You May Think You Make Rational Decisions But You Probably Don't
Invisible mental forces work all the time to shape your decisions
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In the past few posts, we have talked about the relationship of two thinking partners: System 1 (the automatic thinking part) and System 2 (the deliberative thinking, analyzing part). We described the interaction between the two as System 2 making a choice after an objective analysis, and System 1 adopting and implementing the choice, which is partially accurate. Reality is more nuanced, as usual, and it turns out the two systems continuously interact symbiotically. For example, where does System 2 get the information it needs to analyze, evaluate, and eventually make a choice? The answer is from System 1. Feelings and perceptions first go through System 1 before being passed to System 2, and herein lies part of the problem.1
Image created by Ed Paulson using Dall-E
A few weeks ago, we talked about priming and how it shaded everything we heard afterwards. We saw that events just prior to our current situation invisibly influenced how we reacted to the one immediately in front of us. Kids know this from a young age. (“Don’t ask Mom - she had a bad day. Ask Dad - he got a promotion today!”) Kahneman presents the following example of priming in “Thinking Fast and Slow.”2
“If you have recently seen or heard the word EAT, you are temporarily more likely to complete the word fragment SO_P as SOUP than as SOAP. The opposite would happen, of course, if you have just seen WASH. We call this a priming effect and say that the idea of EAT primes the idea of SOUP, and that WASH primes SOAP.”
System 1 is the automatic word and sentence recognizer, and it leaves determining the sentence meaning and context to System 2. Priming by a previous word influences System 1 to interpret what it sees not necessarily as things are, but what it has been influenced to expect from the priming. Priming is at the heart of advertising images which, for example, show people having a great time at a family restaurant. The image creates name recognition for the restaurant combined with a fun expectation in the mind of those who see the ads. If I am later looking for a place to go eat and have fun with my family, that restaurant is likely to pop into my mind?
Professional salespeople understand the effects of priming and are careful about the words used in customer interactions specifically to manage priming’s influence. I’ve spent hours reviewing the wording of RFPs (requests for proposal) to ensure that all information was presented in the most positive light. Or ensuring that any major in-person presentation was carefully choreographed and scripted to lead the audience through a positive experience with the intent of fostering positive discussion later on within the account.
One common priming shift is related to the difference between using the words cost and investment. Cost implies losing something today to get something.3 Investment, on the other hand, implies that by parting with some money today you will benefit in the future by creating income or appreciated value.4 We would often do a detailed lifecycle analysis to show that investing today was a sound decision that will reward the customer with financial benefits long into the future. The intent was to focus the prospect’s attention on the future benefits instead of the check they will write if they say “Yes.”
If the discussion is framed around a cost, then the salesperson is at a disadvantage because the prospect’s System 1 will be primed to interpret all that follows in the context of losing something. On the other hand, if the prospect thinks of the purchase as an investment, then their System 1 will be primed to focus more on the potential future benefits derived from making a smart purchase today. The financials are the same, but the perception difference between cost and investment is large.
I knew that a sales meeting was on the right track when we started to focus on the details of the lifecycle analysis and less on the costs. This meant that they had bought into the investment idea which salespeople call a Buy Signal. As mentioned in an earlier post, this is the moment when the conversation would shift from being distant and doubtful, to more friendly, curious, and trusting. System 1 was now our friend not the barrier.
Real estate staging is all about priming System 1. The time spent sprucing up the house exterior, entrance and foyer pays off as interested buyers walk through the rest of the house. Staging creates a positive initial perception (positive priming) which positively tunes System 1 as it forms judgements about the rest of the house. The goal is to create a positive first impression so that the primed System 1 filters will tend to view things through a positive filter instead of a “This place is a dump!” filter.
Where is System 2 in all of this? As usual, System 2 gets involved when things have progressed to the point that some type of decision or analysis is involved. The two systems are always in a dance, and the dance is mostly invisible to us.
BUT … This is important: System 2 will be primarily working with the perceptions provided to it by System 1. This means that if the perceptions of System 1 are tainted in any way, then System 2 will be working with tainted information while performing its analysis. Herein lies a problem.
This elegant dance between System 1 and System 2 is remarkable and sophisticated but it was developed tens of thousands of years ago when society did not look like it does today. Aspects of early development do not apply today as they did when the initial neural connections were developed.
Only through increased awareness about these systems interaction can we appreciate the benefits of the systems while also remaining vigilant of where outdated connections are invisibly influencing our choices.
Next time we will look at how experience affects our thinking and the power, along with the pitfalls, of following your intuition. Fun stuff …
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT ALL OF THIS?
Sharing your thoughts will nudge others to share theirs and allows us to learn from each other. I am only one voice and collectively we can add depth to these weekly meetings. Do these concepts feel right to you? Do you not buy it? When was a time when priming caused you to make a choice that you later regretted?
By sharing you also help determine future post topics. You are collectively my System 2, telling me where to focus my attention for future posts.
#DanielKahneman, #DecisionMaking, #Influence, #Neuroplasticity, #Sales
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Intuition also mostly lies with System 1 and that will be a future post topic.
A detailed look at the workings of System 1 and System 2 by Daniel Kahneman.
That it's a good comparison!. System 1 and 2 are dancing together all the time, but I think at the end System 1 will always dominate each situation.