Invisible Influence The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior By Jonah Berger 3 stars
Berger wrote a short, story-driven overview of how choices we think are logical or emotional, but certainly personal, are heavily influenced by external factors. Experiments are described and anecdotes told, but very little actual data is presented. This makes a very readable non-fiction book, but I found it unsatisfying. The footnotes sometimes provide more information and everything is referenced, but those references are not easily accessible. Especially for some of the more extreme results I wanted some samples sizes, replicates and percentages. For example, a highly generous welfare packaged was described to people, but when told it was supported by Republicans or Democrats the participants sided with their party even when it defies everything that party believes. Was the wording exact? Did 40% support against their beliefs or 80%? Did only those who identify strongly with their political party support such an extreme shift? None of this information was included, only that people supported or rejected the policy in sync with their preferred party.
The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior
By Jonah Berger
3 stars
Berger wrote a short, story-driven overview of how choices we think are logical or emotional, but certainly personal, are heavily influenced by external factors. Experiments are described and anecdotes told, but very little actual data is presented. This makes a very readable non-fiction book, but I found it unsatisfying. The footnotes sometimes provide more information and everything is referenced, but those references are not easily accessible. Especially for some of the more extreme results I wanted some samples sizes, replicates and percentages. For example, a highly generous welfare packaged was described to people, but when told it was supported by Republicans or Democrats the participants sided with their party even when it defies everything that party believes. Was the wording exact? Did 40% support against their beliefs or 80%? Did only those who identify strongly with their political party support such an extreme shift? None of this information was included, only that people supported or rejected the policy in sync with their preferred party.