Why Marketing Still Works…Because You’re So Damn Predictable

By Randy Jensen | Jan 20, 2009

I just finished reading the book Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. This book is amazing. It details how we continually, and seemingly predictably, make the same ‘bad’ decisions over and over again. Ariely focuses on ‘The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions‘ and conducts several experiments proving this ‘predictably irrational behavior’.

If the opportunity presents itself, will you cheat? …Probably.

In one of the experiments, he has several groups of students take a test. The first group (the control group) must take the test and then hand it in to the proctor. The second group was asked to recall 10 books they read in high school and then take the test. Once they are done, they checks their answers with the correct answers. They then shred the test and tell the proctor how many they got right. The final group is asked to write down as many of the Ten Commandments as they can and then are asked to take the test. Once they’re done with the test, they do the same thing as the second group of students.

The control group got 3.1/20 questions correct. The second group that recalled 10 books they read in high school got 4.1 questions correct, or 33% more than the control group. What happened with the final group? They answered on average 3 questions correctly, even though they had the same opportunity to cheat as the second group.

How can you use this information?

I can’t tell you exactly how you should use it, but as a higher ed marketing expert, here is where my mind takes this example. During peak registration times, no matter how many people you have working, the line of students always overwhelms even the most seasoned advisor. How about this: Crossword puzzles filled with words related to ‘patience’ and ’success’ for the students to do while waiting in line.

Will it work? After this idea is passed through enough committees and sub-committees to make the Federal Government look amateurish, I’ll hopefully report back with my finding.

Conclusion

This is just one of the many brilliant experiments that are documented in this book. I would strongly recommend this book to just about anybody, especially marketers. I would go as far as to say you MUST read this if you’re serious about marketing and want to better understand what your customer is thinking.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions