Prime-Time Psychology And Persuasion

Persuasion psychology and behavior modification aren’t new fields. Robert Cialdini wrote the first definitive book on the topic more than 30 years ago, and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion continues as a best-selling business book even today.

More recently, Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational described deceptively simple experiments to show how human behavior is far from logical, and how it can be altered by small changes.

Another author whose books have raised our awareness of the realities of human behavior and how it can be changed is Dan Pink. His books include New York Times best-sellers Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.

Pink’s latest project, Crowd Control, promises to be the biggest step yet in popularizing persuasion and behavior science. It’s a prime time series on Nat Geo that uses hidden cameras to show how real people react to experiments in behavior modification.

Dan Pink, author and host of Nat Geo's Crowd Control

Dan Pink, author and host of Nat Geo’s Crowd Control

Behavior science may sound like an odd premise for a television series, but Pink, who hosts the show and is involved in the production side as well, makes it fun. In each episode, a common problem is identified and then a solution based on social science research is tested. Hidden cameras catch the action and show how simple interventions can make a big difference.

Here’s an example we can all relate to during the holiday season, “double dipping.” Pink shows how adding labels to bowls of guacamole put an instant end to the nasty practice of biting off part of a chip or celery stick and re-dipping the contaminated end into the communal dip:

I spoke with Pink to record an episode of The Brainfluence Podcast, and he explained that he was originally engaged for a brief consultation by the show’s producers. One thing led to another, and he became the host and co-executive producer.

While the show is clearly aimed at a general audience, it’s a must-watch show for marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone whose business involves dealing with people. Crowd Control draws on well-established academic research, but turns dry lab experiments into fun visual fare. Sure, you could read about the brain’s reward system in any number of books, but it’s a lot more enjoyable to watch tipsy revelers on Bourbon Street scramble to pick up trash when small rewards are at stake.

Another reward-based experiment shows how dog owners who might not usually pick up after their dog can be induced to hustle the droppings to the disposal location in record time. All it takes is a “Poop-o-meter” that displays the temperature of the, ummmm, recovered material.

Sometimes, the results are unexpected. I won’t spoil the surprise result when life-sized cardboard policemen were placed near bike racks to deter theft, but the hidden-camera video is hilarious.

While some of the experiments are unlikely to be scalable to the real world, and none are intended to have academic rigor, they are fun, clever, and illustrative of how our brains work. But, not all of Crowd Control’s experiments are impractical. In our podcast conversation, Pink revealed that one segment about cutting abuse of handicapped parking spots generated widespread interest from different cities and will likely be tested in multiple locations.

If you have any interest at all in psychology and human behavior, you’ll enjoy Crowd Control. Pink is an engaging host who references the underlying science without being pedantic or boring his audience. The show began airing a few weeks ago, but with the magic of today’s on-demand viewing you should be able to catch what you missed with no problem.

Roger Dooley is the author of Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing (Wiley, 2011). Find Roger on Twitter Twitter as @rogerdooley and at his website, Neuromarketing.

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