Employment law attorney Mike Maslanka reviews Harry Beckwith’s book Unthinking: The Surprising Forces Behind What We Buy.
Take a look at Harry Beckwith’s insightful new book Unthinking: The Surprising Forces Behind What We Buy
Beckwith sketches out an experiment in which researchers filmed people going to a movie, counting how many had their seatbelts buckled. Before the movie started, the audience was shown a graphic film of auto accidents. The movie’s message: See what happens when you don’t buckle up. The researchers then counted how many of the moviegoers buckled up on their way home. Morepeople left without buckling up than had arrived without their seatbelts fastened.
Beckwith says people don’t like to be lectured to, and when they are, they often do the opposite of what you ask them to do. So if you can’t appeal to emotion, should you appeal to facts and reason to get people to buckle up? Not really. Beckwith talks about a campaign called “Buckle up. It’s the law.” It was expensive ― and a huge failure.
But here’s the question: What does work? Well, a campaign channeling Dr. Johnson called “Click It or Ticket.” Why? Simple. It gives people a choice; it doesn’t tell them what to do. They decide for themselves. It reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Hoosiers, in which Gene Hackman plays the new basketball coach in a small town. He’s under pressure to get Jimmy, a former player, back on the team. Hackman’s character walks up to Jimmy, who is shooting baskets, and quietly tells him that the decision is his; he doesn’t care one way or another. That’s powerful stuff. (Of course, you must be authentic and mean what you say, hand to heart.)
Michael Maslanka is a partner in the Dallas, Texas, office of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP. He has 30 years of experience in litigation and trial of employment law cases. He is the editor of Texas Employment Law Letter, and he also authors the “Work Matters” blog for Texas Lawyer.
I agree with the author’s comments. Human motivation is limited when adults are reminded of behaviors that they know are unsafe or improper. The best learning has always been their personal decision(s).
The example that I’ll site is the recurring display of teen driving/accident scenarios at any given high school in the U.S. The process of staged accident scenes, victims, loss (teen volunteers who play the role of being dead), involved paid law enforcement, paid emergency health care providers, volunteers or paid individuals in camouflage makeup (death scene body appearance), I believe has shown no adaptation for change of the teens personal behavior(s). They cannot “see” the real outcome.
The teen brain generally does not relate the potential of their death or the death of others. What to do? If you are the parent ask permission to take your teen to a morgue. If your request is granted, allow the professionals to prepare you and your teen for sights, smells, color, body trauma, and the general environment; go prepared with clear expectations of the unpleasantness of the environment. Do not involve the high school as a group outing. The true focus will be hindered by the personality hierarchy of other students.
In my opinion, the graphic reality is more likely to leave a lasting impression on driving safety and may lead to a positive trend for others to consider.
Having seen deaths from medical resuscitation, roadside crash interventions, morgues, and working with law enforcement has left me with a strong impression of compliance with the law.
And, the Hoosiers is one of my favorite movies just for the reason you mention, personal choice.