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| Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions | 
 enlarge | Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £8.49
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New (21) from £8.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 1522
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0007256523
EAN: 9780007256525
ASIN: 0007256523
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 It explains a lot..... April 19, 2008
I was intrigued by the publisher's blurb for this book, "why do smart people make irrational decisions every day", and I wasn't disappointed.
In the book Dan Ariely looks at the way expectations, social and emotional forces act on us and he explains how we are conditioned to be unable to resist free offers and why we "buy one get one free" even though we could buy one cheaper elsewhere and we don't need two and end up throwing one away! He demonstrates our irrational behaviour with carefully constructed experiments.
Chapter 4 is particularly interesting in that it examines social and market norms and the way that companies need to be clear which area they operate in. He also looks at education and concludes that the increased testing of children in schools, a market norm, is unlikely to improve education and schools should return to social norms.
Written in an easily readable style, recommended.
Unpredictably interesting April 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Any book that seems to predict your behaviour is both intriguing and, let's face it, a bit scary. I started this book with a measure of cynicism - everyone seems to be cashing in on the self-help style book these days. Well, I don't mind eating some humble pie - I was wrong.
To start, this isn't a self-help book. It's a study of human nature. But that's not to say it doesn't offer some advice on how we can combat these 'hidden forces'. Each chapter covers an area of our 'predictable irrationality' and Ariely uses straightforward experiments to support his theories. For example, let me tell you one part of the book that applied to me.
I used to pick up a coffee on the way to work two or three times a week for about 1.20. It was decent enough coffee and a nice treat. One day I passed by my local Cafe Nero. I bought a cup for 2.15. It's a bigger cup, much nicer coffee. Next time I pass I'm buy it again. Soon I'm buying it five days a week because that's become normal. I don't even think about it - it's as habitual as my three meals a day.
Then I read this book and to tell the truth I felt slightly sick when I read the part of the book where Ariely describes exactly this type of scenario. I sat back and thought, "I've gone from spending 2.40 a week to 10.75". I went cold turkey and stopped my daily coffee!
It's a bit of a waffly point I know but what I'm trying to highlight is that Ariely's book holds up a mirror. Think you're above irrationality? Think again. I have a friend who has now bought the book and half way through she admits to being as freaked out as me.
It's well written, not too wordy, not condescending, funny in parts and I should imagine most people would be able to identify with some parts. The downside? Ariely offers some ways to rise above this 'predictable irrationality' but by the end of the book I almost felt like there was a sort of resigned 'well, we can try but we are who we are' feel. However, let's be fair, Ariely is one man and one man can only do so much.
An excellent book and one I would certainly recommend but don't be surprised if it makes you look a little harder at yourself. But you never know - it might save you the 8 a week it's now saving me, so it's got to be worth it!
The Marketing Man's New Nemesis? April 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an often fascinating examination of how advertisers can so easily exploit us poor punters. Ariely proves his theories through a range of experiments which gleefully illustrate just what a bunch of gullible saps we are. However, `knowledge,' as they say `is power' and I suspect most people having read this book will feel far better equipped to spar with the black arts of advertising and see the subtle and insidious techniques they employ for what they really are. This book has succeeded in making me question my own choices and purchasing habits and I actually feel more liberated as a consumer as a result (I'm still not immune from the odd bit of non-rational splurging though: who is?).
All in all a very engagingly written and worthwhile read.
Useful route into behavioural economics March 30, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I bought this having seen Dan Ariely speak at LSE recently. He was an engaging speaker and his research sounded interesting.
Having read the book I was left a bit underwhelmed, because I found that I was already familar with both some of the research and a number of the concepts, and was tempted to give it 3 stars. However on reflection that's probably a bit unfair. This is actually a good book for people interested in learning about the field of behavioural economics. It's nicely written with a chatty style, and some of Ariely's research is very interesting.
Just a few snapshots to give you an idea of what this book covers. He looked at subscription packages for The Economist and found that and obviously bad deal led people to choose an option that was like it but obviously better (because it gave them a way to measure the options). In contrast when there were two options that were different but hard to compare they tended to just go for the cheap option.
In a maths test where subjects were given a cash reward based on the number of problems solved and were given an opportunity to cheat, he found that asking them to recall the Ten Commandments ahead of the test appeared to make them less likely to be dishonest.
And in taste tests people prefer Pepsi to Coke when tasting blind, but prefer Coke to Pepsi when they know in advance when they know what they are going to drink. This suggests that we prime ourselves to enjoy something we expect to enjoy.
If this all sounds 'obvious' to you, to some extent you are right (although there are many examples in this field that are counterintuitive). But people like Ariely make the point that although in a 'common sense' way we know that we are easily influenced and 'irrational', policy is often still made with the assumption in mind that we behave as rational self-maximising economic agents.
One point that can be, and often is, made in return is that although behavioural economics is good at describing seemingly irrational behaviour, it is yet to prove itself as a useful resource for designing better policy (although opt-out, rather than opt-in, approaches to both pension saving and organ donation are arguably influenced by behavioural insights). And in fact Ariely's book is at its weakest when he tries to suggest ways that his research findings might inform policy (I'm not surprised that the bank didn't call him back about his credit card idea!).
So for someone such as me interested in policy the book is enjoyable, but a bit limited in value. However if you are new to this field and interested in finding out more this is a good starting place, and you may well find yourself surprised by some of the findings.
Predictably Irrational March 26, 2008
'Predictably Irrational' looks at our behaviour from a consumers point of view and explores why we behave the way we do. It looks at ideas as varied as decoy selling, procrastination, arousal, the allure of free items, suggestion, honesty and more. It may sound a touch dry, but I was immensely surprised at just how fascinating and readable this book was. The authors style is easy to read and the experiments used to illustrate the various points really add to the clarity. A lot of this book has concepts you may have considered or heard before, and others that are plain common sense, but where this book excels is in making them clear to the reader and allowing you to relate them back to your own behaviour. You will never look at a shopping trip in the same way again, and that may not be a bad thing at all. A clear, fascinating read with some interesting ideas to explore. Well worth a read.
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