"How Our Decisions Are Influenced by External Factors"

This article is Lu Canwei's 82nd original piece.

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Today, something interesting happened. When I was changing my flight ticket, the lady at the counter said she couldn't find my ticket. I even mentioned the flight time, but when I showed it to her, I realized I had bought the wrong time. The situation became quite awkward.

I can't even remember how many times this has happened. Buying the wrong time or mixing up the cities for round trips, and even when communicating with friends, I’ve sent screenshots, yet no one noticed the mistake.

So why does this happen? It's because the things we subconsciously focus on have a huge impact on our current purchasing behavior. Every time I buy the wrong time, it's because I was focused on a different time when buying the ticket. For instance, this time I mistakenly bought a ticket for next week. Of course, I've also made mistakes regarding the departure airport.

In September 1957, researcher James Vicary conducted an experiment that demonstrated how subconscious stimuli can significantly influence people's purchasing behavior. He set up a high-speed projector in a movie theater and flashed the messages "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Eat Popcorn" on the screen for just one-thousandth of a second. As a result, sales of Coca-Cola and popcorn increased by 18% and 58%, respectively.

It sounds plausible. If I inserted such fleeting clips with my information into a movie that a girl is watching, would she start to like me more? However, the reality seems different. After a television station reviewed this experimental data, they inserted such hidden messages into their program, but not only did their sales of smoked meat not increase, but their viewership also dropped from 4.6% to 3%.

Coincidentally, another broadcasting company conducted a similar experiment in a popular program. They inserted the message "Call now," which flashed over 350 times, and asked viewers to write to the station if they noticed any strange changes in their behavior. However, the number of calls did not increase, but the station received many strange letters... Viewers reported feeling odd impulses, like suddenly wanting a beer, wanting to strategize, or wanting to walk their dog. Although there is no clear evidence that subconscious stimuli affect viewers, to avoid making viewers subjects of experiments every day, the television association banned the use of subconscious information on TV networks.

In fact, many aspects of our daily behavior are influenced by external factors. These factors do not flash quickly on the screen; they operate right under our noses, significantly impacting our thoughts and behavior patterns. For example, when discussing accommodation for next week while purchasing tickets for this week, we might inadvertently choose the time for next week. When checking round-trip ticket times, we might also end up buying the wrong city due to the information we looked at for the return trip.

There are many similar instances. For example, when we are in a good mood, we are more likely to give others a five-star review. This is similar to the many comparison images I saw recently, contrasting high emotional intelligence statements with low emotional intelligence statements, and these external factors deeply influence our decisions.

For instance, at Hongqiao Airport, ride-hailing services pick up passengers from existing parking lots, which is different from Shenzhen, where there are designated pick-up points for ride-hailing. Many drivers wait in the parking lot for orders, and they incur parking fees during their wait. Especially for early or late flights, if they need to come to your floor to pick you up, they have to exit and take another route back in, incurring additional parking fees.

The first driver who picked me up honestly expressed this to me and said he was unwilling to come upstairs to get me, asking me to wait for him downstairs. I was very angry and canceled the ride because the driver was unwilling to pick me up. The next driver told me that the upstairs was inaccessible and hoped I would come downstairs; he was waiting for me in the parking lot. Although the outcome was that I went downstairs, people might say the first driver had low emotional intelligence and the second driver had high emotional intelligence. Or there could be other interpretations, but was my decision truly my own, or was it influenced by others?

Americans leave a total of $26 billion in tips at restaurants each year. Researchers found that if diners are in a good mood, they are willing to leave larger tips. They conducted an experiment where a card was attached to the bill, half of which was an advertisement and the other half a joke. Customers who found the joke amusing were much more generous with their tips.

Additionally, they conducted another experiment where if a server of the opposite sex touched a guest's palm or shoulder for 1.5 seconds while presenting the bill, this brief contact would lead to the guest leaving a larger tip, with palm contact being more effective than shoulder contact.

Our decisions are often influenced by these external factors. If we cannot change our internal state temporarily, we can try to alter external factors to influence many of our decisions. For example, writing daily updates is quite against human nature and very painful, but by writing a tentative title in my writing software, I start to consider how to write today's content.

Lastly, a side note: the so-called kino refers to physical contact that occurs to establish mutual attraction and comfort. So when you find yourself caught in one of the three great illusions of humanity, consider stepping back and reflecting on whether your decisions are truly unaffected by, for example, physical contact.

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