Cheaters and Repeaters

The 4 “E”s of the Experience economy—Entertainment, Escapism, aEsthetics, and Entertainment—are all found within the great American pastime of baseball. In this article, human geographer and baseball fan Nick Wise discusses the range of experiences you can observe at baseball games this summer by using the 4 E’s framework, inspiring qualitative researchers to look differently at place in our work. […]

If you’ve ever struggled to understand or shift entrenched consumer or professional behaviors, this article offers a fresh and deeply insightful perspective. The author—originally a cognitive developmental psychologist—introduces dynamic systems theory to explain how habits form, stabilize, and resist change over time. Using real-world examples from healthcare and consumer behavior, the piece explores how marketers and qualitative researchers can uncover the early influences and unconscious motivators behind resistant behaviors—and how to effectively disrupt them. This isn’t just theory—it’s a call to rethink how we frame questions, design studies, and unlock behavior change. A must-read for any insight pro looking to solve sticky behavior problems with new thinking. […]

The life of a qualitative researcher often has us flying in and out to new cities with little regard for the places we visit when conducting research. Nick Wise reminds us that “therapeutic recreation”—like absorbing the public art landscape on our travels—can help us transition from a mind that is always full, to an outlook that is more mindful of what else is out there. […]