What We Are Up To

Advertising and Marketing veteran, Sean Donnelly to drive the next stage of growth at BEworks.

BEworks, the world’s first and foremost consulting firm dedicated to the application of Behavioral Economics to real-world challenges, has strengthened its team with the appointment of Sean Donnelly as Vice President of Growth.

Listen to Kelly Peters on CBC’s The current with Matt Galloway where she discusses the role of incentives like cash, scholarships, and lotteries on driving vaccine uptake. In her interview she highlights the research by BEworks to understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy. Can incentives work on this group?

BEworks experts argue that ‘de-biasing’ the hiring and promotion process is the single-most effective step businesses can take to start meeting their DEI ambitions.

The average household throws out over $1,000 of food every year, and the tragic part is 60% of that food is edible. The research undertaken by Hellmann’s Unilever and BEworks tells us that people tend to think they already are less wasteful than the average person, and that the fact they compost their leftovers makes waste less problematic.

After studying over 900 families, they found some very simple solutions that reduced food waste by 30% — saving households at least $300 per year. Dr. Angela Cooper, PhD, Associate at BEworks, was invited on The Cash and Kerry Podcast with host Kerry Taylor to speak about ways to reduce food waste and share insights on the research undertaken.

Dr. Michelle Hilscher, Ph.D. Vice President, BEworks was invited on David Emanuel’s podcast show D-BEnefits to talk about why behavioural economics is a gamechanger for the benefits industry, including how it can help to improve employee uptake and participation in benefits programs, and what it can mean for corporate culture more generally.

Each year, the Southern Ontario Behavioural Decision Research (SOBDR) Conference brings together researchers and academics from various disciplines across Ontario with an interest in the study of how people make judgments and decisions. They come from a number of disciplines including: Marketing, Psychology, Organizational Behaviour, Management, Accounting, Finance, and Economics.

This year, BEworks hosted the virtual SOBDR conference on Friday, May 14th, 2021. The conference featured a keynote presentation by Dr.  Nina Mazar Professor, Boston University, Co-director of The Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy and Co-founder & Chief Scientific Advisor, BEworks.

On Chatter that Matters, Dan and Kelly chat about why we make bad and irrational decisions, why others’ bad behaviour might encourage you. We also look at how has COVID has stripped us of our freedom and control. Dan and Kelly will provide you with coping mechanisms and strategies to reclaim your sense of control and make better financial, career, and life decisions while offering compelling advice for business and political leaders.

BEworks is proud to announce our partnership with Hellmann’s to reduce household food-waste. We launched new interventions to reconceptualize recipe’s into Flexipe’s. The first large-scale, longitudinal study on the challenge resulted in a 30% reduction on household food waste.

Vaccinations for COVID-19 are ramping up, and while many of us can’t wait to get in line, 1/3 of Canadians are hesitant to get one. Kelly Peters, CEO and Co-founder of BEworks joins Candace Sampson on the show ‘What She Said’ – 1059 The Region, to discuss the vaccine showdown shaping up in our country, and how we can address concerns of those that believe they are not safe.

Time stamp: 21:47 – 31:32

‘Why vaccinate? Natural is better’.

As one of the most frequently cited reasons against getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the pro-nature argument isn’t new. But it is becoming increasingly dangerous.

In a new article published in Behavioral Scientist, Sofia Deleniv, Dan Ariely, and Kelly Peters dissect the history and origins of the naturalistic fallacy, the wider threat it poses to human progress and health, and what we can do about it.

Tackling Misinformation: Stuart McGinn, News Anchor, 680 News, speaks with psychology investigator and BEworks CEO Kelly Peters about the psychological roadblocks affecting pandemic recovery.

According to a recent report published by BEworks – “COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Behavioral Lens on a Critical Problem”, demographic factors are not as good predictors of vaccination intentions as one might think!

During an interview with Radio Canada La Reveil, our Associate, Pierre-Jean Malé stated that the report identifies four traits that describe how people think and predict people’s intentions about vaccines. These traits are – Adherence to conspiracy theories, Scientific knowledge, Open-mindedness and Concerns about the vaccine.

A new study that was released this week found almost one-third of Canadians are on the fence when it comes to getting a COVID-19 vaccine while 9 per cent don’t intend to get vaccinated at all. The study commissioned by BEworks, a Canadian scientific think-tank.

Kelly Peters, co-founder of BEworks, joins Devon Peacock on the Morning Show to discuss.

BEworks showed that belief in conspiracy theories played a factor, with “vaccine-opposed” people 429 percent more likely to believe conspiracy theories, while people who are on-the-fence were 163 percent more likely to believe conspiracy theories. “Understanding why people are hesitant (or object out-right) and then deploying scientifically-grounded solutions will be essential if we want to encourage Canadians to get vaccinated,” said lead investigator and BEworks CEO Kelly Peters.

The study (COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Behavioural Lens on a Critical Problem) shows that the way people think is significantly more predictive of their willingness to get vaccinated than their demographics alone.

A ground-breaking study conducted by BEworks indicates that four cognitive factors are driving Canadians’ vaccine intentions.