Nudge: Following the Herd

Chapter 3
Follow the Herd

 

   Now on the third chapter of Nudge is Following the Herd. This chapter is mainly about how our minds tend to follow things that others do. This happens to most sociable people but as the book says not so many economists are sociable. They only talk when they gain something. In a basic way, we are nudged by each other. Do you know the history of ties? What are the uses of a tie? Ties were originally used as napkins, which may not even sound like much, but have a use. People see other people wearing ties and now ties are a symbol a formality. Legends are believed and thought of from other people, who else, we are the ones who can choose to believe them. There are many tales that if you live with someone for a long time, you'll look like them. Its not entirely true, but there is a sense to it. You share the same diet, shelter, and lifestyle which in result contributes to a minor physical change. The goal and sole aim of this chapter is to see why social influences work as they are. I will be using examples of my own to help with understanding:

1. Living in a neighborhood with wealthy people and rich children will influence your child to want to have the stuff the rich children have.

2. Most people are using a certain brand perfume and they ask you if you are using it, you will feel left out because you use a different perfume.

 Doing what others do is nothing bad at all. It can help you follow the trend and not feel left out. But there are many nudges to this. For example, a soda company wants to promote their beverage, so they say, "Drink this beverage because its good." Thats a fairly simple and lame sentence, most people would comeback by saying stuff like 'who said its good?' A better way to say it is, "Drink this beverage because everyone thinks its good!" That sentence is not bad, some people would be convinced even though the sodas are the exact same thing but with different descriptions. To promote it even more you can put a famous person in it without changing the rest, like, "Drink this because Tiger Woods and everyone else thinks its good." Along with that, add the picture of Tiger Woods. An example from the book is situated in Texas. Apparently, Texas had a litter problem back than and was trying to promote 'No littering.' Most of the litter bugs weren't too convinced by this, so they had to step up. They made a new slogan, "Don't mess with Texas!" What do you notice about this? In other words, the slogan says don't mess with the people of Texas. Adding people to the topic changes things because people like to follow a bigger group of people, why not follow the whole Texas state! The Texas government was smart, they got football players from the Dallas Cowboys saying the slogan, so inspirational.

The Spotlight Effect


 Would you feel like you were in a spotlight if you were the only one wearing a T-Shirt at a conference meeting. For many people, that would be a 'yes.' Research show that many people feel that someone is watching them or that they're being stared at. If you were at a meeting then that would be true. But if you had a stain on your shirt at a party, would you feel odd. Don't feel too special because most people won't even notice it. In fact, a study shows only 23% of people noticing a stain on a persons shirt in a party. Thats very little compared to a spotlight.

Smiles frowns and saving energy is a paragraph on a social nudge which saves energy. Houses are told on how much electricity they use and the government rates how much they use with smiles. Along with that, they tell you if you use a good amount, little, or a lot. A house gets rated with a sad face and another with a smiley face. The house with the sad face uses less electricity and the house with the smiley face stays the same with slightly higher electricity. They change the amount of electricity they use all because of this information. Smart way of conservation for electricity.