Cliff Eala

03/30/2025

10/16/2024

Behavioural science on the pricing 💵 page

I was looking for a survey tool that could randomly assign questions, and Solomons mentioned LimeSurvey. What's even more interesting is that he called my attention to the ongoing anchoring⚓. Mark, a Strategic Investments exec at eBay, was a classmate at The London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE for our Master's degree in Behavioural Science. So BS fascinates us!

💡This page 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝟭,𝟭𝟵𝟵 per month (Basic), 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 (𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁) 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. No, this wasn't a mistake. This was a deliberate attempt to get people to buy the Expert plan. 😀

10/14/2024

Baguio mayor Benjie Magalong took the time and effort to expose overpriced government purchases of 𝟯𝘅 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟳𝘅 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀. Rock nettings cover mountain roadsides to protect motorists and pedestrians from falling soil and rocks, while cat eyes are reflective lane dividers.

Magalong referred to DPWH's Detailed Unit Price Analysis or D**A. Think of D**A as the government's "reference price."

Rock netting:
Reference price: 17k per sqm, 𝟯𝘅 the market price
Market price: 6k per sqm
𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝟭𝟭𝗸 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗾𝗺 💵
(Market price is from SteelAsia.)

Cat eyes:
Reference price: 11,720.69 each, 7x the market price
Market price: 1,624.00 each
𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝟭𝟬𝗸+ 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 💵

(Source: Bondoc, Philippine Star, 20 Sep 2024)

Magalong filed no charges. Perhaps filing charges and actually getting convictions are too challenging. I can only speculate.

But, imagine getting this information without being Magalong, i.e., without being a mayor or the founder of Mayors for Good Governance, or without the network, influence, manpower, and support he has. Imagine this information spoon-fed to the public. No accusations have to be made. Imagine a government agency automatically and immediately churning out this information in clear and concise bite-size infographics on social media at scale. Wouldn't that drive better contractor and government employee behaviour? Ira Paulo Pozon Jer Chen Rogelio Singson Donna May Deliza Ridoloso Michael Sherwin Macatangay Gerald Divinagracia Jo Kristine Gerona Celera Vladimir Manuel

The government's Freedom of Information programme is not enough if one has to be a Magalong and overcome all that friction to get to the information. The information must be made "visible." 👀

💡"𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲" is a choice architecture technique from behavioural science that has helped people save, pay taxes, reduce smoking, and engage in healthy behaviour. Applied appropriately, making information visible is one of the many ways government can use behavioural science to drive desirable citizen, politician, and government employee behaviour.

Photos: a) Discussing choice architecture with Dr. Robert Klitgaard, author and former president of Claremont Graduate University. He was our guest speaker at the Management Association of the Philippines. b) Magalong presenting the kickbacks of a project fund at a gathering of the Mayors for Good Governance. (ctto Deliza Ridoloso)

10/10/2024

There's this tricky bias that often inserts itself in our decisions at work and at home. It's called 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀, the tendency to search and more easily accept information that confirms one's pre-existing belief and discount information that doesn't.

💡This bias makes us see 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 where there are only 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 where there are only facts, and 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 where there is only data (Edmans, 2024).

✅Statements are facts only if the statements are accurate.

✅Facts are data only if the facts are representative of the population.

✅Data is evidence only if the data can show causation beyond correlation.

10/08/2024

𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆 makes decisions difficult🤯. We end up having to set priorities and accept trade-offs under ambiguous circumstances. We resort to 'decision science' tools like decision trees, cost-benefit analysis, and quantitative simulation modelling.

Reason dictates that we consider and weigh all relevant information appropriately when making decisions. Despite this, experience shows that factors beyond rational information bear on our decisions, from the board room to the parking lot. 𝗖𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘀, and other 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀 consciously and mostly unconsciously influence our decision-making process.💡

Last week, I was in my element 🙌 working with senior leaders to go beyond traditional decision science tools. We examined judgments behind assumptions and conclusions, distinguished between facts, data, and evidence, countered biases with debiasing techniques and choice architecture, and enhanced the incisiveness of their decision-making process as we worked through 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

🙏Thanks for having me Rogelio Singson (MPTC CEO) Lea Wong (MPTC Chief People Officer) J Luigi Bautista (President, NLEX Corporation) Raul Ignacio (COO, NLEX) Maria Theresa Wells (CFO, NLEX) Francis Rojas (VP Chief Business Dev Officer, MPTC) Carlo C. (Chief Digital & Information Officer) Arrey A. Perez

🙏Thanks for setting my behavioural decision science foundations Barbara Fasolo Dr Umar Taj Heather Kappes Matteo Maria Galizzi Dario Krpan. This is me making you proud.

🙏Thanks Jack L Arambulo for being my wingman✈️.

Photos: 67 C-suite leaders from one of the largest Philippine toll road operators Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation and its 6 subsidiaries.

10/06/2024

If you're a marketer, communicator, product or customer experience designer, you want your messages📣 to resonate with your recipients. To do so, you should match your 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲, 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺 with your recipient. Let's hone in on message matching.

We can use demographics, behaviour, psychographics, and biases.

✅ 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 is your default go-to for message matching.

✅ You may try to predict 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 and craft the message to align with your recipient's task or mindset (state of mind). This is tricky in the brick-and-mortar world where behaviour capture and analysis isn't straightforward, unlike on web and mobile apps.

✅ You may compose your message to resonate with your recipient's 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁𝘀. A Korean beauty brand increased its sales by crafting messages to match personality types. For instance, loving the spotlight resonates with extroverts, while saying that beauty does not always have to be on show resonates with introverts. The same product, different message compositions.

✅ You may also frame your message to trigger certain 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 that drive behaviour. For instance, in a case study involving 74k customers, we reduced late payment behaviour by triggering loss aversion with the words 'suffer' and 'pain' in "If you're paying your bill anyway, better to pay now than suffer the pain of disconnection later."

💡In sum, go beyond demographics and incorporate behaviour, psychographics, and biases to increase your messaging persuasiveness. These techniques are double-edged swords⚔️, so nudge for good (Lades & Delaney, 2020)

Photos. Do you know what that gizmo is? It's my childhood's version of a walkie-talkie. You speak on one end and are heard on the other. The cans vibrate at the same frequency - they resonate. 😃







Public Relations Society of the Philippines

10/02/2024

The challenges to digitalisation go beyond bytes and budgets. While we focus on technology and processes, we often miss out on 3 people-related barriers: cost-benefit blindspot, short-termism, and perceived friction.💡

✔️The 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁 stems from the misassessment of the financial return of digitalisation because people aren't familiar with the required analysis or don't want to do the work. Productivity gains, errors avoided, unclogged bottlenecks, information visibility, freed-up resources, and all their ripple effects end up missing from the cost-benefit story.

✔️𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗺 undermines digitalisation because it doesn't make business sense under a short-term monthly, quarterly, or even annual evaluation horizon. Organisations need more than a year to transform digitally.

✔️Digitalisation proponents assume that 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀𝗲 (Davis, 1989) are evident for operators who have been functioning with manual processes for a while. No, they aren't obvious. The transformation programme must include usefulness and ease of use awareness training 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 embarking on digitalisation and internal peer champions that model ease of use during and after the implementation of digital systems.

Photo: The Map Ph NextGen committee busy curating a fresh experience for the upcoming NextGen CEO conference. I love having my co-vice chairs D&D (Deliza Ridoloso Donna May Lina) and our funding go-getters B&B (Beng Pangan B**g Paloma). 🙏Thanks Arnold Salvador, Rolan Marco Garcia Ira Paulo Pozon Natalia Peña Carla Laus Jack L Arambulo Johann Rommel Benedict Carandang Michael Sherwin Macatangay Itamar Gero Vladimir Manuel Cheska Sarausad Gwen Albarracin

'Beyond Bytes and Budgets. Breaking barriers to transformative digitalization' is the theme of the Management Association of the Philippines NextGen CEO conference on 8 Nov 2024, Shangrila Fort. Save the date and stay tuned for details.

09/30/2024

They asked me to talk at a PR conference about influencing behaviour with behavioural and data sciences. I immediately knew that I would bore and lose my audience the moment I spoke of p-values, precision, and recall. Therefore, ✅I refrained from talking about 'how' to do data science. They should pass the how on to the data scientists. I focused instead on what PR folks should use data science for. Hone in on what PR-relevant thing you are trying to measure and achieve, e.g., improved trust, increased preference, or voting behaviour, and how other things, i.e., your PR interventions, e.g., comms framing, media channels, or messenger types, influence what you are trying to achieve.

I added that when talking about these 'things', we must go beyond armchair💺theorising and collect and analyse data to validate (or invalidate) the proposed theories that would guide our campaigns.

PR practitioners don't have to crunch the numbers, but they should understand how to💡𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. A good formulation reflects a clear appreciation of the problem. It empowers the data scientist to deliver the analysis PR practitioners need. For instance, an election PR practitioner may formulate these questions for a quant.
❓What is the distribution of trust ratings across demographic or psychographic sub-groups?
❓Which message framing is working for extroverted millennials who gave a so-so trust rating?
❓What type of messenger profile is most persuasive for on-the-fence sub-groups?

Photos: having a blast🙌 in the booth and even more on stage at the Annual PR Congress of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines at the The Manila Hotel.

🙏 Thank you and it was a pleasure! Norman Agatep Abigail Ho-Torres Joey David Tiempo Ritzi Villarico Ronquillo Germaine Angeles-Reyes Andy Saracho Manny Gonzales Ian Tabaniag Charlotte Reyes Sev Sarmenta Fanbase Mike Constantino

09/13/2024

Managing a multi-generational workforce was a common theme at the Management Association of the Philippines CEO conference last Tues.

My take.

We should distinguish between age-specific and generation-specific behavioural influences of the workforce.

✅ 𝗔𝗴𝗲-specific influences are those that happen because of age. For instance, understanding that one needs to consistently exercise discipline to do something impactful may be obscure to a fresh grad but isn't to a mid-lifer. This understanding and the subsequent behaviour comes as one ages.

✅ 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-specific influences are social and technological events (Guha, 2010; Sessa et al., 2007) that uniquely shape people born during a particular period, e.g., the internet and smartphones that shape Ys' and Zs' preferences for mobile-first experiences. (See generational cohort theory.)

Age-driven traits 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 as people mature, while generation-driven ones are more 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

💡Workplace rules and rituals should adapt to whether the traits and accompanying behaviours being addressed are age-driven or generation-driven.

The conference title was "Business in Five Movements. Wisdom, passion, and inspiration across multiple generations." Congrats 🤝 to organisers Donald Lim, Alma Jimenez, Junie del Mundo, and Arnold Salvador. It was a pleasure seeing you Teh Opinion, Wilson Tan, Aldie Garcia, Jade Roxas-Divinagracia, Ruth Yu Owen, Agnes Gervacio, Gil Genio, Rene Almendras, Rogelio Singson, and Jack L Arambulo.

Photo from Jack: the riot (kept 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗲 here😅) when the next-gen CEO tribe gets together, with birthday boy Ira Paulo Pozon front and centre. Itamar Gero Deliza Ridoloso Georgianna Eleazar Carlos Carla Laus Donna May Juan Ja Zayco Villaluz 👋

09/09/2024

Kube is a cost-effective and self-contained alternative to a portalet for disaster recovery centres. Limpe Candano-Salamat, PSPO CIP CIA, Lyrel Morato, Rochelle Dichaves (and two others my brain can't find 😅) are the co-founders behind Kube, developed it as part of their capstone for their Master in Innovation and Business at Asian Institute of Management, and presented at their Demo Day last Friday with Maoi Arroyo (Ignite Impact Fund) and Rolan Marco Garcia (Embiggen) as judges. Kube is raising Php8.4M.

It topped 👏👏 all the other projects in my book. I spent time chatting with the founders and sharing some suggestions after. I prodded them with three questions.

❓Who's taking this forward full-time?
Jumpstarting a bootstrapped business from scratch is tough. It will likely 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 if no one is working on it full-time.

❓Are you focused on it?
Focused means 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 '𝗻𝗼' to the rest. Pick and go full-on. There is no room for multiple parallel projects.

❓Have you done a premortem?
Imagine yourselves 12 months down the road, and Kube is dead. Ask yourselves 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 so you can mitigate the risks today.

Good luck Kube! 🙌 💪

[Nerd note: 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (Don Moore & Paul J. Healy, 2008) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 are the mental shortcuts I'm countering with my prodding. These are the tendencies to overestimate your skills and resources, and to assume that all dependencies will always converge in your favour.]

Photo: Angelica pitching Kube.

09/06/2024

Strat plan with Embiggen Group. Done! ✅

No, I won't share the secret sauce😉, but here are three things I dig into during B2B strategy sessions.

💡Value proposition
Craft your value prop from your customer's viewpoint, not yours. That prop should be compelling, unique, and worth paying for 💵. There isn't only one version. Articulate your prop to pull in your 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗱-𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿.

💡Leading indicators
You need leading indicators so you can act before the race is over. Lagging indicators are too late. Which leading indicator📈 will 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 a positive effect on your lagging one? For instance, the number of new prospect interactions (leading) will likely cause an increase in sales (lagging).

💡Beyond revenue, expenses, and profit
Strategy is about choice under uncertainty and constraints. Take a closer look at 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀, 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀.

Photo: Do I share the formal or fun pic? This post is serious enough so I chose the one below. 'Wacky at the lobby' with "X" Xavier Marzan Rolan Marco Garcia, Robert Newgen. Nicolas Souvlakis dialed in from Switzerland and Miguel Testa from Vancouver. We missed Mohan Belani of e27 and Bien Herrera.

09/04/2024

I did an informal live poll 📊 with an audience asking them...

❓"Which of these will make people stay with the company, assuming salaries are at par with the industry?"

Choices were:
▫ Zumba class
▫ lunch and learn AI sessions
▫ 2-day WHF per week
▫ career mentoring
▫ flexitime

What surprised 🤔 me on stage was how much Zumba and AI paled compared to the three big ones: 2-day WFH, career mentoring, and flexitime! Only 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟬 preferred Zumba and AI over 𝗮𝗻𝘆 of the three big ones.

💡 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 and long-term 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 is moving up the employee's preference ladder. I wonder what else is.

Thanks for the photo, Anne Lee of Sprout Solutions, and Crissy Partosa Renzo Belardo for helping me put this poll together.