The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving · FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com

617: Inc 5000 fastest growing company on Psychology behind leadership influence and human behavior (with MichaelAaron Flicker)

·54 min·3 clips

“Sweet, sizzling plant-based beans and crispy shallots” drove 25% more vegetable selection than neutral labels.

1. The Strategy Skills Podcast episode centers on MichaelAaron Flicker’s behavioral science ideas about leadership influence, pricing, messaging, and human behavior. 2. Kris Safarova hosts MichaelAaron Flicker, a behavioral science strategist, co-author of Hacking the Human Mind, and builder of multiple Inc. 5000 recognized companies. 3. The episode asks how consultants and companies can use behavioral science to make offers more believable, more memorable, and more likely to convert. 4. Flicker explains the goal dilution effect, arguing that a product or person sounds more credible when it claims one clear strength instead of many. 5. He uses Five Guys Burgers and Jerry Murrell’s 1986 boardwalk observation in Maryland to show how one focus on burgers and fries became part of the brand story. 6. The Five Guys example includes the decision to avoid chicken, salad, and ice cream, plus the scale figure of 1,800 stores and $1.6 billion in sales. 7. Flicker cites a 2007 University of Chicago tomato study, where one benefit was rated more effective than two benefits. 8. He says people judged eating tomatoes as 12% more effective at preventing cancer when that was the only stated goal. 9. Flicker moves from positioning into pricing and quotes Daniel Kahneman’s line that “thinking is to humans like swimming is to cats.” 10. He explains that the brain is 2% of body mass but uses 20% of body calories, so humans rely on shortcuts and comparison. 11. He uses Red Bull’s launch in a slim can at $2.50 instead of a soda-style can at $1 to show how brands can break price comparisons. 12. He explains charm pricing with $4.99 versus $5, describing left-digit bias and the way the first digit shapes perceived value. 13. Flicker brings in Chris Voss’s Never Split the Difference to discuss how round numbers and odd endings like 7 or .50 can feel different in negotiation. 14. He then describes indulgent framing, using a university cafeteria study with “sweet, sizzling plant-based beans and crispy shallots” as the most effective label. 15. That study showed a 25% increase in vegetable selection, which he says is useful for restaurants and also for consulting services that want emotional rather than purely logical framing. 16. He covers scarcity with Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte and a UCLA voucher study that found 6% redemption with a longer window and 33% with a shorter window. 17. The episode’s tone is interview-based and highly applied, with Kris Safarova repeatedly asking how each behavioral insight maps to consulting and business practice. 18. Flicker answers in a practical, example-heavy style, moving from academic studies to brands like Snickers, Guinness, Avis, Listerine, IBM, Red Bull, and Starbucks. 19. People in consulting, marketing, sales, and brand strategy would likely find this useful. 20. Listeners looking for personal stories or entertainment-first banter may skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving