Eric Johnson on The Elements of Choice

10 snips

May 31, 2022

Eric Johnson, Director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School, dives into the intricate world of decision-making. He discusses his book, highlighting how choice architecture influences our daily decisions—often without our conscious knowledge. The conversation explores 'sludge' in choices and how the framing of options can lead us to better or worse decisions. From shopping habits to navigating conflicting goals, Johnson reveals the surprising power of small changes in our environment to shape our choices.

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ANECDOTE

Amazon Toaster Choices

Eric Johnson uses the example of Amazon's toaster selection to illustrate choice architecture.
The order of toasters, information provided, and even Amazon's Choice influence consumer decisions.

INSIGHT

Default Retirement Plans

Eric Johnson points out that companies used to opt employees out of retirement plans by default.
This seemingly passive choice architecture significantly impacted people's savings without their realizing it.

ADVICE

Healthy Eating Design

Structure your environment to promote healthy eating.
Keep desired foods visible and accessible, while making less healthy options harder to reach.

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Eric Johnson is the Director of the Center for Decision Sciences, Columbia Business School at Columbia University. His research examines the interface between behavior decision research economics and the decisions made by consumers, managers, and their implications for public policy, markets, and marketing.

In this episode, Eric and Eric Johnson discuss his book, The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters

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Eric Johnson and I Discuss The Elements of Choice and…

His book, The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters
How are choices are influenced
Choice architecture is how choices are structured for people
How we often don’t realize we are affected by choice architecture
“Sludge” is bad nudging or dark patterns of choices
A plausible path is making a better choice easier to make
How the order of options can affect our decisions
The role of memory when it comes to making decisions
Screening and how it’s used in choice architecture
Default options and how they may affect decisions

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If you enjoyed this conversation with Eric Johnson, you might also enjoy these other episodes:

How to Change Anyone’s Mind with Jonah Berger

Mimetic Desires in Everyday Life with Luke Burgis

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