The Upside of Irrationality - A Review

Yet another enjoyable and educational read from Dan Ariely.

A few observations :

1)  On the 'agent' & 'principal' bit in the case of revenge chapter, I think that the reason why people would direct their revenge towards 'principals' even   though it is their 'agents' that are at fault, could very well be that the 'principals' are thought to deserve punishment for employing those 'agents' in the first place. The 'rationale' could be "If you didn't hire these people, then I wouldn't be unhappy and therefore, would not feel the need to punish you."

2)  Coming from an advertising background, I now know why some form of advertising can become blind spots. In the chapter on adaptation, because of our ability to adapt, it can cause us to, over time, pay less and less attention to things around us, which for me includes advertising, which would then render such things as unnoticeable.  So note to self, do not come up with advertising that stays the same for a long period.  Must vary.


3) Still on the chapter on adaptation, Ariely says that it's better to split up pleasurable experiences into bit sizes instead of indulging in long stretches. I think that's precisely what's happening with addicts, no matter the type. They need their regular fixes, and because their "pleasurable experiences' are constantly being disrupted (e.g. lack of money), they're always wanting to get back at it over and over again.

4)  In the empathy and emotion chapter, Ariely cited the example of the American Cancer Society, which to me, felt like a successful ad campaign. The clever use of the word 'survivor' had the desired psychological effect in compelling large groups of people to donate more. And that's exactly what advertising does; change the behaviour of the target audience to get them to do something they don't normally do.

5)  The long term effects of short term emotion chapters was particularly interesting from an advertising viewpoint. For many years, media buy is based on where most of your target audience would be. But it never takes into consideration the emotional state of the target audience. If you wanted people to be more receptive to your message, wouldn't it be better to ensure that your messages are placed in situations where your target audience may be in the right frame of mind to accept them?