Predictably Irrational

I have just finished reading Predicatably Irrational – The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions. I enjoyed the book although personally I think in places it is rather predictable and that some of the findings seem fairly rational to me!

The format of the book also can become a little repetitive. Every chapter is basically, I thought this or questioned that, so I did an experiment with some MBA students, and here is the result that you were not expecting (or sometimes expecting in my case!).

The areas I found most interesting were around people’s perception of price and how this can be dramatically altered by creating a different environment or a different set of benchmarks for what the price should be. The exploration of why things hold more value once we own them, and why price is different to cost were also interesting. Less interesting were some of the chapters around human behaviour, which to me were fairly obvious conclusions – we are animals and therefore sometimes we don’t behave to a mathematical pattern which is entirely predictable. The observations about honest and human behaviour are also interesting but again in my view perhaps not so radical. More interesting was the research around our decision making and how peer groups can affect that. Overall some useful stuff, (from the perspective of a Norwich marketing consultant) particularly when considering how to stimulate sales or build a new proposition for potential customers, but not as exciting as Freakonomics!

So, you open your fridge and someone has left some Coke and some cash.  If you are thirsty maybe you will take the Coke, but if you need some cash, you still don’t pinch what’s in the fridge.  Predicatably Irrational…… you tell me?!!

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