Is Coffee the Persuasion Bean? 174
Gli7ch writes "According to an Australian study, our geek wonder-drink of choice might turn us into yes-men. From the article: "The experiments showed that "caffeine increases persuasion through instigating systematic processing of the message"." Apparently this has implications for the advertising world, "because it suggests that they should schedule adverts for times when people are likely to be consuming caffeine, such as breakfast time."."
It *is* morning... (Score:5, Funny)
Is Coffee the Persuasion Bean?
Excellent question.
I'd recommend sending $1.00 to paypal@grub.net. Will post the results in my journal later this week.
Re:It *is* morning... (Score:3, Funny)
brought to you by the International Coffee Board.
Re:It *is* morning... (Score:1)
I'd recommend sending $1.00 to paypal@grub.net.
Has it turned me into a "Yes Man"?
Yeah. Riiiiiiiiiight!
KFG
Re:It *is* morning... (Score:2, Funny)
Ha! I've had one payment already!
You don't want to be left out, send that dollar!
Re:It *is* morning... (Score:2)
Last Chance to Send in Your Dollar!!!
(Address)
He ended up getting I think like $50, or at least enough to profit with the cost of the ad.
Re:It *is* morning... (Score:2)
Overly chatty (Score:4, Funny)
Needless to say, coffee turns me into a "WTF-man" more than a "yes-man".
Re:Overly chatty (Score:5, Funny)
Irish cofees ARE delicious, but you shouldn't drink them before meetings : )
Re:Overly chatty (Score:2)
I always serve a couple of Irish Coffee to my clients before I push my junk bonds. You should see my new neighbour here in Jupiter, Fl... Tiger Woods... Thank you Irish Coffee!
Re:Overly chatty (Score:2)
Move all TV ads to breakfast time? Fine by me! (Score:3, Funny)
Of course, beer probably makes people more receptive to advertising as well; this could be a problem.
Re:Move all TV ads to breakfast time? Fine by me! (Score:2)
Re:Move all TV ads to breakfast time? Fine by me! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Move all TV ads to breakfast time? Fine by me! (Score:2)
This is because the mind is not fully functioning during that time of day just as the coffee is starting to circulate through the body. We think we're alert and able to make clear headed decisions, but in reality, we're as dumb as nails in the morning; that goes as well for late nights. This is why we'll see lots more ads i
Wonderful Concept! (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Wonderful Concept! (Score:2)
That explains it. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:That explains it. (Score:2)
Makes sense I guess (Score:1)
So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:5, Funny)
Brilliant
Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:3, Insightful)
But seriously I gave up caffine a few months ago and I don't think I was any more suggestable with it than I am now... but I guess that is part of the trick if you where in a stat of suggetability you wouldn't notice.
Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:2)
You can do that? By this point I think I'd shrivel up and die, since there's probably more caffiene than blood in my body.
Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:2)
Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:2)
Now, this i
Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:2)
Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... (Score:2, Funny)
Sounds dubious to me (Score:1)
Can't be true (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Can't be true (Score:2)
Re:Can't be true (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Can't be true (Score:2)
Re:Can't be true (Score:2)
Re:Can't be true (Score:2)
Re:Can't be true (Score:2)
There's no men like the 'yes' men (Score:2)
By default, coffee has become the 'yes' drink when trying to pursuade, second only to Jack Daniel's.
Wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
{slurp}
Re:Wait a minute... (Score:2)
Makes us interpret the message more systematically? Shouldn't it then also improve our BS-detection, thereby having an adverse effect on 90% of the advertising out there? This would mean car commercials would be run at times when people aren't drinking coffee, otherwise more people would start to wonder how the Camry, Accord, Legacy, Stratus, and Taurus can all be the JD Power best in their class.
Also, I would tend to think that just being mo
Re:Wait a minute... (Score:2)
All I know is that I drive a DODGE STRATUS and people are AFRAID of me!
all this time (Score:2)
Obviously... (Score:2)
Re:Obviously... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:all this time (Score:2)
Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:3, Interesting)
I would have to say that coffee does NOT make me a yes-man, as I've always been anti-authority and loved playing Devil's advocate. Maybe the article writer is confused; coffee might bring out our most consistent opinion or process. Does coffee make leaders more leader-like, and followers more follower-like? I'd say so.
When I have performed public speaknig engagements recently, the coffee buzz always makes me a better speaker (and calmer, actually). I wonder if caffeine, the drug, just puts us into our most comfortable role as many drugs do (including following others if that is how we're designed).
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, becoming calmer on caffeeine means you have the neurological wiring for ADD.
Good job.
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2, Insightful)
I do. The most productive years of my life were when I had a personal assistant helping me stay on track with my tasks and to-do lists. In recent years I've considered hiring a "Gentleman's gentleman" not just to drive me around and tend to me as a butler, but to be a personal assistant in my daily responsibilities. The added income I'd make just by staying on track would likely offset the costs of hiring a good assista
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
Decaf seems to give me Tourettes Syndrome (characterized by loud, uncontrollable outbursts laced with profanity). Any diagnosis?
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Just because I get calmer from drinking coffee doesn't mean that I OOOOH look at that shiny object!
Cause & Effect - Bad Substitute Teacher (Score:2)
Fact: Susy is unhappy when it rains.
Fact: Susy is happy when the sun is shining.
Given these facts, what can you say about these conclusions, if anything:
Conclusion: The sun is shining. Answer: You can say that Susy is happy.
Conclusion: Susy is unhappy. Dilema: Here is where sub insisted that it must be raining because Susy was unhappy. I concluded that it might be cloudy but no
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:3, Interesting)
I haven't seen the original study, but these things are often done with a survey of opinions on a topic, with a bunch of gradations from "completely agree" to "complet
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
Often, people viewing themselves as "anti-authority" and "Devil's advocate" are simply parroting (being persuaded by) a different group, and not actually self-directing.
I have no way of knowing if this applies to you, but it is much more common than independent thought, so I thought I'd mention it.
Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate (Score:2)
"My dad wanted me to ______, so I didn't." Does this guy think for himself any more than a guy who does what his dad wants him to?
Time to lay off? (Score:2)
I don't drink coffee... (Score:2)
Maybe it's for the best. Anything else would be too much Invasion of the Body Snatchers for my tastes...
Other applications (Score:5, Funny)
It is called Irish Coffee, and it works (Score:2)
After all a martini is so obvious but this is safe. After all coffee sobers you up right? And the strong taste of the coffee makes it very easy to increase the amount of alcohol so the drink can easily be a tripple scotch. If that doesn't get her hot and bothered nothing will. Well nothing legal anyway.
Re:Other applications (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Other applications (Score:2)
Actually, they are called Jager bombs.
Re:Other applications (Score:2)
Hot Coffee Mod... been there done that... (Score:2)
There is no place like slashdot...There is no place like slashdot
Let's get back to stuff that matters, not stuff that will never happen!
Re:Other applications (Score:2)
Name says it all.
Coffee Nudge (Score:2)
3/4 oz dark creme de cacao
3/4 oz coffee liqueur
1/2 oz brandy
6 - 8 oz hot coffee
1 1/2 oz whipped cream
Starbucks using this already (Score:5, Funny)
Real Men (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methcathinone [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylphenidate [wikipedia.org]
Coffee and Marriage (Score:2)
Girlfriend: Hell no!
Me: Aww, please will you marry me?
Girlfriend: Dammit! I said no!
Me: Okay, how about a nice espresso (or two)?
Girlfriend: Okay sure.
(Ten minutes later)
Me: Will you marry me?
Girlfriend: Well, that makes a lot of sense now.
Me: (Giggles).
Three years later, I need coffee to stay awake with a wife, a kid, and another on the way.
Damn you coffee!
Re:Coffee and Marriage (Score:2, Funny)
Mandatory: I for one welcome ... (Score:2, Informative)
Two problems (Score:4, Insightful)
What bothers me more is that the topics chosen are highly emotional ones. People get so fanatical about them that they resort to assassination and fire bombing. The study purports to show that people changed their minds about euthanasia and abortions. Would you, in repsonse to a single argument from a stranger? Would anyone you know?
Re:Two problems (Score:2)
Re:Two problems (Score:2)
It is extremely unlikely that I would; generally I've heard all the arguments before. (People often mistake that for "arrogance" or "close-mindedness", but it is neither to hear all arguments and make a decision; after that, if you want to change someone's mind you'd better improve the arguments somehow, either by making them better or making news ones, or you're not going to get far.)
However, many people don't think issues t
Re:Two problems (Score:2)
Us Water Drinkers (Score:2)
book stores and coffee shops (Score:2)
I noticed several times myself, that after a latte,
I'm more likely to buy a book.
Oh, this is good (Score:2, Interesting)
HER: "No, I don't drink..."
YOU: "Want to go have a few cups of coffee then ?"
HER: "Sure why not."
Trends in advertising (Score:2)
Also, to make sure this works, not only should ads be aired while we drink coffee, they need to make sure we can only buy it during those times, and if they offer money back guarantee, only use it and return it
during those times.
-- fast rewind 10 years --
"You hate commercials don't you. They are a pain to watch, we all feel that way. But that's over with! Presenting the new TV-chair 3000, ultra comfortable
You are sooo wrong (Score:2)
According to an Australian study, our geek wonder-drink of choice might turn us into yes-men.
Try stating it this way:
According to an Australian study, our geek wonder-drink of choice might turn them into yes-women.
Next time you're hitting that bar think of buying her a drink as the reason for following up with a coffee later.
Scheduled advertising already happening (Score:2)
There is still the problem of timing. Some groups of people aren't targetable at the times they're most likely to be receptive. But ad firms are making inroads. I was surprised (not pleasantly) to discover bulletin boards
The problem is... (Score:2)
Associate Professor Pradeep Nathan of Monash University, an expert in behavioural neuroscience who was not involved in the research, says caffeine stimulates the central nervous system including the brain, where it affects several neurotransmitters.
The Melbourne-based researcher says it improves memory and makes us pay closer attention to tasks at hand.
"It does improve attention and it can improve memory so by being more attentive and remembering your attitude to a particular thing may change," he
Re:The problem is... (Score:2)
Wildly-spun presentation of the obvious (Score:5, Insightful)
Obviously you are more likely to be persuaded by a message to which you are paying attention, focussing on, are awake for, etc. etc. That is, if the message is persuasive. You're also more likely to exercise critical acumen on a message to which you are paying attention.
This doesn't mean caffeine is some evil zombie-making, will-sapping, mysterious persuasion drug. It just means, surprise--in some situations caffeine makes us more alert.
It certainly does not mean "coffee makes us say 'yes.'" Try another study in which people are asked to read a contract containing some sneaky buried one-sided details that work against their interests. Ask them to review it with and without coffee. I'll bet that coffee helps them notice those details... and that in this case, coffee will "make them say no."
Re:Wildly-spun presentation of the obvious (Score:2)
Now, what about the sales pitch leading up to the presentation of the contract...
No-man (Score:4, Insightful)
Without coffee I'm grumpy in the morning and more likely to be a no-man. Coffee just turns me normal.
Nigeria scams (Score:2)
*slurps coffee* "Oooh I can be a millionaire by Friday???"
If they think coffee is their silver bullet... (Score:2)
I don't really mind that businesses have products and services to sell, what I mind is that their efforts to sell them are so invasive, and so pervasive, that it is a complete turnoff.
Sounds like bunk! (Score:2)
I agree it may make us more apt to listen and understand, but you have to keep in mind, the average person is a sheep. They follow along. Coffee may just make them more likely to listen, so it seems they're more apt to agree.
I think if you take people who tend to not be sheep and give them coffee, they'll just tend to not go along more because they'll actually be listening to the crap that's being
No, Juicy Fruit! (Score:2)
At 7:00 AM, I'll believe anything (Score:2)
As I sit here, sipping my second cup of coffee for the day, I'm thinking back to earlier this morning when, like every morning, I read my email and my Bloglines as I drink my first cup of coffee. Now, I always have my coffee first thing -- OK, maybe second thing -- in the morning. (If you can believe it, I'm usually even coordinated enough to make a passable latte) In my perpetually sleep-deprived state, I'll believe anything right after I get up.
It's not the coffee that makes me suggestible, it's the sl
let me be the first to say... (Score:2, Funny)
Seattle Loves George Bush (Score:2)
Re: Is Coffee the Persuasion Bean? (Score:2)
Yes, I agree completely!
Well, off to Starbucks, it's 11:26, and my personal coffee pot is already empty.
Taking it to the extreme. (Score:2)
1) Don't drink coffee.
2) Expect to be spammed to death around coffee times.
3) Co-workers will be more susceptible when I See them with thier coffee.
4) Marketing companies suggest putting coffee into foodstuffs/water supply (give them time).
Coffee Enemas (Score:2)
More critical, but better mood. (Score:2)
The hardest tasks you have when trying to persuade someone are:
So, perhaps coffee is useful for persuasion. The connection between persuasion and "yes-men", though, is spurrious at best. Essentially, TFA is saying that caffeine helps people listen to -- and makes them slightly more open-minded towa
Re:More critical, but better mood. (Score:2)
I just finished a cup of coffee and I have to say that after hearing your argument out it seems pursuasive. I'm definately in a better mood any way. I'm inclined to agree with you.
Re:It is not the coffee but the caffene (Score:2)
That's just wrong, man. I don't know where you are, but that's a cruel trick they're playing on you. My folks used to tell me about using chicory blends they had to use during WWII, and how bad it was. I tried it myself, and they were right.
For me, coffee may not be the yes-bean, but no-coffee is certainly the no-bean.
Re:It is not the coffee but the caffene (Score:2)
And Chicory is a stretcher for coffee... not caffeine... it's a root... from the dandelion family IIRC...
But COFFEE POWDER!? I weep for your taste buds...
Nephilium
Re:It is not the coffee but the caffene (Score:2)