Friday Faculty Chats - Decision-Making during Uncertain Times

Decision-Making during Uncertain Times

When we face endings and future uncertainty, we may focus on different aspects of our lives and consume content and products differently. Hear from Professor Hershfield about the ways that our feelings, behavior, and consumption patterns change during such times.

About Friday Faculty Chats

Friday Faculty Chats is a virtual series presented by the Office of Alumni Relations to provide UCLA Anderson Alumni an ongoing forum for relevant insights and valuable connections. Amidst a time of uncertainty and physical separation, connect with your Anderson community every Friday to hear from a different Anderson professor via ZOOM video webinar technology. The professors will share their thought leadership on a variety of timely topics to support your lifelong professional and personal development.

About Hal Hershfield
Associate Professor of Marketing

Psychologist Hal Hershfield studies how thinking about time transforms the emotions and alters the judgments and decisions people make. While he was a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, his research concentrated on the psychology of long-term decision-making and how time affects people's lives — specifically at a moment when Americans are living longer and saving less.

Hershfield says, "We're in an interesting time to be conducting research on these topics because there are so many methodological tools available. I take the same question and try to investigate it from different angles, whether from a psychological perspective or a marketing perspective or even more of a managerial perspective. 'What are the psychological components of saving, and how can we help people along the process of their looming retirement?' When it helps shed light on the question, I use methods like neuroimaging, eye tracking, archival and big data analyses, and even virtual reality." Read more: https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty-and-research/marketing/faculty/hershfield