First, rationality is relative and absolutely irrational.
The most basic premise assumption in western economics is the "rational man hypothesis", that is, everyone engaged in economic activities takes economic actions and tries to obtain the maximum economic benefits with his minimum economic cost. But in fact, due to the asymmetric effect of market information, a completely "rational person" cannot exist, and it can only be regarded as an abstract concept in theory. Although unwilling to admit it, it is difficult for people to make every decision at a rational level because of the subtlety of feelings and the complexity of human nature. The motivation of life comes from the ups and downs of emotions and impulses under the calm appearance, as well as from everyone's hidden weaknesses and shortcomings. It is these "irrational" emotions and feelings that make us act irrationally, although we may subconsciously think that we are making decisions rationally.
Second, the top ten psychological traps
The author lists ten psychological traps through rich and informative cases:
1. Contrast effect
Contrast effect refers to our perception of a thing, which does not depend entirely on it, but on what kind of things it is put together. Whether a thing is attractive or not is often because of the "foil" of things around it. For example, a jacket worth 1000 yuan is unsalable. In order to promote sales, a slightly inferior jacket was placed next to this jacket at the price of 1500 yuan. In contrast, the jacket worth 65,438+0,000 yuan is a best seller because of its high quality and low price.
Evaluation effect
When people judge an object, they can be divided into two situations according to the decision-making situation evaluation model: individual evaluation without comparison object and joint evaluation with comparison object. When evaluating separately, people pay attention to whether the object itself is good or not; In the joint evaluation, people are concerned about whether the object is better than other reference objects. Different evaluation models may further lead people to evaluate the same object completely differently under different evaluation models. For example, high-end fashion and luxury goods mostly have their own separate sales channels, while those relatively ordinary and cheap goods are dazzling in supermarkets. Carry out different product combinations to improve consumers' buying opportunities.
3. Compromise effect
When people make choices with uncertain preferences, they tend to prefer the middle option, because the middle option can make us feel safe and won't make serious decision mistakes. In other words, people often pursue the "golden mean" when choosing products. For example, the price list given to you by Tony, the barber shop, distinguishes between ordinary hairdressers, senior hairdressers, senior hairdressers and store managers. Most people will not choose the cheapest one.
4. Sunk cost effect
It is easy for people to continue to invest because of their previous investment in something, and even if they continue to invest, they may lose more. In other words, people don't measure gains and losses from the present perspective, but include all the costs that happened in the past. Therefore, even in the face of more losses, people choose to continue to bear the losses because they are distressed by the original expenses, and they also invest more. For example, for the same stock, if the price people bought in the past is higher than the current share price, most people believe that this stock will rise in the future, so they are not only reluctant to "sell", but are more willing to "make up". However, if they have not bought the same stock at a high price in the past, people will judge more objectively whether the stock will increase in price in the future.
5. Loss avoidance effect
When the expression of choice focuses on "income", people tend to reduce risks and choose the safest way of income; When the selected watch focuses on "loss", people's risk-taking tendency will increase. In other words, people's risk tolerance for "gains" and "losses" is asymmetric, and their sensitivity to "losses" far exceeds their desire for "gains". For example, the profit of the health care industry is based on the fear of various diseases and "sub-health".
6. Endowment effect
After people have something, it is not easy to give it up voluntarily. People tend to think that what they have is more valuable than what others have. In other words, ownership will change our subjective perception of the value of this thing, make it difficult for us to give up and let go, and make us pay a higher price for it. For example, car owners who sell used cars will think that their cars should be higher than the market price.
7. Mental account effect
For money and assets, people will classify and treat them differently, and set up various "accounts" in their minds to manage and control their consumption behavior. For example, the "gift marketing", which is often called "ritual sense" now, must be a special expenditure in festivals. Most people don't usually buy this fee, but they can accept it as a gift.
8. Transaction validity
When consumers buy a commodity, they will get two kinds of utility at the same time: acquisition utility and transaction utility. Among them, utility depends on the value of goods to consumers and the price consumers pay for it; The validity of the transaction depends on the difference between the price paid by the consumer and the reference price of the commodity, that is, whether the transaction has received preferential treatment. For example, "Double Eleven", "6 18" and the live broadcast of the anchor will guide consumers to go shopping crazily and even buy things they don't need.
9. Reference effect
When the value of an item is unknown, in order to give a quotation, people need to rely on a benchmark price. The so-called "anchor" is our first impression of things. The result of anchoring effect is that people rely too much on first impressions when judging things. Even though we know that relying on the first impression is unscientific and inaccurate, we can't get rid of the influence of the first impression after all. For example, in the clothing market where counter-offers can be made, bosses often pay high prices.
? 10. Overconfidence effect
More than 70% people will overestimate their qualities in all aspects. Even those who usually can't smile with a straight face think that their sense of humor is better than that of ordinary people. Overconfidence will increase a person's ability. Only those who are sure and truly believe that they will win will show an unquestionable chance of winning, but overconfidence is also easy to distort the judgment of the real situation and make unreasonable predictions. For example, after the subprime mortgage crisis, many fund managers and CEOs of investment companies would rather resign and close their companies than admit that they did something wrong.
Third, some opinions.
The biggest feeling after reading this book is that the routine of business operation is too deep. The essence of enterprise management is to grasp human nature. People are always guided by some seemingly reasonable laws to make unreasonable behaviors. Only by knowing yourself, others and routines can we really walk freely in the social jungle.