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| Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions | 
 enlarge | Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (138 reviews)
Sales Rank: 214
Format: Roughcut
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.4
ISBN: 006135323X
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.83
EAN: 9780061353239
ASIN: 006135323X
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Great Read for Communicators August 16, 2008
I found this to be a pleasant and thought-provoking book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the fundamental underpinnings of human behavior. All of Ariely's observations are research-based and are presented in an extremly accessible manner.
One chapter of the book struck me as particularly important for communicators. "The Cost of Social Norms" explores the benefits and the risks of creating a social versus a purely business relationship with customers.
Done well, the social approach develops longer-term deeper relationships between the customer and the business. The customer acts on a sense of connectedness in the business and sustains the relationship through continued interactions and transactions.
Done poorly, the social approach can create a break-up with all the animosity of a nasty divorce.
This one is staying on my bookshelf.
 Amazing read! August 13, 2008
This book suprised me with its deft mix of accessible reading and intelligent summary of research. The author's conclusions are easy to understand, easy to believe considering his research, and easy to apply to all sorts of areas of life. Applying his observations can improve a person, business, or a country economically, socially, and emotionally. You simply have to read this book to understand it. And it is well worth it.
Figure Out People By Identifying Patterns August 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In writing and speaking on the subject of human behavior, I often remind people the secret to dealing with a person's explosive anger. Although the anger may be unexplainable, the explosions are quite predictable.
Such is the framework of a relatively new discipline called behavioral economics, which is featured in Dan Ariely's book, "Predictably Irrational-The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions." Where standard economics presumes humans to be rational beings, Dan Ariely and the theory of behavioral economics portend we are not only fundamentally irrational, but that we make the same mistakes over and over.
Ariely has plenty of fascinating research to back up his claims, including information on procrastination, a suggestive language technique called priming, a marketing technique referred to as "decoy pricing" and why, as a society, we steal from our own employers.
Stealing is a crime, so it's especially intriguing to learn that it's easier for most people to justify stealing when the pilfered item is one step removed from cash such as supplies.
Employee-related theft and fraud in the workplace costs American businesses around $600 billion annually. By comparison, all robberies, burglaries, larceny and auto theft cost about $16 billion in 2004.
There's a name for what people do when they buy clothes, wear them and then return the garments for a refund. It's a type of stealing called "wardrobing" and it costs retailers $16 billion per year.
This information has far-reaching consequences. The author is convinced that our irrational consumer spending habits can errantly convince someone that he is affluent.
Noting that Americans regard uniqueness as a positive character trait, Ariely notes that people with a need for uniqueness are sometimes willing to sacrifice personal utility for "reputational" utility.
One might think the concept of predictable irrationality to be rather depressing, but the author offers many suggestions for improving our situation, including self-control credit cards and a program called, "save more tomorrow," that allows employees to save a percentage of future salary raises.
It seems as though Ariely performs the bulk of his research on college students, who one might argue are even more irrational and less predictable than the rest of us.
"Predictably Irrational" is read by the Simon Jones in his great British accent. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Marketers, business owners and anyone who examines human behavior will find this book a very worthwhile read. -Michael Angelo Caruso, www.EdisonHouse.com.
i liked it but felt the author was reaching August 8, 2008
I enjoyed the book. It was an easy read. I felt the author didn't have enough focus. It felt like the author was trying to make a book out of ramdom studies he had done that while interesting still left me with the impression that he was reaching. So the point of the book he kind of forced is that people are not rational mostly because they are social beings and that is more important than being logical, and this is what is predictable, hence the title. Still I reccomend this book because I find hman behavior so interesting and the more we understand it the better off we are.
Economics with a little twist from the Freakonomics August 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dan Ariely has written a very engaging look into experiments he has conducted over his tenure at MIT. He starts with his medical history of his third degree burns over his body. Ariely does this to make the reader aware of his inspiration to "discover what people really like" in the world. His first example is removing the cloth from his wounds in a fast or slow motion. The nurses are sure the fast rip with a quick flash of pain is the best way; however, this makes Ariely begin to wonder the truth behind this common assumption.
The book flows in and out of his history and there did not seem to be in chronological order. The reader could skip around the chapters to their own delight. Ariely has made the book approachable for anyone with an affinity for experiments and the "why" behind the decisions. This approach has been made popular by "Freakonomics", "What Sticks", "Economic Naturalist", and many other books along the same line. I enjoyed Ariely's book the most of the new economist book series.
Chapter Six, Nine, Eleven, and Twelve were my favorite chapters out of the thirteen in the book. Procrastination, Expectations, and Honesty are all prominently featured in these chapters. I did not feel I could better understand all the subjects he discussed in the other chapters any more than before for various reasons like I have read it, heard it, or not interested were the main reasons.
I believe people should give Ariely's book a look just to see where some of his antics and experiments are different from the aforementioned books. It is approachable and a joyful read that is over before it begins. Ariely has done something to set himself apart from the economist books before him and also borrows some of their insights for his book. If anything check the book out from the library to see his experiments in action and know why human beings are predictably irrational.
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