The power of decision-making

Bob Nice, once the chief scientist of American Fast Prescription Company. This doctor, who studies applied behavior in the medical field, has widely applied his theoretical experience to fields other than medical care, such as workplace, family and community.

with the rigorous and scientific thinking peculiar to science students, he carefully designed a set of programs and systems and carried out large-scale experiments on the basis of a large number of related works written by predecessors and according to the most basic human behavior norms. Finally, with powerful experimental data and scientific analysis conclusions, tell us the truth about the subconscious mind, decision-making and behavior.

This book is a summary and expansion of Dr. Bob Nice's existing experience, supported by a large number of research samples and experimental experiences, which provides us with a theory completely different from the perspective of ordinary psychologists. The strategy he introduced is very practical in life.

In the long process of evolution, the brain has formed some instinctive tendencies that are no longer adapted to the modern environment. These tendencies have great limitations, resulting in a deviation between our good intentions and our actual behaviors. However, this limitation can be remedied. Seven strategies can help us to stimulate the good intentions hidden in our hearts, and make scientific decisions on this basis to achieve our goals.

The human brain can receive 1 million bits of information every second, but only 5 bits of it are processed consciously, and 99.99% of the other thoughts are unconscious. In other words, a large part of human actions are done by the brain in a subconscious state, which we simply don't realize and can't solve.

"5-bit thinking mode" tells us that many times, the wrong choice is not necessarily decided by bad ideas. On the contrary, most people have good intentions in the subconscious. What we need to do is to stimulate these good intentions and turn them into positive behaviors.

helping people to mobilize their "5-bit thinking" and let them seriously think about their real needs and ideas can effectively bridge the gap between their real needs and actual behaviors.

during the presidential election between Obama and McCain, Obama's campaign team found that in Indiana, the support rate of white people over 3 who were willing to vote for McCain was 16 percentage points higher than that of Obama. They know that it is impossible to change the minds of these voters, so they do the opposite and concentrate on persuading local young people to vote. Because Obama's support rate in this group is much higher than McCain's, Obama finally won.

During a particularly difficult period of American economy, while the donations received by other charities were greatly reduced, the personal donations received by a non-profit organization called Smart Pet Charity soared by 85%. It turns out that this organization has a close relationship with a pet product retailer. At the checkout counter of the retail store, a pop-up window will appear on the screen of the checkout counter, which shows the words "whether to donate money for homeless pets". This setting has mobilized customers' "5-bit thinking" and successfully activated their inner goodwill.

Research shows that most of the decisions we make about diet are spontaneous, not deliberate. If you put candy at your fingertips, it may lead to more blind eating. If you put it far away, you can effectively reduce the amount of food you eat. Because candy is at hand, eating candy becomes a subconscious behavior. After taking candy far away, whether to walk over to get candy is a matter that needs to be considered with "5-bit thinking". This simple change can help us manage our weight more effectively.

let people make certain decisions at present to weaken the attraction of certain behaviors in the future, or make them completely impossible. If you think watching TV is a waste of time, it's hard to control yourself. Then, you can move the TV or put it in a place where you can't watch it comfortably.

let people accept a better behavior by default, which most people will not object to.

Most people never leave a record of their willingness to donate their remains before they die. In some countries, if people want to donate organs, they must sign a declaration of consent before they die, while in other countries, they donate by default, and they only need a declaration if they are unwilling to donate. Statistics show that the organ donation rate is between 85% and 1% in countries that donate by default, while it is only 4%-27% in countries that need to sign a donation statement.

use clues or reminders to attract people's "5-bit thinking". In American supermarkets, two major cereal brands, Kellogg's and General Mills, have tried their best to achieve one goal, that is, to occupy the shelf at eye level. For packaged food, the position on the shelf is particularly important, and putting the goods in the position that is most likely to be seen by consumers is an extremely effective sales means. Similarly, the prompt sound after the washing machine is finished and the irritating gas is added to the natural gas to remind people to pay attention to the leakage. These are all clues to attract people's attention and get more attention.

use more touching words to express information, thus affecting people's behavior.

In an experiment on how to encourage hotel guests to reuse towels, the hotel set up two different placards in different rooms. One was simply calling for "Please help save the environment", and the other was using the power of social norms to write "Save the environment with other guests who had stayed in this room". The effect of the two placards is obviously different, because people often pay special attention to group behavior patterns and imitate them when making decisions.

when communicating with patients, if the company recommends patients to adopt a more cost-effective scheme and emphasizes "how much money may be lost if this scheme is not adopted", the effect is twice as good as "how much money can be saved if this scheme is adopted".

guide behavior habits in a way that most people think is more interesting and enjoyable.

At the beginning of the 2th century, a toothpaste named "Bai Su De" was introduced to the United States. In the following 1 years, the number of people brushing their teeth in the United States showed explosive growth. It turns out that mint is added to this toothpaste, which makes Americans feel the cool and refreshing experience in the process of brushing their teeth, and unconsciously develops a good habit of brushing their teeth every day to prevent tooth decay.

reasonable simplification. To sum up, it is to make the right option simpler and easier, and to make the wrong option more complicated and more difficult. If the name of a drug is difficult to read, then the popularity of this drug will be lower than that of similar drugs with easy-to-read names. Similarly, if the company wants to encourage employees to strengthen physical exercise, climb more stairs and take fewer elevators, it should set the stairs in an easy-to-find place. And the lighting conditions and environment should be very good to make it look more attractive; And set the location of the elevator farther away.

Written by Wan Chen

Brain map: Moses

Narration: Jack Sugar.