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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

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Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

41 reviews
Sales Rank: 559

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4

ISBN: 0007256523
EAN: 9780007256525
ASIN: 0007256523

Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book dispatched from stock in the UK

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Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Have you ever wondered . . . . ? May 11, 2008
Have you gone to the shops for something and come away with something completely different? Do you make decisions that you sit back later and wonder what on earth led you to make them? Dan Ariely is a researcher at MIT who has looked at our decisions in the world, why we make them and also what use is made of the decisions in the marketplace. Reading this has given me a depper understanding of some of the Psychology behind marketing and I think I have actually changed my approach when out shopping. What does the second item cost when you "buy one get one free"?

4 out of 5 stars

And you thought you could not be manipulated!! April 24, 2008
This book is one of a very small group of books where I can say they really changed my views. I fell into every trap - of course I knew how I made decisions, and I was far too sensible to be manipulated by others - wrong!! This is a fascinating books which describes clearly, simply and credibly how (amongst other things) our purchasing decisions are not based on real value but on perceived values, and how those perceived values can be imprinted by otherswithout our realising. This book should be mandatory reading for all, in order to give us a fair chance against the clever people whose sole aim is to control our actions for their own benefit. PLEASE READ THIS!!

4 out of 5 stars

People Are Predictably Interested In More Than Money April 22, 2008
Only a professor of behavioral economics would conclude that when people respond to motives other than money they are being predictably irrational. If you want to see some clever experiments that demonstrate that people are interested in things other than money, read this book.

I would like to observe, however, that such experiments have to be taken with a grain of salt when people know that they are experiments or reflect unexpected questions rather than serious looks at on-going behavior in areas where people have a lot of experience. For instance, the book looks at whether and at what price Duke students will sell basketball tickets they have just put a lot of effort into getting. Clearly, there are factors other than profit that motivated the buying in the first place. Most students probably wanted to get lucky and go to the game. Selling a ticket under these circumstances denies the opportunity to go to the game. A ticket broker would make a rational decision about whether to hire students to try get a ticket this way, but a student who does this a few times wouldn't. Study the ticket broker and you'll get more economic behavior. Study the student who wants to go the game and you won't. So why should we be surprised?

I remember being a subject of a lot of these experiments as a student. If the experiment struck me as particularly stupid, I would often feel rebellious and do things to act in noneconomic ways just to prove I was a person. I didn't see that effects like those are being studied here.

If you want to learn about human behavior, I suggest you study all of the motives . . . not just try to understand the economic motives.

In addition, some of the experiments probably depend in part on the common meaning of certain words being different than the definition that a professor would use. I think the experiments about certainty and probability wording may be tainted by that problem.

Professor Ariely is a clever fellow, but I think he stretches his conclusions further than they deserve. He's also interested in finding ways to make people look stupid rather than appreciating the genius that most people exhibit routinely. I couldn't help feeling that there was too much economic motive in his desire to write this book (a P.T. Barnum approach rather than trying to truly educate).

5 out of 5 stars

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.

4 out of 5 stars

Unpredictably interesting April 18, 2008
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!