From issues of bodily autonomy to climate change to social equality, the world is increasingly polarized, and even companies can't escape hot-button topics. While once, organizations could keep their positions on divisive issues to themselves, consumers are demanding they take sides. But should they? And how can brands weigh in without alienating the people who disagree with their stance? Assistant professor Rhia Catapano explores how businesses can navigate these polarizing topics on the latest episode of the Executive Summary.

Show notes:

[0:00] In 2022, Disney and the state of Florida became embroiled in a polarizing debate over the state's alleged "Don't Say Gay" bill, which Disney opposed, albeit belatedly.

[0:56] Once, businesses could stay silent when hot topics arose, but today consumers are demanding they take sides.

[1:32] Meet Rhia Catapano, an assistant professor at the Rotman School of management who studies consumer persuasion.

[2:20] Brands most often worry about consumer boycotts when they take stances their audiences disagree with. But that worry might be misplaced.

[2:49] Consumers tend to buy from companies when it's inconvenient to maintain their boycott.

[3:14] We're also likely to change our memories, thinking we boycotted a product, even when we still loaded it into our carts.

[6:10] And we often believe signaling our intentions to boycott is "enough," so we feel less guilty even as we're purchasing items from a brand we've said we'll avoid.

[7:36] So if we're so bad at boycotting, why should businesses care? For one, the reputational hit is very real.

[7:51] There are always cases where brands don't have to worry - particularly when the audience boycotting the brand isn't it's target audience. See Nike, Colin Kaepernick and the social right in the U.S.

[8:31] But when the audiences align, boycotts are particularly effective in this age of social media. First, because social media makes it easier to propagate messages.

[9:23] Second, social media creates a "safe space" to share polarizing opinions.

[10:10] So how can companies navigate hot button issues? First, make sure you're not being a hypocrite.

[10:49] Consider how you frame your stance around an issue, and what you want to achieve by making public statements.

[13:08] Be real about whether you can take the heat.

[13:58] And consider new audience opportunities when your values don't align with your existing customer base. "It makes the most sense for the company to stick to what are their core values and what can they do that will align with what they've done in the past and what they want to do moving forward, rather than trying to please everyone.

We often reach adulthood without ever being taught how to process our emotions. But an unprocessed emotion never goes away; it simply festers and grows.

Associate professor Maja Djikic joined the Executive Summary podcast to talk about how to identify if we're bad at processing our feelings, how we can get better at it, and what role organizations have in helping their leaders and teams understanding that skillset.

Show notes

[0:00] “A lot of discussion on managing emotions has to do with how to make emotions go away. Usually they're seen as something negative, something you don't want to have. This is why being called emotional seems like an insult.”

[0:48] Meet Maja Djikic, an associate professor at Rotman who studies adult development and authored the recently released book, The Possible Self.

[1:18] If there’s one thing she wants you to know about emotions, it’s that an unprocessed emotion never goes away.

[1:36] Emotions are tied to our goals, and when we ignore them, we might be missing out on important information that helps move our lives forward.

[2:05] What is an emotion?

[2:30] How are our emotions tied to our goals, and how does this present itself?

[2:53] Positive emotions reinforce that things are going well.

[3:10] Negative emotions might tell us something is wrong on our path to our goal. For example, fear might tell you that you’re afraid of getting fired, and that your relationships with colleagues have gone amiss.

[4:15] People are bad at processing and understanding their emotions.

[4:25] Some of this is evolutionary – our fight or flight instinct often kicks in when we have a strong emotion.

[5:07] Let’s sidebar to explain the difference between processing and expressing emotions.

[5:55] The other reason we’re bad at processing emotions is we’re likely never taught how.

[6:45] The first step in processing emotions is to recognize you’re bad at it and work to improve that skillset.

[7:16] The second step is to recognize you’re having a strong negative emotion and bring your pre-frontal cortex back online.

[8:34] Step three is to identify what you’re feeling and try and link it back to the goal you’re trying to achieve.

[10:11] Why does this matter for a workplace? Leaders who can’t process emotions create toxic environments.

[10:55] Learning to process feelings should be top-down.

[11:17] As a leader, how can you help your team better process their emotions?

[13:10] And when those around you can’t or won’t learn to process their emotions? “If you're in a situation where the leadership is not interested at all and processing there. So then that becomes a choice for you to stay or to leave. There’s all these people around me they're doing a lot of negative expression because they're not able to process. They don't seem to be interested in anything to do with processing in education. Okay, well, how long do I want to hang out here?

A recent study from BMO found that Canadians believed they would need more than $1.7 million to comfortably retire. Yet many individuals nearing retirement have less than $100,000 saved. Why is thinking about saving - even when you have the means - such a daunting prospect? Assistant professor Avni Shah joined the Executive Summary to explain the behavioural barriers to retirement savings, and showcase some of her research into how we might overcome these blockers. 

Show notes

[0:00] Retirement is a rich man’s opportunity, and many people don’t feel they’ll ever have the luxury. 

[0:30] Meet Avni Shah, an assistant professor of marketing who studies how and why people make financial decisions. 

[1:14] People probably aren’t saving enough for retirement, even if they understand conceptually that they need to save more. 

[2:08] Why? Well, we have a bias towards dealing with the needs of today…

[2:35] …the future is hard to imagine… 

[3:07] …and it’s cognitively costly to think about ephemeral things like money when it’s so far into the future. 

[3:33] Finally, the narrative around retirement – living your best life – might not be effective for large swaths of the population. 

[5:35] Avni partnered with Ideas 42 and the Mexican government to help increase the rates of voluntary retirement contribution. They devised three experiments. 

[5:46] How the Mexican pension system works. 

[6:18] How does beautifying a form impact retirement savings? 

[8:20] To increase your desire to save, tell yourself a story about your future. 

[9:40] Sometimes what’s requires is a shift in messaging. Instead of selling the idea of “saving for your future,” companies might want to consider selling the idea of “saving for your family’s future.” 

[11:58] But it’s important to remember that any behavioural nudge is going to be contextual, and there’s no one-size-fits all approach. 

[12:48] Simplifying information can also backfire if the info that’s left is demotivating. 

[13:34] And, for individuals, picturing your life in retirement can be a huge motivator for squirreling away a bit more cash. 

[14:06] “It makes it easier to see and it's something that is beneficial to them to say okay, that in conjunction with then making it savings automatic and can be tremendously valuable in encouraging people to save and really living in a way that they're not scared about the future.”