According to Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, consumers are not rational, they are influenced by other external factors that make them make bad decisions.
Our brain operates with 2 systems in parallel, system 1 referring to the twin tonsils, primitive (emotional) brain and system 2 operated by the neocortex, modern (rational) brain. System 1 is fast, intuitive, automatic, error-prone. He is the one who makes everyday decisions. System 2 is slow, conscious, hardworking, makes complex decisions and is more reliable.
In Kahneman’s book “Thinking Fast and Slow” he explains that we use system 2 when we are starting a task that we are not used to doing. Ex: When the child is learning to walk. When you have a “wet floor” warning, you walk more consciously so you won’t slip, etc. And we use system 1 with activities that we have already as automatic. Ex: Talking on the phone while walking on the street, brushing teeth etc.
Decisions are a union of these two systems taken in parallel. It is important that when we make decisions, we understand that we are being influenced by the primitive brain, but also knowing that it is necessary to look at the rational, as it is he who corrects and confirms the judgments of the system 1.
How have you been using the 2 systems to make decisions? Think about it…