Which of these flight announcements may distress you more –
“BA786 Frankfurt – Delayed”
OR
“BA786 Frankfurt – Delayed 70 minutes”
The second message is a bit of a pain but you are in control of the situation.
You can get on with planning your day around this
Vs. the first message which is a mental torture – you know it is bad news but there is uncertainty around it
Delayed for 10 mins or 90?
Should I stay put or grab a meal?
The loss of control can create more unhappiness than the actual delay.
Yet if you research airline passengers, very few would actually tell you that the uncertainty is the issue
Very rarely do people actually tell you why they want the things they do
Why is Red Bull so popular – even though everyone hates the taste? Why do countdown boards on platforms take away the pain of train delays? And why do we prefer stripy toothpaste?
Rory Sutherland‘s Alchemy addresses this
We think we are rational creatures. Economics and business rely on the assumption that we make logical decisions based on evidence.
But we aren’t, and we don’t.
The big problems we face every day, whether as an individual or in society, could very well be solved at times by letting go of logic and embracing the irrational
