The power of name (brand) recognition

I give a final striking example, this time to do with publishers. In 1969, Jerzy Kosinsky’s novel Steps won the American National Book Award for fiction. Eight years later some joker had it retyped and sent the manuscript with no title under a false name to fourteen major publishers and thirteen literary agents in the US, including Random House, the firm who originally published it. Of the 27 people to whom it was submitted, no one recognised it had been published and all 27 rejected it.

Behavioural principles

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

Short, plain-English explanations of the principles behind this post, with links to related books and examples in the archive.

Framing effect

Equivalent facts can lead to different choices depending on how they are framed.

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Present bias

Immediate costs and rewards loom larger than future ones.

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Mere-exposure effect

Familiar things feel safer, truer, or more likable.

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The power of name (brand) recognition

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

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