Kwabena Donkor, a former taxi driver and now a Stanford assistant professor of marketing, accessed a dataset of 1 billion credit card payments for New York City taxi trips to delve into customer behaviour. As predicted, 97% of customers abided by the norm of giving a tip. However, whilst 60% of customers would choose a pre-set option of 20%, 25%, or 30%, when the total fare increased, the customers were less willing to use a pre-set option, opting instead to choose their own—likely less significant—tip amount. Read full article here
Societal Issues
To curb drug deaths, communities turn to Reddit, texts and wastewater
With drug overdose deaths on the rise, authorities are attempting to curb the epidemic by tracking and sharing information in real time. In one unique effort, a nonprofit in New York City is using drug-testing equipment and stamping or marking habits of dealers to identify drug batches that may endanger users. Other approaches are also being used, such as monitoring drug-related chatter on Reddit and analyzing local wastewater for opioid and other drug levels. With the combination of these efforts, researchers hope to put a dent in the opioid crisis and reduce overdose deaths. Read full article here
Merv
June 1, 2023
