|
| 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
You Save: £8.50 (50%)
New (30) from £8.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 1018
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
|
| Customer Reviews:
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.
A surprisingly well-paced and entertaining read March 24, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
The author of this book has recently gained a new media visibility as a result of the recent credit crunch, having been interviewed by such luminaries as Evan Davis of the today programme. Such folk have been seeking an explanation of `what went wrong' and it could be argued that this book helps a little with that.
For myself, I can say that I thought it provided fascinating descriptions of his and others' experiments into some surprising and not so surprising traits of human nature - with a bias towards how they impact on the world of business, economics and social policy (not as dull as that might sound) .
However, I can only agree with SOME of the other reviewers about this book; the author was too inclined to launch himself into speculative flights of fancy in which he extended what were pretty basic experimental results into a manifest for curing many of society's ills. This did get a little irritating at times and was more than step too far in places.
My experience of this book was not all negative, though, and I finished it (which can't be said of a lot of other books I've started lately). Dan has a very easy to read writing style (he's a pretty charismatic spieler too - hence the interest of Evan Davis et al) which made the book a bit of a page-turner in a non-fiction kind of way.
Methinks a profitable career as a management guru awaits the author and this book won't do him any harm - it is a good read - with the caveats mentioned above.
 Fascinating, extremely interesting though sometimes strange March 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an exceptionally interesting and sometimes strange book. It explains many things about how shops/stores market to us. How they use decoy offers to push it to buy the one they want us to purchase. It also looks at the fascinating "free" offers that litter our stores and how our minds pick up on them.
It also looks at how and why people procasternate. One of the strange research experiments carried out was to see how peoples decisions were affected while in a state of arousal.
The end result is a fascinating read that engages you to turn the next page. Excellent stuff
Interesting read that helps us see what shapes our decisions March 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this book a really interesting read. Kept me interested all the way through.
Don't expect to learn any thing absolutley mind blowing, but it is useful as it can help you see the many repeat decisions that we make that aren't necessarily the best choices. Like the "I've GOT to have that item, because it's in the SALE!" etc.
It helps us see that under different circumstances, we may make different decisions to what we would with a clear mind.
Ok you may say I know all that... but the way the writer ties in the little experiments to prove his theories makes it sink in a bit more.
The idea is to try and look at the principles he discusses and if we apply them to our life the aim is to help us break the mold and make better decisions.
A worthy read.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
