Quotes About Influence

people's choices are pervasively influenced by the design elements selected by choice architects.

The nudge provided by asking people what they intend to do can be accentuated by asking them when and how they plan to do it. This

It follows that either desirable or undesirable behavior can be increased, at least to some extent, by drawing public attention to what others are doing. (Note to political parties: If you would like to increase turnout, please do not lament the large numbers of people who fail to vote.)*

It turns out that if you ask people, the day before the election, whether they intend to vote, you can increase the probability of their voting by as much as 25 percent!

If private companies or public officials think that one policy produces better outcomes, they can greatly influence the outcome by choosing it as the default.

Many smokers, drinkers, and overeaters are willing to pay third parties to help them make better decisions.

choices depend, in part, on the way in which problems are described.

The clear lesson here is that consistent and unwavering people, in the private or public sector, can move groups and practices in their preferred direction. More

The academic effort of college students is influenced by their peers, so much so that the random assignments of first-year students to dormitories or roommates can have big consequences for their grades and hence on their future prospects. (Maybe parents should worry less about which college their kids go to and more about which roommate they get.)

In our understanding, a policy is "paternalistic" if it tries to influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves. 3

When in a cold state, we do not appreciate how much our desires and our behavior will be altered when we are "under the influence

As for information and educational campaigns, one of the main lessons from psychology is that it is impossible for such programs to be "neutral," regardless of how scrupulously designers try to achieve that goal. So to put it simply, forcing people to choose is not always wise, and remaining neutral is not always possible.

if you want people to comply with some norm or rule, it is a good strategy to inform them (if true) that most other people comply.

Social influences come in two basic categories. The first involves information. If many people do something or think something, their actions and their thoughts convey information about what might be best for you to do or think. The second involves peer pressure. If you care about what other people think about you (perhaps in the mistaken belief that they are paying some attention to what you are doing—see below), then you might go along with the crowd

there is no question that social pressures nudge people to accept some pretty odd conclusions—and those conclusions might well affect their behavior.

The bottom line is that Humans are easily nudged by other Humans. Why? One reason is that we like to conform. Doing What Others Do

The three social influences that we have emphasized—information, peer pressure, and priming—can easily be enlisted by private and public nudgers. As we will see, both business and governments can use the power of social influence to promote many good (and bad) causes.

An especially good way to gain weight is to have dinner with other people.11 On average, those who eat with one other person eat about 35 percent more than they do when they are alone; members of a group of four eat about 75 percent more; those in groups of seven or more eat 96 percent more.*

those working men who, before prohibition, could not resist the lure of the saloon on the way home Saturday night

On average, those who eat with one other person eat about 35 percent more than they do when they are alone; members of a group of four eat about 75 percent more; those in groups of seven or more eat 96 percent more.

Often we can do more to facilitate good behavior by removing some small obstacle than by trying to shove people in a certain direction.

When people have a hard time predicting how their choices will end up affecting their lives, they have less to gain by numerous options and perhaps even by choosing for themselves. A nudge might be welcomed.

Alan Moorehead in The Fatal Impact (1966).

Our lives are products of our mind. What we are today is a result of what we thought yesterday. What we think today influences what happens to us tomorrow. Our entire lives are products of our mind.