News Release

Laura Brinn

Duke University's
Fuqua School of Business
1 Towerview Drive
Durham, NC 27708-0125

Tel +1.919.660.2903

laura.brinn@duke.edu

Related Information

Visit Professor Richard Larrick's MPG Illusion Web page

Gallons Per Mile (GPM) Calculator

Watch the video

The MPG Illusion Blog

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Fuqua Professors Recognized by NY Times Magazine

Research leads to online fuel efficiency calculator

December 15, 2008
Gas Pumps - GPM
The MPG Illusion

Think in terms of "Gallons Per Mile"

Research by Fuqua Management Professors Richard Larrick and Jack Soll was recognized in the New York Times Magazine's "Year in Ideas" issue published Dec. 14, 2008.

 

The pair's work on the "MPG Illusion" was published in Science in June, and demonstrated that consumers are better able to judge fuel efficiency when it is expressed in gallons per mile "GPM" rather than miles per gallon "MPG."


In order to help consumers overcome the difficulties of using MPG, Larrick and Soll have created an online GPM calculator that people can use to find their current GPM, compare cars, or see the GPM for all 2009 cars.


More information about this research, including an interactive fuel-efficiency quiz and a video of Larrick and Soll discussing their work, is available at mpgillusion.com.