Ron’s Reviews > Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions > Status Update

Chapter 12 was interesting; his thesis is that marketers have gone so overboard with their claims and small print that advertising we're putting up walls and adding new caveats in our minds to everything they say. Chapters 13-14 were about dishonesty and theft; nothing new here. The three key components to casual theft are desire, opportunity, and rationalization.

Chapters 10-11 cover expectations. Nothing terribly groundbreaking here; if you tell somebody that a thing was really good, they'll enjoy it more. This expectation bias also extends to prices; a brand-name medication is actually more effective than a chemically identical generic simply because we believe it to be so.

Chapter 9 is pretty short. We don't like narrowing our options, even if we're not sure we want what those options have to offer. In fact, we'll expand an inordinate amount of energy to keep those doors from shutting. Great achievers are often great because they devoted 100% of their time and energy to one cause, but for most of us, that's too scary. What if I want the other thing later and I can't have it?

Chapters 8-9 are about commitment. In chapter 8, they discuss why it's so hard to get rid of clutter or downshift to a more relaxed lifestyle. Once we have something, even if temporarily or only in our imagination (like an eBay auction where you're currently the high bidder), we have a hard time letting go. That's why free 30-day trials work so well; once that treadmill is in your house, it's hard to send it back.

Chapter 6 says we're less rational and more impulsive when emotions run high. No surprise there. The bigger deal is that we don't understand that about ourselves. Even after the fact, we tell ourselves that it was a one-time thing and we're not really like that, almost as if we were somebody else at the time. Suggestions include automated monitoring and intervention when high-risk behavior is detected.

Chapter 5 is more about social norms v. market norms. Suggests that Cap & Trade may create a perverse incentive by allowing countries to pay for permission to pollute. It may be better to get govts to see pollution as a moral or human issue and act according to their consciences. Seems like that's what we've been doing for the last fifty years with little result.

If you've ever had to explain to somebody why they can't give cash as a gift, chapter 4 explains this nicely. We often do favors for friends and family with the understanding that they'd do the same for us. Once money is introduced, we cross into the impersonal world of the free market and evaluate things more objectively, often meaning we'll only do as much as we're being paid to do.

It's a quick read, but so far he hasn't said anything too revolutionary. It's more like a book that people read so they can shake their heads at "those poor brainwashed consumers." As for the advice itself, of course someone who grew up paying $15 for a CD is willing to spend more than someone who's accustomed to pirating music. If you make stuff free, of course it becomes more appealing. It's not rocket surgery.