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 enlarge | Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $16.22
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Rating:  163 reviews
Sales Rank: 142
Format: Roughcut
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 006135323X
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.83
EAN: 9780061353239
ASIN: 006135323X
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews:
 Engaging, Well Written, and Great Food for Thought November 23, 2008
My friend recommended this book to me and it turned out to be an absolutely great read. The basic premise of this book is that people do not act rationally and certainly not as the rational agents that one assumes in classical economics. Instead, we act in ways that would be considered "irrational" but are often quite consistent (hence the title).
Mr. Ariely is a professor in Behavioral Economics in MIT so his case studies are tested through experiments conducted on various college campuses. For example, one of his case studies examined the appeal of "FREE!". In the experiment, they put up a concession stand selling chocolates - Hershey's Kisses at 1 and Lindt Truffles at 15 a piece (you could only buy one). 73% chose the Truffle over the Hershey's Kiss, even when they raised the prices a penny. They then took the prices and dropped them a penny. With the Hershey's Kiss as "FREE!", only 31% of the folks chose the Truffle. According to rational economics, this total reversal in behavior makes no rational sense (the price difference between Kiss and Truffle remained the same), and yet it does make "common sense".
The book is filled with other such studies of "common sense" behavior tested empirically through different experiments. He closes each chapter with takeaway concepts which could be applicable in more substantial situations (i.e. if you want people to get preventative health care, it would be much more effective to make it FREE! instead of "really cheap").
Well written and very readable, it is well worth picking up -- not necessarily a classic tome that I must have on my bookshelf (I got my copy at the library) but is definitely worth the time to pick up and read.
Extremely Interesting November 13, 2008
This book is extremely interesting and a quick read. I couldn't put it down. I do not have an economics or business background but I found the topic of behavioral economics to be very interesting.
Amazing read November 4, 2008
This book is awesome. Basically distills a number of fields and ideas that most will already have had exposure with via living, school, etc - but does so with wit and great craftsmanship. Points out our shared irrationality in a novel, entertaining and education fashion.
Factual yet Entertaining November 4, 2008
This is such a great book that explains how predictable our mind works and despite so we often are irrational in making decision.
I really enjoy reading the book and I am sure you definitely will as somehow those irrationalities mentioned in this book were hardwired into our DNA.
 Predictably monotone October 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The premise is interesting, but the writing style didn't capture my interest. A lot of repetition. Yielded some useful insight. Overall, worth reading, even in a cursory manner.
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