May 20, 2009
Popular Persuasion
Most of you have probably read some book by Robert Ciladini, whose books on psychology are often recommended by Charlie Munger. His latest book Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways tobbe Persuasive is great because 50 different models of human psychology and persuasion are broken out into an easy to understand manner. If you’re too lazy to read the book though, check out this link where you’ll find a good summary.
Today’s WSJ though had a good article by Carl Bialik on how these “Most Popular” lists create positive feedback loops and influence our perception. There is a great bit with Cialdini in the article:
Other recent studies have quantified the popularity of popularity in other settings. Signs telling guests at a hotel in the Phoenix area that towel reuse was the No. 1 choice among their peers increased the rate of this practice by 34%, compared with other signs with messages stressing the impact on the environment. Arizona State University psychology Prof. Robert Cialdini and colleagues found that rates went even higher when the signs specified that most prior guests in the same room reused towels.
“To the extent you can convince that, not just a lot of people are doing this, but a lot of people like [them] are doing this,” you’ll get greater buy-in, Prof. Cialdini says.
Another group of researchers demonstrated this with restaurant diners in Beijing. Table cards at Mei Zhou Dong Po, a Szechuan restaurant chain, touting the five most popular items boosted ordering of these items by 13% to 20%, according to a forthcoming paper by a team from Peking University and Duke University. “Part of it is reassurance that something is good and worth buying,” says Bill Paul, a restaurant-menu designer.
Calling these items popular is crucial, the researchers found, because other table cards that highlighted five sample items but made no claim on their popularity had little effect on sales. And the diners liked following the pack: “Diners who were exposed to the popularity information treatment are more satisfied,” says co-author Hanming Fang, a Duke economist.
Look at This Article. It’s One of Our Most Popular (WSJ)
That’s just an excerpt, be sure to check out the rest of the article. There are some other good examples of popularity being used to persuade us.
I checked the Morningstar stock screener for liquidation value and came up empty. This screen sounds good but what database allows the answer from boolean logic as a screen?
I checked the Morningstar stock screener for liquidation value and came up empty. This screen sounds good but what database allows the answer from boolean logic as a screen?