Book 2 Post 1

For my second book, I chose to read Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior by Jonah Berger. I found this book’s description in the article “The Science of Creating a Compassionate World” that was linked under "Best Books and Essential Reads from Yes! Magazine" and immediately was intrigued. Taking both a marketing and a psychology class at USC has made me a lot more aware of how people are influenced, and I wanted to dive deeper into this topic. I was expecting this book to shine light on everyday examples of influence that I may relate to and so far have not been disappointed.

One of the overarching themes I’ve encountered in my reading is the idea of unawareness (hence, the title of invisible influence). Berger explains that while 99% of our decisions are impacted by others, we believe that our decisions are completely our own. I’ve really enjoyed reading about specific experiments that prove this notion. For example, Berger visited Palo Alto, one of the most expensive cities in America to live in, and located BMW owners. When he asked the BMW owners if social perceptions impacted their decision to buy a BMW, they all said no. However, when he asked the BMW owners if they believed their peers with BMW’s considered social perceptions in buying their car, they all said yes. This is just one way that Berger has proved that humans can grasp the idea of influence and can observe it in others, but are unable to detect it in themselves. I am looking forward to reading more of this book, as I hope to better understand why it is so much more difficult to see influence in ourselves.