Rethinking Entrepreneurial Thinking: Experiments on Cognition, Vitality, and Bias

Basil G. Englis
Berry College, USA

This talk will offer an integrative overview of experimental research on the cognitive micro foundations of entrepreneurial behavior, with implications for theory development in entrepreneurship and management.

The first stream of research focuses on how future-oriented cognitive processes (prospective thinking, counterfactual thinking, and perspective taking) influence opportunity recognition and the generation of high-quality new venture ideas. This work also examines the differential roles of episodic versus semantic cognition in entrepreneurial ideation.

A second research stream explores how subjective vitality and wellness, as shaped through affect regulation and meditation practices, influence decision-making modes, including effectual versus causal reasoning.

Finally, the talk will present research on heuristics and biases in entrepreneurial decision-making, with particular attention to the status quo bias and the role of metacognitive engagement in facilitating debiasing across entrepreneurial contexts.

Collectively, this work advances a micro foundational perspective on entrepreneurship by identifying cognitively grounded mechanisms that shape entrepreneurial judgment and action.

Basil G. Englis is the Richard Edgerton Professor of Marketing in the Campbell School of Business at Berry College. He holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology from Dartmouth College. His research focuses on consumer psychology, product and brand symbolism, sustainable consumption, mass media and consumer socialization, consumer lifestyles and values. Englis’ more recent work examines cognitive variables affecting entrepreneurial decision-making, innovation, and new product development. His research and scholarly work have appeared in more than 85 publications, including numerous articles and book chapters. Englis is Managing Partner of Mind/Share, a firm that specializes in custom online consumer research, expert witness and other consulting services. In that capacity, he has consulted with major corporations including Adidas, American Airlines, Black & Decker, Booking.com, Calvin Klein, E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Hasbro, Herman Miller, Nissan, PPG Industries, Vanity Fair Corporation, and VISA.

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