Carla Fried

Writer

About

Carla Fried is a freelance journalist who specializes in personal finance, with a keen interest in how behavioral issues impact consumer decisions. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Money magazine, Barron’s, Bloomberg, CNBC and Consumer Reports.

Illustration of a manga cartoon Research Brief / Consumer Behavior

What’s in Your Social Media Feed?

On anime sites, what one’s friends are watching is the most persuasive prompt to engage

LA Dodger Manny Ramirez taking a swing Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

Not All Second Chances Are Good Ones

Hengchen Dai finds that hitting the reset button can help those who have recently struggled, but erodes the motivation and execution of top performers

Illustration of a young man looking into a mirror, reflecting his older self Feature / Time

The Healthy Upside of Thinking about an Older You

Consciously imagining our older self can spur us to take better care of ourselves now

A group of people climbing a mountain peak Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

Why Kickstarter Funders Quickly Kick in the Last 5 Percent

Research shows that people have a sincere desire to see projects take flight

City landscape at dusk Research Brief / Housing

Could Costly Housing Bring Down Superstar Cities?

Stuart Gabriel’s research shows how a vibrant economic hub loses essential residents

Suburban neighborhood under construction Research Brief / Real Estate

Quantitative Easing Kept the Foreclosure Crisis from Being Even Worse

The Fed’s gambit didn’t trigger a home-price recovery, but research shows it reduced subprime foreclosure risk

A man shopping for soap Research Brief / Marketing

When It Pays Not to Help Your Customers Comparison Shop

Rakesh Sarin creates a model that shows consumer “ambiguity” about product quality should drive marketing and brand management strategy

Illustrations of a timeline Feature / Time

An Aerial, as Opposed to Ground-Level, View of Time

A novel framework proposes to reduce angst over schedules and lives

A castle with a moat Research Brief / Investing

The Moat That Keeps Complex Asset Strategies Profitable

Andrea Eisfeldt finds that hedge funds with infrastructure to execute sophisticated arbitrage crowd out less-expert investors

A woman having coffee in front of a laptop Research Brief / E-commerce

Online Coupons Work in the Moment but Don’t Seem to Alter the Seller-Shopper Relationship

Studying 1 million Alibaba users, Hengchen Dai mostly confirms the transactional nature of internet retailing

Illustration of a house, cap, rings, car keys, baby crib Feature / Nudges

Behavioral Nudges Timed to Certain Days are Effective Motivator

Dates of milestones — major and minor — can spur us to action

Illustration of the word NOW Research Brief / Happiness

Happiness and Living in the Moment: Westerners Haven’t Quite Put Them Together Yet

Asians, more than Americans and Europeans, make a point of experiencing joy in the short term

A laptop with Netflix Research Brief / E-commerce

Streaming Choices: Do We Follow the Big Crowd or Our Friends?

The ubiquitous community-wide customer rating is the biggest pull in helping us pick a movie or show

Two people watching a Progressive Insurance ad on TV Research Brief / Advertising

The Limited Payoff in Auto Insurance Advertising

Ads aimed at brand awareness are shown to be more effective