Science shows that warnings have very limited impact on behavior.
Why are we resistant to warnings?
We tend to rationalize what we do.
When the market is high, we look at our account all the time, because positive information makes you feel good.
When the market is low, people avoid logging in, because negative information makes us feel bad.
What type of information does leak into people?
People listen to the positive information.
The kid and teenagers were the worse at learning from bad news.
People are least likely to listen to warnings.
Everyone takes in the information that they want to hear more than information that they don’t.
Three principles that drive your mind and your behavior.
1 .Social Incentives
Highlighting what other people are doing is a really strong incentive.
2. Immediate reward
Studies show that giving people immediate rewards makes them more likely to quit smoking, more likely to start exercising, and this effect lasts for at least six months. because not smoking becomes associated with a reward, and exercising becomes associated with a reward and it becomes a habit.
3. Progress monitoring
The brain does a really good job at the track record, but it doesn’t do such a good job at processing negative information about the future.
If you want to get people’s attention, you might want to highlight the progress, not the decline.
For example: if you want to take that kid with the cigarette, you might want to tell them, you know if you stop smoking, you’ll become better at sports.
Highlight the progress, not the decline.
Give people a sense of control is a really important motivator.
Fear of losing your health, the fear of losing money induces inaction, while the thrill of a gain induces action.
So to change behaviour in ourselves and in others, we may want to try these positive strategies rather than threats which really capitalize on the human tendency to seek progress.