279. Creating an Irrational Loyalty Program at McDonald's with Lauren Kemp & Stephen Springfield

<p dir="ltr">In today's conversation, I am joined by McDonald’s Lauren Kemp and Stephen Springfield from the Aspen Center for Consumer Science. Last fall I saw them give a talk at IIEX Behavior on how they used behavioral science to create an "irrational" loyalty program at Mcdonald's. It was instantly clear they had to be on the show to talk about this project, its insights, and what you can learn from it.</p> <p dir="ltr">It is such a great case study showing how real people inside organizations (and in this case, working with a great consultant), can create a program that infuses behavioral insights in a smart way -- that is often counterintuitive – to find a win-win for the company and its customers. </p> <p dir="ltr">You'll also hear tips from Lauren about how she did her literature review and lots of other great insights. And, do know that while we joke about not loving the term "irrational" as it is popularly used in behavioral science, if there was ever a program that proved a lot of the choices people make aren’t exactly rational this would be it. You'll see what I mean as they dig in on the story in the episode…</p> <h3 dir="ltr">Show Notes:</h3> <ul> <li dir="ltr">[00:46] In today's conversation, I am joined by Lauren Kemp and Stephen Springfield, whom I first saw while they were giving a presentation at Greenbook’s IIEX Behavior last fall.</li> <li dir="ltr">[03:44] Lauren shares about herself and her background. She works in consumer insights at McDonald’s on the US team.</li> <li dir="ltr">[04:41] Stephen shares about himself and his background. Stephen is the Founder and Principal at Aspen Center for Consumer Science. </li> <li dir="ltr">[06:43] Novelty and the magic of the irrational attracted Stephen to behavioral science and behavioral economics. </li> <li dir="ltr">[07:35] Behavioral science isn’t really about the irrational and the crazy cool stuff. It is about the scientific process applied to understanding behavior.  </li> <li dir="ltr">[10:35] Irrationality is where all the profit is.</li>