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BUAD 307 Chapter 4-6 Contagious
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- BUAD 307
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- University Of Southern California
BUAD 307 Chapter 4-6 Contagious
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Chapter 4: Public (for discussion on 3/29-31)1. What did Apple decide to do with respect to the logo on its PowerBook laptop?
Apple Decided to flip their logo so that the apple appeared right side up (as opposed to upside
down) to the public, or those looking at the computer—not to the person actually using the
computer.
At first Steve wanted the logo to face the user when they opened it. However, he soon realized
that it was upside down to the rest of the public. They faced the dilemma and decided to flip the
logo. This is because of the concept of observability. Jobs realized that seeing others do
something makes one more likely to do it themselves. A key factor in driving products to catch
on is public visibility. "If something is built to show, its built to grow".
2. What does “social proof” involve?
Social Proof is the idea that if other people are doing something, we assume it must be a good
idea. We imitate others and look to others for social cues.
Social proof operates under the assumption that people conform to what others do or believe.
People are more likely to vote if their spouse votes, go to a restaurant if the line is long, and
more likely to quit smoking if their friends quit. People imitate in part because others' choices
provide information.
3. What was observed concerning the New York City Halal Chicken and Gyros?
That the almost identical food cart across the street called Halal Guys had absolutely no line
while Halal Chicken and Gyros had a line stretching all the way down the block. Even though
they both deliver the same food, Halal Guys has never developed the same following because
of social proof. People assume that the longer the line, the better the food must be.
It is a food cart that got ranked in the top 20 in the city and has lines going down the block and
is always crowded with people sometimes waiting an hour to get their food. However the owners
of New York City Halal Chicken and Gyros have an identical food cart across the street.
However, this restaurant never has a line. This is because of social proof, people assume the
longer the line the better the food must be.
, 4. What appears to be the reason why so many donated kidneys are rejected by patients
to whom they are offered?
Based on social proof. Considering that the transplant is offered to the people highest on the list,
and lets say you're number 90. Then 90 other people have turned down that kidney. So due to
social proof, if it has been denied by many other people, you're likely to assume that the kidney
is low quality and reject it. People make their decisions based on what other people are
deciding; even though the kidney just may have not been a match for the 90 previous people.
97.1% of kidney offers are refused. The author says it is because people who are down the list
get offered kidneys that were passed up by everyone ahead of them on the list, so they do not
want it. However, this is because most kidneys are not a match. Siblings only have a 25%
chance of being a perfect match, so it is very hard to find matches. Therefore, the author makes
the point that 1 out of 10 kidney denials is misinformed and a mistake because of social proof.
5. What did the study of MBA students and their life plans find?
Before students entered the MBA program they possessed a diverse set of career paths. But
once they were a year into the MBA program, many students changed their career paths to
investment banking or consulting, due to social influence. Students aren't sure what career to
choose so they look to others.
When asked at the start of the MBA program, students said they wanted to be politicians,
entrepreneurs, build a travel website, reform the healthcare system and a handful said
investment banking. However, a year into the program he said the answers were all much more
similar with ⅔ saying they wanted to enter the Investment Banking world. At the start there may
be 20% who say investment banking, then a few join and it becomes 30%, it continues to
snowball.
6. What was the experience at the University of Arizona on campaigns to reduce binge
drinking among students? How does this idea apply to anti-drug advertising?
It was found that most students were against binge drinking. But the reason as to why so many
students continue to binge drink is due to social proof. When you see your peers drinking and
feeling happy about it, you assume you are the outlier and then have another drink. But
students don't realize that everyone else is having the same negative binge drinking thoughts
because thoughts are private and students don't share. It's an ongoing cycle.
The University sent out a survey to understand the problem of drinking. The first campaign
involved posting flyers, ads in the school paper, she even put a coffin in the campus center with
statistics on the number of deaths related to alcohol. None of this seemed to put a halt to the
problem. Koreen Johannessen then talked to students and asked and was surprised to find that
most people were not fans of binge drinking, saying they were pissed to hold people hair as
they yacked ect. If most students were uncomfortable with drinking why was it such a problem.
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