Tuesday 23 February 2010

We can make you behave

The Guardian had an interesting commentary - We can make you behave - on one of the panel discussions during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Behavioral thinkers were showing the leaders gathered in Davos how behavioral sciences can influence politics and law.

And because the behavioural sciences show that people often make bad decisions when they're excited by the prospect of immediate gratification, a Conservative government will impose a seven-day cooling off period for store credit cards, so shoppers can't immediately rack up debts on them when they sign up at the till. That's a far less intrusive way to tackle problem debt than banning store cards, for example, or introducing a new tax.

It's not surprising to me that this panel had been organized, taking into account that behavioral sciences are more and more taken into account by discussing new legal solutions, especially within the European consumer law. European Commission have already commissioned certain research to be conducted on various aspects of consumer behavior. I'm keen to see how it is going to influence the future lawmaking.