

Ask HN: what influence your purchase? - duinote

I had a discussion with my co-workers on influence of purchase. IMO, even we think we are rational, we are not. some of us, even very rational hackers, do lots of research before we make a purchase, but large part of it are influenced by other people. That's why branding is so important, apple is doing so well. It is because we care what other people think.<p>I know I am stating the obvious, but do you think we have underestimated the peer pressures? I don't have a question, but I want to hear what other hackers thinks how much you are influenced by peers and others.
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mindcrime
Honestly, it's hard to say. I don't think I'm driven much by obvious and
immediate peer influence, since I can't remember the last time I bought
anything... mp3 player, car, clothes, etc. based on any influence from a close
friend. I have pretty specific tastes in each of those things, and I tend to
buy what I want based on my own criteria.

Now how much my tastes - in general - where shaped by the influence of others
in an indirect sense, is hard to say. For example, the last portable music
player I bought was chosen specifically because it was the biggest device the
local Best Buy had in stock that supports Ogg Vorbis. I favor patent
unencumbered formats like Ogg, and am trying to get away from using mp3s in
general. So, how much did my friends, colleagues, etc. influence my stance as
a free software, open standards, open source, etc. ideologue? I have no idea.

Same for my last car... I bought a Mazda RX-8 because I like fast, sporty
little cars; not because any of my friends have RX-8's (ok, one friend has
one, but I didn't know it when I bought mine.) But who's to say why I like
fast, black, sports cars? I look at it more as a matter of accretion, over the
course of decades, and the influence of many sources... not something I can
pin on any specific (small) set of immediate influencers.

Clothes? Hmmm.. I don't dress like anybody I know, since I like to wear waist-
coats and cravats with jeans. It's an eclectic taste I glommed together from
bits & pieces of various influences.... being a Doctor Who fan, liking the
Steampunk genre, Victorian era fiction, etc.

Now is any of that _purely_ rational? Hell no. There's definitely a peer
influence, "glommed together from bits over time" aesthetic. But there is
(sometimes) a rational aspect mixed in. Like choosing a certain music player
because of it's format support and storage capacity, or choosing Mazda because
they have a good quality reputation, etc.

I guess that was a lot of words to say "I don't know," but that's kinda it.
It's hard to isolate the different factors that go into these decisions.

~~~
duinote
Ya, I agree. I am like you a lot, but I know I am influenced by others. Like
after I pick my choice I am comfortable with, but seeing not a lot of people
making the same choice may make me think again.

What I am thinking is, do ppl really admit that they are affected by others?

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evac
Coming from a psychology background myself, I would say yes, we definitely
underestimate how external factors affect our decision-makings. Peer pressure
is one obvious influence, but I would personally say the biggest influences
come from factors we're not even aware of. Some I can think of at the top of
my head are the way we're influenced by:

\- our fear of loss \- our first impressions (which usually influence all
subsequent decisions/habits) \- our sense of ownership of an
idea/opinion/product \- our self-fulfilling expectations (something you expect
to be great will usually be great) \- and so much more we're usually not aware
of

For more on the topic, a very readable and engaging book on behavioral-
economic influences is Predictably Irrational. At his blog, he shares some of
the book's interesting ideas and findings about different factors:
<http://danariely.com/the-books/>

~~~
Serene
Mental resource depletion is another factor. Those who had their attention
manipulated were more prone to buy and pay higher prices:
[http://econpapers.repec.org/article/ucpjconrs/v_3a33_3ay_3a2...](http://econpapers.repec.org/article/ucpjconrs/v_3a33_3ay_3a2007_3ai_3a4_3ap_3a537-547.htm)

Peers influence is strongest in adolescence

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arepb
Agree that peers being something is powerful -- not so much for peer pressure
(although that's important for some), but more for the sense that if 10 of
your friends bought something, it must not be a total disaster. Peer
protection.

That is the really far out view of a world where you have
redlaser/blippy/amazon all tied together with a social network. "10 of your
friends bought Red 5 Lime Flavored gum" etc on the low end, or "10 of your
friends get their car serviced here" on the higher risk end.

~~~
duinote
An analogy I am thinking is, if someone or lots of people tells me that an
iphone clone in china has outdone the iphone. what would I do, even from my
experience it is the other way around.

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veb
If it looks like it was from the future, I _must_ have it.

