A new study by Elaine Chan and Jaideep Sengupta at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology revealed that flattery does work - even if the flatteree (is that a word?) knows that the compliment is insincere:What, however, of situations in which the flattery is clearly bogus - in that the recipient knows fully well that the flatterer is offering an insincere compliment, presumably driven by an ulterior motive? Instances of insincere flattery abound in marketing context - such as th
