08 February, 2019, Bengaluru: The IIMB-Christ Behavioural Research Seminar was hosted on January 19, 2019 on campus by the Behavioural Sciences Lab at IIM Bangalore. This seminar was one of the events as a result of the ongoing collaboration between the two institutions, after an MoU was signed in February 2018. This was the third event, after the first one on IIMB campus on February 9, 2018 and the second one at Christ Deemed to be University, Main campus, Hosur Road on June 30, 2018.
The seminar was preceded by the felicitation of Dr Fr Thomas Mathew, the Vice-Chancellor of Christ by Prof. Gopal Naik, Dean, Faculty, IIMB and Prof. Ritu Tripathi, Chair, Behavioural Sciences Lab, IIMB. Fr. Thomas Mathew was also accompanied by their registrar, Dr Anil Joseph Pinto, Mr. J. W. Lobo (Director, International Office), Dr Tony Sam George (HOD, Psychology), and Dr Jyothi Kumar (Associate Dean, School of Business Studies & Social Sciences, Christ, Bannerghatta Road Campus). Prof. Ritu Tripathi highlighted Fr. Mathew’s accomplishments in the field of higher education and the widespread recognition he has received for his valuable contribution. Fr. Mathew effusively thanked IIMB for the felicitation and also regaled everyone with his quick wit.
Prof. Ritu Tripathi gave an introduction for the IIMB-Christ Behavioural Research Seminar, where she emphasized the need for experimental behavioural research. She mentioned the recent call by social psychologists worldwide for replication of previously established findings, and how forums like these seminars were vital for dissemination of ongoing research. I thanked the researchers who had collected data in the lab and were presenting some of their results in this seminar. I also thanked the Behavioural Lab Ethics Committee for the reviews of each research study conducted in the lab. The speakers in this seminar covered a variety of topics, including cognitive science, decision-making, and different sub-fields within marketing.
Tarun Abhichandani, Co-Founder of Collective Mind of N Private Ltd and Launchpad NSRCEL@IIMB from January to April 2017, had conducted his research study on decision-making in the IIMB Behavioural Sciences Lab with his colleagues, Rachika Komal and Ramprasad Srinivasan, between March and May 2018. He presented their findings with Rachika in a talk titled, ‘Decision-making: Intentions Behind Unpredictable Outcomes”. They examined the existence of outcome bias in individuals and the impact of distribution of the outcome, extent of control, and intentions.
Prof. Harishankar Moosath Vasudevan from Christ presented his research on decision-making through Iowa Gambling Task among students with the eventual aim of applying it to the clinical population. Four Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) students from the Marketing area at IIMB, Tanvi Gupta, Aishwarya R, Dhrithi Mahadevan, and Jose Manu, were the other speakers in this seminar. Aishwarya, Dhrithi, and Manu Jose had conducted part of their data collection for their research in the IIMB Behavioural Sciences Lab between August and November 2018.
Tanvi Gupta presented her findings in the talk titled, ‘Evading Evil Eye: Influence of Visual Contagion on Inconspicuous Product Choice’. Tanvi and her co-investigator Prof. Preeti Krishnan Lyndem, IIMB visiting faculty from the Marketing area, used the theory of magical thinking to conceptualize the evil eye belief as a non-touch based contagion effect. Through two experiments, they established that evil eye belief increases consumer preference of inconspicuous products, mediated by attention avoidance motive, and moderated by sensitivity to contagion. Aishwarya R. did a presentation on ‘The Effect of Space on Online Shopping Behaviour’, based on the research conducted by her and Prof. Avinash G Mulky, IIMB faculty from the Marketing area. They looked at how spacing in the E-commerce store enhances engagement and store evaluation.
The title of Dhrithi Mahadevan’s talk was ‘Premium-Benefit Trade-offs in Consumers’ Green Purchases’ and she elaborated on her research which investigated the effect of promotional appeals on high priced eco-friendly products. Specifically, it dealt with the trade-offs in term of costs and benefits that consumers make when they purchase products that have a social impact. Jose Manu’s presentation’s title was ‘HEAR WHAT’S HERE: The Effect of Semantically Congruent Lyrics on Brand Perception’. He studied the effect of congruency of background music lyrics and the brand’s characteristics, and empirically demonstrated a mediation effect of perceived fit of lyrics on attitude towards the brand.
There were avid and open discussions between the speakers and the audience, which comprised both IIMB and Christ faculty and students. The speakers noted the observations and suggestions of the audience members as they planned the follow-up for their respective research studies. It was an intellectually stimulating environment and it helped forge new connections among presenters and the audience. One of the major goals of good research is generating more creative research questions to be investigated, and forums like this behavioural research seminar provide a stepping stone for it. They also provide opportunities for collaborations among scholars across institutions. Research conducted in a controlled environment like IIMB’s Behavioural Sciences Lab need to be disseminated regularly to a wider audience to appreciate its value in creation of new scientific knowledge in institutions of higher learning.
By Dr Naureen Bhullar with inputs about individual research presentations from Tarun Abhichandani, Tanvi Gupta, Aishwarya R., Dhrithi Mahadevan, and Jose Manu. Dr Naureen Bhullar is the manager and research coordinator of the IIMB Behavioural Sciences Lab. She has a PhD in Psychology from Virginia Tech and has taught Developmental Psychology, Adulthood and Aging, and Senior Research classes. Her research interests include emotions, meaning of life, mindfulness, and autism in adults.