There is no doubt that people are strange. That includes you and
especially me!
A number of studies into social psychology in the 1960's sought to
look at how this strangeness affects the way we live our lives and
conduct our affairs.
In 1966 experimenters went door to door in a suburban
neighbourhood asking residents if they would agree to a huge
advertisement reading, "drive safely" being erected in their
garden. They were shown a picture of how it would look. Just so you
know the photo showed a lovely home almost totally obscured by the
billboard.
Astoundingly 17% of those asked said yes.
Why? Who knows? More interestingly was the subset of the group who
2 weeks earlier had been asked to display a small 3-inch square
notice saying, "drive safely" in their car windscreen. 76% of this
sub group had agreed to the massive billboard.
It seems that they had bought into the concept, and that having
done so they were far, far more likely to go with the obliteration
of their front garden.
I like to think I am public spirited and would likely have bought
into the 3 inch sticker, but what I find disconcerting is the fact
that it might have persuaded me to carry on to the less rational
decision. Am I an oddball? Not looking for an answer, by the
way.
The phenomenon at play is the trick known as 'incremental
commitment'. Deep down we value consistency almost above anything
else. Once we have committed ourselves to a cause, relationship or
deal it takes a lot to move to a contradictory view.
Sometimes, it seems we act contrary to our best interests in order
to be consistent to others or ourselves.
Knowing this maybe will help us put distance between what we have
done in the past and how it influences our activity in the
future.
Business relationships based on what we did last year, or those
that rely on us narrowly focusing only on the trajectory we have so
far followed may miss opportunities and make us behave in
irrational ways.
By all means invest in the relationships you have, but check on
their performance from time to time, with an objective mind.
When we are not acting in our own best interests, the first person
we need to negotiate with is ourselves.
Written by Alan Smith, Scotwork UK
PS The above article explains a little known phenomena that the
motor trade and many other brand driven businesses rely on heavily.
Once someone has bought (committed to) a product or "brand" they
unconsciously seek to validate their purchase ie prove it was the
right one. For this reason alone many people will often buy exactly
the same vehicle again just to prove that their decision the first
time round was correct. I would like to think that my purchase of
the albeit new model of the same car last year was based on
rationale decision making and benchmarking, I did after all check
out several other marques and models but who knows for sure?
I do have one colleague, probably one of the smartest people I
know, who has bought the same expensive European vehicle several
times over despite the last two spending more time in the workshop
being repaired under warranty than they spent on the road, one was
completely replaced it was so bad!
Mark Simpson, Scotwork NZ
