Rarely Rational - Peak end rule | Aedge | lystn | Audio Stories, Podcasts, Originals

Rarely Rational - Peak end rule

This episode is a new one in our ‘Rarely Rational’ series where we explore cognitive biases.

Madhavi Nadig and Jyothi Sridhar talk about the ‘Peak-end rule’

Chinese whispers - a popular children’s game.
Psychologists talk about two kinds of ‘selves’. Experiencing self and the narrating self. Are we playing chinese whispers with ourselves?
What is the peak-end rule?
The peak-end rule says we do not remember experiences accurately. The way we judge our experiences is mostly dependent on what we felt at our worst/best moments.
People curating their memories on social media exhibit a similar behaviour. Where their experiences are remembered by what they felt at the worst/best moments.
Childbirth is a classic example of how a positive ending takes over the overall painful experience.
Even seemingly boring movies can leave you with a lasting impression if the ending was great.
Madhavi’s experience with UPI both as a customer and as a vendor.
Raising awareness about ALS with a trend called Ice bucket challenge as an example for peak-end rule. The peak of this experience was the person’s reaction when the icy water hit them.
A recent Shark tank India episode had people who pitched about their makeup brand and one of their customer acquisition strategies was to conduct makeup tutorial events at 5-star hotels with free food.
If the last experience about a product was negative, Peak end rule is used to mitigate that negativity by way of giving out humorous error messages and leaving the user with a smile.
Experience with doctors
Ratings or NPS scores need to be taken with a pick of salt. Reviewers most likely rate the service or product with their bias of peak-end rule.
Spin doctors - people who are skilled at doing public relations for celebrities maintaining their reputation in the public to hide any bad raps they might have received at any point.