(Newsletter #13) Emotions & decisions: an underestimated combo?

For philosophers, writers or researchers, decision-making, as a complex process, with its visible and invisible constraints, is a formidable object of study.

Indeed, every second of every day, we make dozens of decisions, consciously and unconsciously. And when we do so, our thoughts, emotions, desires and reason collide. We then act on these decisions…

But did we ever consider that our emotions could make it easier to make decisions? Conversely, are we aware that the rational space of your brain is riddled with biases and fallacies? So, how can we improve our understanding and control of our emotions to enhance our decision-making?

This month, our Professors tackle this issue head-on, offering enlightening analyses and valuable tools for both professional and personal decision-making.

Don't forget that all these articles are available in French on edhec.edu.

Happy reading!

Anticipating emotions, building morality: ethical insights for organizations

By Fabian Bernhard - Professor at EDHEC and Family Business Chair Researcher, and Udo Rudolph - Professor at TUC

How well can we predict our own emotionality? What are the implications in terms of (moral) behaviors? In this article, the authors highlight that individuals tend to significantly overestimate how guilty they will feel about collective wrongdoing, which can influence their actions. They propose several concrete solutions - like accountability, simulations or cultural changes - to help organisations tackle this issue... Read this article

How (and why) user emotions in virtual experiences lead to greater impact

By Alena Kostyk - Associate Professor at EDHEC

Virtual reality is uniquely suitable for designing powerful communication tools & campaigns, as it places the viewer at the centre of a narrative. Museums, tourism operators, non-profit organisations, heritage sites... are increasingly adopting these technologies. The author details the role of emotions, memory and senses in the particular impact virtual reality can have. But VR is not a magic wand: it needs to be anchored in precise objectives and targets... Read this article

Addressing professional paradoxes: the importance of emotional intelligence

By Camille Pradies - Associate Professor at EDHEC

At work - as at home - everyone can experience, with varying degrees of intensity, what are known as complex paradoxes. In other words, we are all confronted with opposing elements that are interconnected and that persist over time. When professionals face paradoxes (related to time, money, scale, etc.), they are likely to experience emotional ambivalence, particularly when their values are on the line. The author argues in favour of emotional intelligence as a means of improving decision-making, relationship-building and problem-solving... Read this article

How leaders transform their emotions into assets for making decisions and fully embodying them

By Sylvie Deffayet Davrout - Professor at EDHEC and Director of the Leadership Development Chair

The so-called basic emotions - anger, fear, sadness and joy - are inescapable. They structure our minds, our reactions and our decisions, and are the subject of countless books, films and TV series... People are also confronted with them at work. And for leaders and managers, they are as feared - wrongly according to the author of this article - as they are powerful. How can we better understand these emotions and develop authentic, embodied leadership... ? Read this article

Martin Wetzels: “In Marketing research, analysis of images and video represents the next frontier for deeper insights”

An interview with Martin Wetzels - Professor at EDHEC

In which direction is the marketing research field evolving?

Marketing research is undergoing a profound transformation, fueled by the rapid growth of unstructured data sources. Today, researchers look far beyond traditional structured data, such as surveys, experiments, and secondary datasets, and increasingly focus on the vast, varied world of unstructured information. This includes text (e.g., social media posts and online reviews), images, video, voice, facial expressions, and even neurological signals... Read this interview

Anger, pride, guilt, regret… what role do emotions play in family firms?

By Fabian Bernhard - Professor at EDHEC and Family Business Chair Researcher, and Rania Labaki - Associate Professor at EDHEC and Director of the Family Business Chair

House of Gucci, Succession, Family Business, Inheritance... Fiction feeds on family businesses, their tensions, dynamics and emotions, often for the worse. Behind this simplified image, the reality is less ‘passionate’, more nuanced and prosaic. Here, the researchers address a number of questions: how are economic and emotional issues linked in family businesses? To what extent do these emotions have a history and form particular patterns? Do they originate in the private sphere and spill over into the professional sphere... ? Read this article

Illustration (header) 2025 - Anne Moreau