Eugene Chan, PhD: “My research has shown that a lot of factors that people think do not affect them actually do”.
Ljubljana Summer school 2015 hosted a guest lecturer professor Eugene Chan, PhD from the UTS Business school, University of Technology, Sydney (Australia). His research interests are broadly in behavioral economics and how understanding the psychology of people’s judgments and decision-making can be used or “nudged” to increase charitable donations and for overall societal well-being. EFnews was happy to speak with him about his work and experience with the FELU Summer School.
While reading some of your work, I stumbled upon an article called “Physically-attractive males increase men’s financial risk-taking”. Could you tell us why did you decide to do this research and what were your findings?
I was inspired for this research when I was walking in the big shopping malls in the United States. In any big shopping mall, there’s often an Abercrombie & Fitch clothing store, and their ads are very sexual – pictures of male and female models in sexual and provocative poses, sometimes often nearly unclothed. It made me think about how people would react to such images. Prior research has already examined how people react to sexual ads featuring models of the opposite-sex, but there was no research that explained how people react to ads featuring the same-sex. And, since my research interests are broadly in financial decision-making, I thought I would put the two together – to see how men’s financial risk-taking would change when they see ads featuring “sexy” male models.
What are your other mayor findings in the field related to how consumers make financial and risky decisions?
Most of my research is in financial decision-making – for example, how people invest in the stock market, how they use cash and credit cards, or even how they make risky gambles in the casino. My research has shown that a lot of factors that people think do not affect them, actually do. So for example, we think that seeing an ad does not affect our financial risk-taking, but it does. Similarly, my other research has shown that after you use Facebook, your investment decisions are different than if you did not use it.
As a visiting professor at the Ljubljana Summer School (FELU), how would you compare our Faculty with University of Technology, Sydney, Australia? Besides this, what was the most fascinating thing you could found about the FELU and international students who attended your course?
Both FELU and UTS are great schools and share a similar passion for both research and teaching excellence. The marketing professors at both schools also have a well-rounded knowledge of marketing, economics, and the social sciences. I thought the international focus of the FELU faculty was great – professors who are passionate about marketing not just in Slovenia or Europe, but around the world. Not many business schools have professors who have an interest outside of their own country!
What do you want students to learn from your summer course?
I taught behavioural economics, and I study consumer behaviour in general. I hope that the students in my course at LSS have learned not just how people (including them and me) make decisions, but how our decisions can be shaped by external forces. Our decisions, choices, and preferences change from situation to situation. We might choose an apple in Bistro Sumi, but when we are faced with the same choice at home, we might choose an orange instead.
Are your research interests also somehow related to your summer course?
I think so, yes. As I mentioned, my research interests are consumer behaviour, specifically financial decision-making, and a lot of work is inspired by the intersection between psychology and economics – which is called behavioural economics, or sometimes just “judgment and decision-making”. My course is also related to other courses taught by other professors. For example, macroeconomics, organizational psychology, branding, and even the business of wine – all of these topics study individual and/or market behaviour, but they study behaviour – and my course is about behaviour!
Matej Jerele, EFnews
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