After all, memory drives good reviews, return business and lasting satisfaction. Luckily, there’s a mathematical model for it.

Three Things: Reduce Fatigue and Increase Productivity

In this Three Things video, Darden Professor Manel Baucells, an expert in quantitative analysis, explains three important lessons his research has shown about how the right kind of fatigue management can lead to increased efficiency.

Give It a Rest, Part 2: Productivity Lessons From Olympians and Google

There are no shortages of linkages between overwork and both workplace and personal problems. But on-the-job pressure to produce more, and more quickly, may leave people feeling unable to take the time for breaks, either vacations or workday breaks.

Give It a Rest, Part 1: How to Reduce Fatigue and Raise Productivity

By all appearances, resting seems unproductive. But it turns out that resting may be one of the most productive things we do in any given day.

Markdown Management: In Pursuit of the Optimal Discount

In new research, Darden Professor Manel Baucells argues that retailers can grow profits by cutting prices sooner and more deeply than conventional modeling suggests.

How Consumers Think: A Model to Predict What They’re Willing to Pay

From a gym membership to a sandwich at the airport, it turns out the question “What are people willing to pay?” is complex. A new model will help companies and managers better account for the most prominent anomalies in consumer behavior.