For our second book report of the year, I chose to read Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior. This book was written by Jonah Berger, a professor at UPenn. He has written many books on social influence and digital marketing before, and this is one of his best reads yet, according to reviews. Invisible Influence is all about the subtle and abstract ways in which other individuals can affect our behavior.
Key Synopsis:
- In the book, Berger combines his intellect for research and thinking from business, psychology, and social science to focus on the detailed invisible influences behind the choices we make as individuals.
- The book begins with the story of Jonah Berger driving past a BMW shop in Palo Alto. Although not extremely relevant to the overall message, this did show us how he began studying social influence in the world. He would slowly bike up and down the roads of Palo Alto seeing if he could spot exactly where a BMW car would be parked outside. I was very interested in this slight “game” if you want to call it because he found that most BMWs were parked outside either dentist offices or gourmet grocery stores. This means that social influence with the cars would’ve been correct!
- The main storyline for Invisible Influence is seen through the five insights that Berger happens to talk about. The book organizes itself in more of an experimental manner with regards to focusing on social behavior and studying the results. All of the results that came from the five insights, also have implications for marketers as well. With this synopsis, the five insights that Berger explains are:
- We humans imitate each other.
- At the same time we are driven to be different.
- How the competing desires to imitate and to be unique play out depends on the context and who the “other” group is.
- The competing desires to imitate and to be unique mean the most successful new products are similar but just different enough.
- People perform simple tasks better when others are present but perform complex tasks better when alone.
Key Takeaways:
For the key takeaways I found with this book, the main objectives that Berger was trying to get across to readers was the explanation of his 5 insights. These insights will help explain the effects of social influence and behavior and show why individuals act a certain way. The main message of the book is to help readers make better choices by slowly revealing and reducing the effect that others have on our actions and everyday thoughts/interests.
- To explain the key takeaways for this book, I must explain each individual insight that Berger talks about. The book is split up into these 5 insights. Each insight has their own implication for different marketers in either social media or marketing in person. The examples that Berger shows help the readers understand social behavior as a whole and why individuals act a certain way in different situations. For takeaways, I will explain the top 3 insights I believe are most important in describing social behavior.
- Humans tend to imitate one another
- The first example that Berger uses is when people dine-in at high end restaurants. When people tend to eat at fancy and upscale restaurants, the prices and accommodations rise with the benefits that customers receive. If the perceived value of the food is elegant, the prices will increase and customers are willing to pay these upscale prices. With this, waiters will also receive a much higher tip than a chain restaurant because of the quality of service.
- Another example Berger uses is through crowds. He explains that nothing is more appealing to people than a large crowd. In the example, he shows a popular cheesesteak place in Philadelphia that always has a big crowd. No matter the line or wait time at this highly ranked food stand, people are willing to wait in the crowd because they know it is good food.
2. People are driven to be different
- A lot of individuals like to be part of a certain elite group of people. With this, Berger uses music as an example of differentiation being attractive. A lot of people will say “I like their old stuff” when referring to a certain band because it makes them seem abstract and different from the normal music people hear on the radio.
3. People tend to perform easy/simple tasks better when others are in the room
- This makes individuals more impressed when completing the easy tasks at hand and gives people acceptance when referring to behavior. Oftentimes people seem to perform harder tasks when they are confined or by themselves.
- Social comparisons can be a powerful motivating force but if not carefully designed, social comparisons can lead people to quit, especially if the “game” is set up as “winner take all.” Only the top contenders can get excited about that setup.
Personal Opinion
I believe this book is very interesting and insightful. Anyone who chooses to read this book can benefit from the intellect and suggestions that Berger has to offer. Based on social behavior, many individuals can see how others can affect their behavior in a social scenario. Berger believes that people will mimic others if they think this is the right course of action in a certain situation. This book is definitely an eye opening read that can help explain why people act a certain way. By understanding how social influence works, we can make choices on embracing these behaviors or resisting them, depending on the situation. Invisible Influence is overall a very informative read.
