Cardboard doctors in grocery stores leads to healthier consumers.

For those of you who have read Robert Cialdini’s book – Influence, you probably see it in action everyday of your life – from commercials, to magazines, to street vendors, the principles of Influence are everywhere. Interestingly enough, the 4^th principle of authority has been tested at a Morrisons’ store in Salford, Manchester and the benefits are paying off to store and the community. 

The authority principle states that people are more likely to obey authority figures than not. Makes sense right? What is interesting is that the authority does not even have to be a credible, valid figure. One example used is the famous Milgrim’s experiment.

Now how did the Morrisons’ store take advantage of the authority principle? By simply having lifesize cut-out images of real doctors and nurses in the area, they were able to increase their volume of fresh fruit sold by 20% and frozen fruit by 29%!

How would this help the community? Damian Edwards, the study’s author, believes that if this strategy were implemented across supermarkets nationwide, it could improve the health of nearly two thirds of the population who currently do no eat their daily-recommended portions of fruits and veggies.

For a grocery chain, this would be a great marketing spend and a great way to encourage healthier consumer eating! Win-win! 

-HotBot.

Cooking with pizzazz, resolutions for 2014.

Every year I make the same resolutions – join a competitive hockey league, learn another language, go the gym. Rarely do I accomplish all, many, or any of the goals, but this year, with the help of YouTube, I hope to tackle a more realistic challenge; be better in the kitchen.

1)    Make real mac and cheese.

Toss out the box and powder, I want nothing more than to perfect the art of homemade mac and cheese. I remember my first attempt as a child involved tossing processed cheese with macaroni. According to my mom it was a waste of cheese and macaroni.  My first attempt as an adult involved tossing chunks of cheese (who really has time to grate cheese?) with macaroni. I can tell you myself it was a waste of cheese and macaroni.

In all my research for the perfect recipe, this seems to be the easiest, simplest, and delicious.

2)    Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course

Did you know that all of Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Courses are on YouTube? Not just recipes, but each episode is packed with great tips and sagely advice from the Ramsay himself – like how to properly sharpen your knives and season everything with salt and pepper. His recipes are quick, cheap, healthy and most of all delicious. I’ve watched first three thus far and can’t wait to watch the rest. Grab a notepad and take notes.

Biggest tip thus far, the ‘lay away’. When cooking on a hot frying pan, lay your meats or fish away from your body to prevent hot oil splash. Genius.

3)    Bake my own bread.

There really doesn’t seem to be anything better than baking your own bread. A friend of mine bakes his own bread and some of his more unique creations are unbelievable. From olive and chili pepper sourdough bread to bacon bits Focaccia, I never realized how creative bread making could be until I was able to sample some of his wonderful creations.

Here’s a simple, (but not quick) recipe for some homemade focaccia. Get creative and get excited.

Well this is a start, let’s so how it goes. Have a wonderful 2014. What resolutions have you made for the year?

Stay hungry,

HoBot