To be newsworthy, be timely AND insightful
And, Now In the “We Needed A Study for THAT?” Department
The school of business at Duke wants to help you with that little problem of finding a fuel-efficient vehicle in these energy strapped times. Well, let me let them tell you what they’ve done, those creative little dears:
Gallons Per Mile Would Help Car Shoppers Make Better Decisions
DURHAM, N.C., June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Posting a vehicle’s fuel efficiency in “gallons per mile” rather than “miles per gallon” would help consumers make better decisions about car purchases and environmental impact, researchers from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business report in the June 20 issue of Science magazine.Inspired by debates they had while carpooling in a hybrid car, management professors Richard Larrick and Jack Soll ran a series of experiments showing that the current standard, miles per gallon or mpg, leads consumers to believe that fuel consumption is reduced at an even rate as efficiency improves. People presented with a series of car choices in which fuel efficiency was defined in miles per gallon were not able to easily identify the choice that would result in the greatest gains in fuel efficiency.
For example, most people ranked an improvement from 34 to 50 mpg as saving more gas over 10,000 miles than an improvement from 18 to 28 mpg, even though the latter saves twice as much gas. (Going from 34 to 50 mpg saves 94 gallons; but from 18 to 28 mpg saves 198 gallons).
These mistaken impressions were corrected, however, when participants were presented with fuel efficiency expressed in gallons used per 100 miles rather than mpg. Viewed this way, 18 mpg becomes 5.5 gallons per 100 miles, and 28 mpg is 3.6 gallons per 100 miles — an $8 difference today.
“The reality that few people appreciate is that improving fuel efficiency from 10 to 20 mpg is actually a more significant savings than improving from 25 to 50 mpg for the same distance of driving,” Larrick said.
hmmm…or should I say, in honor of the Duke’s School of Business, “What the Fuqua?”
I’m sorry but did I miss that executive summary that says “Big car, truck, uses more fuel and takes you less places between fill ups; little car, scooter, bike, unicycle, skate board, feet, probably uses less for potentially more trips.”
Well, I’m inspired.
Because obesity among youth is such an issue, I’m doing my own study on weight loss and health. It should be done in …oh, wait it’s done. Here’s the key finding:
Eat less; do more; finish your veggies, get your butt outside and if you want to be a real guitar hero, learn how to play a real guitar, Chubby.
Could work for adults, too, but I need to research it a bit more…OOP! ….yup, works for them, too.
Done.
With the PR goggles on, I can see why Duke would send this now; of course that rationale and my insight on it ranks right up there with their “drive-less-in-smaller-things-to save-more” cure.
It’s all about taking advantage of newsworthiness, aka “news pegs,” to apply one’s expertise to a gaining media attention.
But, watch the line between opportunist and insightful here, you little Blue Devils - we’ll call you when it’s basketball season, k?
