Reflections on Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational"

The primary lesson from the chapter is that our expectations give each of us unique perspectives, biases, and stereotypes that determine and shape our experiences. This contributes a significant clue in our quest of gaining valuable insights and/or designing valuable experiences for our customers. The information we provide our customers, in the form of colors, graphics, written and spoken information, as well as the information provided to them from outside sources (their own life experiences) affects their attitudes toward the product and experiences surrounding it. We can use this information to help us understand possible existing biases and perceptions our customers come with, as well as what information we should introduce to our customers, and in what way and when we should introduce this information. This theory introduced by Ariely in the “Predictably Irrational” chapter could also be supported by the examples provided by our guest speaker, Kate Canales. Some examples she gave for how people have different perspectives and therefore experience products differently, can been witnessed by the man who uses his Swiffer to wash his car or the woman who believes she needs four different types of toothpaste to complete her tooth brushing experience. Their held expectations determine how they view and use their products.

The main example Ariely gives is the 2 beer experiments he does at a pub at MIT. He provides two beer samples to each college student, one typical brew (Budweiser) and one MIT brew (Budweiser with a few drops of balsamic vinegar added). He varies the information provided to each student and observes the outcome – which beer will the student chose for a free pint after the tasting. The different variants in provided information were: no information given about either beer; information revealed about beer B containing balsamic vinegar before the tasting; and information revealed about beer B containing balsamic vinegar after the tasting occurred. The findings for the first experiment were: when no information was provided, students chose beer B, “the clear winner”( Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely); when the information was provided before the tasting, students visibly showed a clear dislike to beer B and chose beer A for their free pint. A second experiment was done to test the affect of information timing – what would happen if you gave a student the information about the beer being tainted with vinegar before tasting versus after tasting. In this case, at the end of the sampling the students were given the unadulterated beer and given the recipe and balsamic vinegar to add to their beer if they desired it. The findings for the second experiment concluded that the participants who were provided the information about the vinegar following the tasting were two times more likely to add the balsamic vinegar to their unadulterated beer then their counterparts who received the information before tasting beer B.

Expectations affect “nearly every aspect of our life” (Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely). An example of being affected by expectations would be if your friend told you about a new restaurant that serves excellent food. Knowing this information will affect how you perceive the food at this restaurant when you go to eat there. Your experience at the restaurant would be different if you had never received this information – you might think the food tastes better than you would have without the information. Another example would be a parent’s belief that their daughter is a great, possibly “the best”, dancer. This will affect their experience and perception of a dance competition that their daughter is in. They will believe their daughter is the best, probably seeing little to no mistakes in her performance, while seeing many mistakes in all the rest of the competitors. One last example is when a product promises to do something – for example, a product promises to help reduce “fine lines and wrinkles”. Does this product actually do this? A person using the product may believe that she sees a reduction in lines and wrinkles when in fact the cream has done nothing to change the appearance of her “fine lines and wrinkles”.