Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Predictably Irrational is one book that satisfies so many audiences that it is simply amazing, and it does an awesome job at that. Without delving into the research that Dan Ariely and his group of eminent researchers/friends have carried out - that would take away the fun of discovering some of the insights presented in the book - I must say that the book had great appeal for me as a business-person, as a family man & parent and as a person living in society at large. It has some very important implications for people working in government who are responsible for policy-making and for individuals who wish to avoid making mistakes they could've been making repeatedly. In all honesty, my behaviour has changed in some measure after reading this book and I think the results that I can monitor in the short-term, are positive. A really, really good book!!!

A well written and engaging look at some "irrational" behaviors that turn out to be - who knew?!?! - a whole lot less randon than we thought. I may never look at a sale flyer, or even a resturant menu the same way again.

This book is for intelligent readers in finance or marketing fields. I belong to both groups and find it very useful for marketing ideas as well as my own financial decision making flaws. Human behaviour is an important component of economics which is often not given as much exposure as it deserves.
I highly recommend this book.

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.

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.