Who shapes our regular decisions (routine to high importance like marriage)? Of course, it is us, who else? That’s where Jonah Berger, the bestselling author of Contagious, breaks the myths in his book Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior. He provides incredible insights on how our decisions are subjected to social influence which works in incognito mode and we never accept its existence for ourselves.
Imagine, you are at a nice restaurant having a party with five of your friends. After having nice drinks and food, waiter comes and asks for the dessert order. You want to have a chocolate filled brownie, but your seating is such that waiter would come to you last. So, the friend asked announces that he is too full to order anything. Similar expressions from all your friends. Now, when waiter comes to you what is your decisions, would you order or not?
At a basketball game, a team is trailing by just one point at the half time. Who will win the match? Where would you place your bets?
How can you ensure that people reduce their electricity consumption without any coercion or discounts? Can neighbor’s consumption of energy have any influence on yours?
Or, preposterously, will a cockroach run faster in a stadium filled with own species?
The book talks about such real cases and research and explores a mind-blowing unbelievable area of social influence.
A very interesting read to understand not only consumer psychology but general human behavior and how social influence can be used to induce minor changes which achieve implausible results. One can learn and apply that knowledge to see why social media has become crucial in the fields of politics, propaganda, advertising, and driving social change.
If you are interested in how digital technologies are influencing human behavior and how to manage digital products effectively, you may check this wonderful book –
Hooked: How To Build Habit-Forming Products, by Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover