FEATURE8 April 2016

The promise and the peril of the digital screen

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Behavioural science Features Impact Mobile North America Technology

Any company relying on websites and screen interactions for business should take note of the research that Shlomo Benartzi has done, which he explains in his new book The Smarter Screen

Digital screen_crop

Digital screens are now integral to our daily lives. But despite our familiarity and, invariably, our reliance on them, the medium can affect our interactions. Indeed, the way we think when we go through processes via a screen can be considerably different to how we respond in other forms of interaction.

In his book The Smarter Screen – what your business can learn from the way consumers think online, Shlomo Benartzi, professor and co-chair of the behavioural decision-making group at UCLA Anderson School of Management, explores online behaviour and shares his research into how people think differently when using screens. He spoke to Impact about his findings.

Impact: Has the speed of processing always been faster on screens, or are people getting faster the more they become used to screens? 

Benartzi: Although people have always relied on fast judgements, the online world seems to be especially reliant on these speedy assessments. For instance, there’s good ...