When Jonah Berger (Contagious: Why Things Catch On), a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, surveyed Palo Alto, Calif., residents about why they buy BMWs, he found a striking pattern. Many were quick to acknowledge that others might buy a car because it was "cool" or driven by high-status people, but they saw no evidence of these factors in their own decisions. In other words, "people could see social influence affecting others' behavior, but not their own."
This study is one of many that Berger elucidates in Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior. He is adept at making rigorous research accessible and entertaining to a general audience. Readers need not possess an in-depth understanding of psychology to understand or enjoy his work, and many of the examples are relevant to everyday life. Invisible Influence covers topics such as why top athletes tend to be later-born children, how facial expressions make negotiations more successful and why groups of people come to inaccurate conclusions even when the correct answer is obvious. In each example, Berger breaks down the many, subtle ways in which social influence works on us without our realizing it.
More than a merely entertaining read, Invisible Influence provides suggestions for practical application of research. Whether a reader wants to become a better manager, less gullible consumer or more self-aware in general, Berger's research and conclusions make for a worthwhile and fascinating read. --Annie Atherton