Predicting People is a podcast, all about the applications of behavioural science in the commercial world. In each episode, we invite experts to talk about how behavioural science has been affecting their business, and how they see it being used in the future.
Ep. 15: Journey Optimisation - What is Really Driving Customer Sign-Ups Online? Dectech Discusses
Welcome to Dectech’s podcast, Predicting People! In this fifteenth episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, explore how seemingly small changes to a digital journey can produce staggering commercial outcomes.
So what makes customers click, buy, or walk away? From optimising an entire purchase journey to redesigning a single consent screen, they discuss the dangers of “sludges”, the balance between short-term sales and long-term trust, and share insights from Dectech’s previous work, where a redesigned consent screen drove improvements in customer sign-up rates. They suggest that businesses should continuously evaluate and improve their digital journeys to sustain a competitive advantage in today’s market.
31 Mar 2026
Ep. 14: AI in Market Research - Is it a fraud, a participant or an interviewer? Dectech Discusses
In our fourteenth episode, Dectech's founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, tackle one pressing question: is AI about to disrupt traditional market research? They discuss three possible ways AI could be influencing the industry, including the rise of AI bots affecting survey responses, the increasing use of large language models as synthetic research participants or “digital twins,” and the emergence of AI-powered interviewers that might, in time, reduce reliance on human qualitative researchers.
Drawing on academic literature, real-world case studies, and over two decades of hands-on experience at Dectech, Henry and Nick weigh the promise and the pitfalls of each development. They consider the commercial pressures encouraging rapid adoption of AI, and speculate on what the next wave of AI could mean for how businesses understand their customers.
28 Nov 2025
Ep. 13: Product Suitability - What makes a product right? Dectech Discusses
Welcome to Dectech’s podcast, Predicting People! In this thirteenth episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, dive into the critical question of product suitability - or as they prefer to put it, how to delight customers by offering the right products. In particular, they explore the many ways product ranges can go wrong, from dominated andmissing options to the asymmetry of information between sellers and buyers. They also discuss how human psychology, including the instability of our own preferences, makes choosing the "right" product far more difficult than it appears.
Drawing on cognitive science literature and years of practicalexperience, Henry and Nick uncover why aligning products with customer needs is commercially essential. They outline how thoughtful product design and clearer communication can help steer people towards choices they will actually be satisfied with, even in a world where none of us quite knows what we want.
8 Jul 2025
Ep. 12: Data Science - What are its potential perils? Dectech Discusses
Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater examine the nuanced challenges and overlooked pitfalls of data science, emphasizing rigorous techniques to avoid flawed decisions and improve the validity of outcomes in this interview.
16 Apr 2025
Ep. 11: Why Do People Buy? The Cognitive Science of Purchasing - Dectech Discusses
In our eleventh episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, discuss the vast field of consumer decision making. In particular, they talk about why people buy the products they do and explore how advertising, brand perceptions, cognitive biases and flexible preferences influence our purchasing behaviour.
The insights discussed suggest that consumer decision making can be surprisingly simple, and despite large global spending on advertising, consumers may not hold such deep brand perceptions as we may assume. Rather than having stable brand images, consumers seem to react to specific events and post-rationalise their choices and preferences. Using examples from the cognitive science literature, Nick and Henry highlight the importance of testing real behaviour and experimentation beyond self-report to inform marketing strategies and our understanding of our customers.
18 Dec 2024
Episode 10: New Year's Resolutions - How can we keep them? Dectech Discusses
In our tenth episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, discuss New Year's resolutions. Drawing on their own experiences and insights from the cognitive science literature, they propose strategies that can help you to set effective resolutions and stick to them.
The episode explores interesting studies on factors that influence the effectiveness of behavioural change, from implementation intentions to specific actions and how ego depletion and social commitment can impact your likelihood of success. Nick and Henry illustrate why some resolutions are easier to achieve than others, and consider the steps you could take to successfully achieve your goals.
4 Oct 2024
Ep. 9 : Experts – How can algorithms beat them? Dectech Discusses
In this ninth episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, discuss algorithms and whether they are able to outperform expert advice. Their conversation draws on a variety of commercial examples and traces the development of algorithms across multiple fields.
The episode explores a couple interesting Dectech case studies, from the world of credit underwriting to football scouting. These examples illustrate the key reasons why algorithms often outperform expert predictions, as identified in existing research. Finally, they consider scenarios where expert judgment still holds value and provide insights into the future of algorithmic decision-making.
30 Apr 2024
Ep. 8 : Behavioural Economics - Have we reached peak nudge? Dectech Discusses
In this eighth episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater, discuss the Nudge Movement. Specifically, they explore how the rise of Nudging in Behavioural Science has led to many policy problems being framed in individual rather than systemic terms. This is known as adopting an i-frame rather than an s-frame. The approach puts the focus on an individual’s behaviour rather than the systems/rules within which they operate.
Considering an influential paper that Nick himself wrote on the topic, they discuss whether individual-level solutions like nudges have overplayed their hand. The episode references interesting case studies, from the paper and Dectech’s own research, in areas like carbon emissions and retirement savings. Nick and Henry also address what this means for not just government policy, but the commercial world around it.
8 Dec 2023
Ep. 7 : Trust - What is it & how to get it? Dectech Discusses
In this seventh episode, Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater discuss the topic of trust. Specifically, they explore the intuitive sense we all have of who we do or don’t trust and how it can perhaps be explained. The episode also addresses why we need trust as a society and how businesses can earn and keep it, with reference to interesting Behavioural Science experiments such as the Ultimatum Games, the ABC trust framework we created for companies and our own experience of building trust with brands.
30 Aug 2023
Ep. 6 : AI - Can it protect consumers? Dectech Discusses
In the sixth episode, we were delighted to have Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater discuss how AI is influencing financial services. Specifically, they consider whether AI can help to comply with the new Consumer Duty rules, and with protecting consumers. They explore what banking activities are being augmented by AI, what role AI can play in meeting the new Consumer Duty requirements, and they give an outlook on future developments in AI and its applications.
3 Jul 2023
Ep. 5 : Consumer Duty - What are best practices? Dectech Discusses
In the fifth episode, we were delighted to have Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater discuss the new Consumer Duty rules by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which come into effect this month. They broadly answer three key questions: how Consumer Duty came about, what the psychology behind Consumer Duty is, and what this now means for the financial service industry in practice. They also give an outlook on future trends in Consumer Duty and ethics in companies, that are spreading to sectors beyond financial services.
20 Apr 2023
Ep. 4 : Inflation - What is it & how do you navigate it? Dectech Discusses
In the fourth episode, we were delighted to have Dectech’s founders, Dr. Henry Stott and Professor Nick Chater discuss the currently high levels of inflation. They broadly answer three key questions: how economists measure inflation, how it is perceived by the wider population, and what is its effect on businesses?
Specifically, this episode explores the psychology of inflation using a Behavioural Science lense. Among the topics discussed are: how measures of inflation relate to price perceptions, how consumers recognise inflation via different reference prices, and how businesses can adjust their prices in a way that is acceptable to customers.
5 Apr 2022
Ep. 3 : How does giffgaff use Data Science? ft. Ash Schofield
In the third episode, we were delighted to have Ash Schofield, CEO of giffgaff, joining our director Dr Benny Cheung to discuss data-driven decision-making and its role in business. Specifically, this episode explores whether there are too many marketers waiting for the perfect data to make decisions. Among the topics discussed are: data-driven decision obstacles, different decision types and their relationship with data, the role of technology, analysis paralysis and personal experience with data-driven decision-making in giffgaff.
7 Apr 2021
Ep. 2 : What's the BT customer insight strategy? ft. Georgina White & Philippa Rose
In the second episode we were delighted to be joined by Georgina White and Philippa Rose, who spoke to us about the BT Insights Team, the challenges they face in proposition design and how Behavioural Science can provide solutions.
22 Mar 2021
Ep. 1 : How does Swiss Re apply Behavioural Science? ft. Lizzy Lubczanski
In the first episode we were delighted to be joined by Dr Lizzy Lubczanski, who spoke to us about applying behavioural science research and applications in her role as a Behavioural Research Manager at Swiss Re.
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Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 12 / 100
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Quality
10
Social presence
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YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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