Wouldn't it be great if we understood why humans do the things we do? We're an unpredictable bunch, and most of the time we're not even sure why we've done things ourselves. Why on earth, for example, did I spend three hours looking at subscription boxes online yesterday? (Actually, if you read to the end of this article, you'll be able to suggest a few answers to that.)

Airbnb recently funded a digital campaign to promote tourism to destinations that President Trump allegedly referred to as "s---holes." The money was used to promote the company's listings in Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. In a series of tweets, Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky shared photos of destinations in Haiti, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Morocco. One Chesky tweet said, "2.7 million guests from Airbnb decided that countries in Africa, El Salvador and Haiti were beautiful enough to visit. When we embrace the world, we see its beauty."

Customer experience can define a company and make or break its fortune. Innumerable communication channels present marketers with a fragmented landscape along with heightened customer expectations and diminishing brand loyalty. Gone are the days when marketers had a finite universe of a few favorite web sites, television, radio, print, and out-of-home when trying to reach their audiences. Not only has the media diet changed, the purchase path consumers take is no longer linear, nor can it be prescribed. Instead more careful attention and understanding is required of brands to identify ways to drive sales, build loyalty and retain customers.

In a matter of months, machine learning shifted from cutting-edge science to a tech-industry buzzword. Specifically in advertising and marketing circles, it's gaining a reputation as a magic bullet; however, machine learning is simply a technique to use computational power to solve specified and difficult problems. Across the board, marketers have to focus on identifying their campaign goals and then find the right tool to reach them.

This year's Super Bowl saw ads addressing social issues rise dramatically from an average of just over 6% over the past 10 years to close to a quarter of the ads in this year's game. We can expect a similar trend in the Olympics. Advertisers are familiar with research showing that millennials like it when brands attach themselves to social causes, but it is possible that if there is a glut of such messages, many won't stand out.

Asking hippies for money and electrocuting dogs - two things that psychologists did in the 1970s, and two things that help to tell the story of modern marketing psychology and why people see it as the monster it is not.

Influencers are everywhere. We see them in our feeds, on TV and in the media. In the last few weeks alone, The New York Times has published several feature articles on the phenomenon of social media influencers. What was once just a topic for trade publications has taken center stage in the mainstream media.

Decades ago, consumer engagement used to be a personal experience. Brands communicated with local customers they knew by name, interest, etc. The growth of online purchasing has led to greater choice and convenience for consumers, while innovation in digital advertising has brought huge scale and lower costs for marketers - all at the expense of personalization.

Sports is a billion-dollar industry undergoing significant disruption. Leagues and teams are facing decreasing attendance and broadcast ratings for the first time in decades. However, although growth rate forecasts are shrinking, there are still audiences to be found.

After Amazon Spark launched a few months ago, we conducted a study of our influencer community and found few even knew about Amazon's foray into influencers. We had the opportunity to speak with one of our influencers who was invited to join the program. She provided her assessment of the platform and what Amazon Spark needs to do to satisfy influencers and make its program more successful.