Book Review "The Power of Habit" (Chapter 7-9)

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This is my last post for the review book "The Power of Habit". In this post, I will continue the book review "The Power of Habit" chapters 7-9.
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Chapter 7 : How Target Knows What You Want Before You Do 

     "Consumers sometimes act like habitual beings, automatically repeating past behavior with little regard for current goals" two psychiatrists at the University of Southern California wrote in 2009.

     This book explain about every habit per person is different. For example, people who like potato chips buy bags every time, but Folgers women never go to a potato alley. There are people who buy milk whenever they shop "even if they have lots at home" and there are people who always buy desserts when they say they are trying to lose weight. But milk buyers and dessert washers don't overlap automatically. Habits are unique to everyone. However, habits are often stronger than shopping lists that have been written before but the desired target is to take advantage of the individual's habits. Millions of people pass you by every day, how do you track their shopping preferences and patterns? You collect data. The amount of data is very large and almost inconceivable.

     There are companies starting to rely more on big data as long as they better predict consumer buying habits, they have realized that most purchasing decisions are made when customers see a product. If companies want to take advantage of knowledge about the way people buy products, they don't just rely on one-size sales or marketing techniques for all. Companies such as Target have collected individual shopping data using periodic credit, loyalty, awards and shopping cards. Combined with easily purchased data about your age, marital status, location, ethnicity, etc., retailers have a very detailed picture of who you are and what is happening in your life.

     With information obtained by the company, they can find out what type of product the buyer might want to buy as a result. "It used to be a company that only knows what their customers want them to know," said Tom Davenport, one of the leading back seekers on how businesses use data and analytics. "The world is far behind us. You would be surprised how much information is out there - and every company buys it, because it's the only way to survive.

Chapter 8 : Saddleback Church and The Montgomery Bus Boycott 

     Social habits are why some initiatives become movements that change the world, while others fail. And the reason why social habits have such influence is because of the roots of many movements.

At the root of many movements are 3 parts of the process that historians and sociologists say appear again and again:
1. The movement begins because of the social habits of friendship and strong ties between close acquaintances.
2. It grows because of people's habits, and weak ties that protect the environment and clans together.
3. And it survives because the leader of the movement gives participants new habits that create a fresh sense of identity and a feeling of personal ownership.

     Usually, only when all three parts of this process are met, a movement can become self-propelling and reach critical mass.

     Using examples such as Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott - at the start of the Civil Rights Movement - and the rapid growth and success of Rick Warren's Saddleback Church service in California, this hill makes some useful connections about how "business is finished and the community is self-organizing" (225).

     This book emphasizes the importance of having ties that are weak and strong in helping to shape social pattern habits in both examples. With this in mind, this book describes the types of group conformity and communal expectations as peer pressure or peer pressure habits (225). Dmapak from the Single incident is more likely to gain momentum when there are a series of events that are isolated between community members and leaders who create or forge "social habits of friendship" and "strong relationships between close acquaintances" when there is a "habit of a community" and when the participants have a "sense of identity and feeling of belonging" in a movement (217).

     The strength of a weak relationship: represents a link that connects people who have mutual acquaintances, who share membership in social networks, but are not directly connected to the strong bond of friendship itself. Weak acquaintances are often more important than strong friends because weak ties give us access to social networks where we are not.

     Peer pressure habits: social habits that encourage people to adjust to group expectations. Habits of peer pressure often spread through weak bonds, and they gain their authority through communal expectations. When the bond of friendship is strong and the weak bond of peer pressure joins, broad social change can begin.

Chapter 9 : The Neurology of Free Will

     In this chapter, Charles Duhigg describes the complicated relationship between habits as automatic behavior and the role of society in responsibility. There are two examples in this book, namely Brian Thomas and Angie Bachmann. Brian and Angie have two different experiences that have resulted in losses. However, both examples show how the brain responds to existing habits and how neurological processes can trigger or hinder a person's ability to make decisions. However, their brains react in almost the same way.
The habit of the gambler (Brian) grew slowly and controlled initially for several years. When life becomes difficult he begins to lose perspective and habit circles have been formed properly and correctly.

     According to Duhigg, some habits are indeed "automatic behaviors embedded in our neurology, shown by studies, they can occur with almost no input from higher areas of the brain" (255). In other words, Brian's automatism / sleep terror and pathological gambling Angie looks very similar when seen as a reflexive behavior or response from individuals acting without choice. Although the results in each narrative, Duhigg reminds readers that even in the most extraordinary or terrible situations, "habits ... not fate" but that "every habit, no matter the complexity, is easy to forge" (270).
He then stated that "the real power of habits" is "the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be (273)."

     However, this book ends by saying that our lives are filled with habits that we know exist. And once we understand that habits can change, we have freedom - and responsibility - to change it.

I hope, my book review can provide you with useful information and knowledge.
Thanks.