Goals: Reach for the Stars, Land on the Clouds

Today’s post is brought to you by Kanye West. In his song, Homecoming, from the album Graduation, he raps about making his city of Chicago proud by his entertainment success. The lyrics state, “Reach for the stars so if you fall you land on a cloud.”

Goal-Setting Theory

Mr. West’s advice is accurate according to researchers Edwin Locke and Gary Latham and their research of Goal-setting theory. They reviewed over 400 laboratory and field studies during a 25-year period and concluded that the harder your goal is, the higher you will achieve.[1] Or in other words,

So long as a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.[2]

More simply put, “high goals lead to greater effort and/or persistence than do moderately difficult, easy, or vague goals.[3]” 

Framing & Subconscious Priming

However, setting high goals is only one part of goal-setting theory. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts where I explain how subconscious priming and proper framing can help you achieve your goals.

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[1] Edwin A. Locke, Gary P. Latham, New Directions in Goal-Setting Theory, Association for Psychological Science, 2006, 265.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

Winning Friends - Imitation is The Greatest Form of Flattery

Perception-Behavior Link

Perception-Behavior link stands for the proposition that “we often simply do what we see.[1]”

Mirror Neurons - Behavioral is Contagious 

Perception-Behavior link is caused by our mirror neurons system.[2] We have the same neurons for perceiving an action as we do for executing that action.[3]  When we observe the behavior of another, we activate the same neurons in our brains that are active when we ourselves are performing that action.[4] Therefore, as early as 2 weeks old our brains are wired to automatically mimic observable behavior, such as facial structure and posture.[5]

 

Mimicry Increases Rapport  

There is now clear causal evidence that mimicry causes increased liking by interaction partners.[6] Mimicry studies conclude that,

 …participants who were surreptitiously imitated by the confederate liked the confederate more relative to participants who were not imitated. In addition, participants who were imitated indicated that the interaction proceeded more smoothly.[7]

So next time you’re on a date, copy EVERY movement your partner does! I’m kidding.  Perhaps you should save your cognitive efforts on simply listening. Your unconscious will then likely provide adequate mimicry.

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[1] Ap Dijksterhuis & Pamela Smith,  et al., The Unconscious Consumer: Effects ofEnvironment on Consumer Behavior, 2005, 195.

[2] Decety, J., et al, Brain Activity During Observationof actions: Influence of action Content and Subject’s Strategy, 1997, 1764.

[3] See Dijksterhuis, supra footnote 1,

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Id. at 196.

[7] Id.

Use Background Music to Increase Profits

While I was at my local coffee shop, I overheard a conversation by the two baristas. They were wondering what range of in-store music they can play. Being a huge fan of coffee shop music (especially here in Oakland), I wondered what incentives any management would have in controlling the in-store music. As always, I found behavioral science was able to quench my curiosity. 

Music Can Influence Consumer Behavior

A study conducted by Professor Ronald Milliman demonstrated that it is possible to influence behavior with music.[1] The study manipulated three conditions at a national supermarket:  1) fast tempo music, 2) slow tempo music, and 3) no music.[2]

 

Effect on In-Flow Traffic

The study found the tempo of in-store music significantly affected the pace of traffic.[3] Presence of fast-tempo music significantly increased the in-flow traffic, whereas the presence of slow-tempo music significantly slowed pace of traffic. [4]

Effect on Sales Volume

There was a significant difference from the effect of slow-tempo music to fast tempo-music. Average gross sales increased from 12k for the fast tempo music to 16.5k  for the slow tempo music. This is a 38.2% increase! [5]

Adapting These Results to Your Business

The implications of these findings must be matched with the business objectives of your company. Do you wish customers to linger and perhaps purchase more in the store or to “hurry up and leave?” 

A restaurant, for instance, will most likely want to speed people up, especially during lunch, when the objective is to maximize the "number of seats turned" in a very short period of time, normally about two hours or less. Playing slow tempo music in a restaurant might result in fewer seats turned and lower profit, although it could encourage return visits if customers preferred a relaxed luncheon atmosphere. [6]

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[1] Ronald E. Milliman, Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket Shoppers, The Journal of Marketing, 1982.

[2] Id. at 87.

[3] Id. at 89.

[4] Id.

[5] Id. at 90. 

[6] Id. at 91. 

Entrepreneurs and Behavioral Science

The advice I give to every entrepreneur I run into here in the Bay Area is to understand behavioral science and the incredible power it holds. Advantages gained through unconscious priming alone have the potential to disrupt markets. Many sophisticated actors in the market are already aware of the powers of behavioral science. Failing to adapt to an evidence-based approach in all aspects of business development can leave you in your competitor’s dust. With my posts, I hope to shed light on the many business advantageous of behavioral science already used by those in the know.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post: "Use Background Music to Increase Profits."

Music Mondays: Violeta Parra - Arriba Quemando El Sol

Music Mondays

[TAG] Stuck on a Difficult Problem? Distract Yourself!

TAG (Tangential, Associative, Germane)

Results showed that taking breaks at moments chosen at one’s own discretion led to solving more insight problems and reaching fewer impasses than at moments that were chosen by others.[1]

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[1]Flora Beeftink, Wendelien van Eerde, and Christel G. Rutte, The Effect of Interruptions and Breaks on Insight and Impasses: Do You Need a Break Right Now?, Creativity Research Journal, 2008, (quoting from abstract).