Think Better with Steve Wendel: Challenges and Opportunities of Behavioral Science in Business

Steve Wendel, Head of Behavioral Science at Morningstar, presents results from the largest survey of behavioral teams in the world.

Behavioral teams have proliferated through the private sector, from small consulting shops to major corporations like Walmart and Pepsi Co. Steve Wendel will present results from the largest survey of behavioral teams in the world, which he recently conducted with the Behavioral Science Policy Association. He'll share an overview of how behavioral science is being applied, the landscape of job opportunities, and the key challenges and opportunities these teams face.

5:30–6:00 p.m.: Reception and PIMCO Decision Research Laboratories Field Study

6:00–7:00 p.m.: Lecture, followed by Q&A

About the Speaker

Dr. Steve Wendel is a behavioral social scientist who studies how digital products can help individuals manage their money more effectively. He currently serves as the Head of Behavioral Science at Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research. At Morningstar, he leads a team of behavioral scientists and practitioners to conduct original research on savings and investing behavior, applies behavioral insights to Morningstar’s products and services, and frequently speaks with the media and industry groups on these topics.

Wendel has authored two books on applied behavioral science: Designing for Behavior Change (2013) and Improving Employee Benefits (2014). The first one gives step-by-step instructions on how to develop products that help users take action: from exercising more to learning a new language. The second book examines why employees fail to use their benefits and how behavioral economics can help.

Outside of work, he is also the Founder and Chair of the non-profit Action Design Network, which helps over 10,000 practitioners apply behavioral research to product development through an annual conference and monthly events in ten cities across the United States.

Wendel holds a BA from U.C. Berkeley, a Master’s from Johns Hopkins-SAIS, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, where he analyzed the dynamics of behavioral change over time. He has two wonderful kids, who don’t care about behavioral science at all.

About the Think Better Speaker Series

The Center for Decision Research Think Better Speaker Series explores how insights from behavioral science affect society, shape policy, impact business, and improve individual lives. The topics are relevant to anyone interested in understanding why people think, judge, choose, and act as they do.

2019-2020 Think Better Speakers

November 6, 2019

• Stephen Wendel, Head of Behavioral Science at Morningstar

February 19, 2020

• Adam Alter, Associate Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business

April 29, 2020

• Alissa Fishbane, Managing Director at ideas42

About the Center for Decision Research

The Center for Decision Research (CDR) is a dynamic community of behavioral scientists who examine the processes by which intuition, reasoning, and social interaction produce beliefs, judgments, and choices. As part of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the CDR is home to preeminent faculty and researchers whose accolades include the Nobel Prize and MacArthur Foundation award. The Center for Decision Research conducts world-class behavioral science research, mentors the next generation of leading scholars and practitioners, and serves as an intellectual hub for the discipline—advancing scientific discovery as well as public awareness of behavioral science’s positive impact at both the individual and societal level.

The PIMCO Decision Research Laboratories at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Center for Decision Research enable academics to conduct the highest impact behavioral science experiments where people live and work. Through this innovative partnership with the University of Chicago, PIMCO supports diverse and robust research that contributes to a deeper understanding of human behavior and decision-making and helps empower leaders to make wiser choices in business and society.

Help advance our scientific understanding of human behavior by participating in a simple, short study prior to the talk! Participants in our studies are asked to answer questions about their thoughts and feelings in response to a range of experiences, from computer surveys to interactions with other people.

Free Admission