The Cues We Use - behavioral economics & why we eat too much...

David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times about Cornell professor Brian Wansink's research into a field by the name of "behavioral economics." Despite the bland title, this area is (or should be) actually pretty fascinating to the product design crowd. Here's the distilled sense of it:

Our behaviors are often guided not by the direct info and rational thought that we'd like to guide them, but by subconscious cues received from other, unexpected sources.

For example, we stop eating not because we feel full, but because the plate is empty, sending the cue that we've "finished a portion." We eat snacks not because we decide to eat a snack and head for the kitchen, but because we see the snacks displayed prominently in the kitchen and they suggest themselves to us. And people aren't just unaware of the powers of these cues, they don't even believe it when they hear it - "Things like that don't trick me," say the subjects of the research.

However, flipping this research around to apply the cues intentionally can be powerful... A percentage of peoples' paychecks from some employers go to 401(k) retirement plans not because employees decided to sign up, but because that's the default unless the employee opts out - and darned if there aren't a lot more people with good 401(k) contributions at those places! For the consumer, people can eat less and lose weight by owning smaller plates, bowls, and glasses, so that the empty-plate/finished-portion cue kicks in after finishing a smaller portion. They can eat healthier by rearranging the kitchen to display (and thus "suggest") healthy foods, and make the snack foods relatively hidden. And for the product designer who decides to incorporate these principles, well, the possibilities are vast, powerful, and sometimes even a bit scary. Responsibility to not abuse it may be the most important thing - think about McDonald's doing away with Super-Sized portions!