The Power of Habit

Falling into that well mined territory of Levitt & Dubner, Gladwell and Pink - The Power of Habit was another great, heavily researched and thoughtful read about the science of habits.

I loved discovering Target's investment in data driven analysis. Motivated by how a pregnancy can make consumers more susceptible to marketing and flexible about their purchasing habits, Target saw a goldmine in identifying pregnant shoppers. An uptick in skin creme and vitamin purchases along with a myriad of other tiny factors, and Target can pinpoint your trimester with frightening accuracy. Or course people are creeped out by that sort of prescience, so while Target sends targeted flyers showcasing cribs and diapers, they're placed alongside ads for lawnmowers and wine glasses so that it will all appear random.

Or how there's a program called Hit Song Science that analyzes mathematical characteristics of a song to predict potential chart toppers. Hey Yeah was identified as a bonafide hit before the general public even heard the song.

Maybe one should despair at our entirely programmable decisions but I for one welcome our data driven overlords.