Word: woode
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...boom took hold and the barrel size was set at 42 gal. (160 L), Pennsylvania's roads became clogged with horse-drawn wagons piled high with the containers, prompting construction of the first oil pipelines (made of wood) and leading 25-year-old John D. Rockefeller to form what became the Standard Oil Co. It eventually controlled up to 90% of U.S. oil-refining until the company was broken up in 1911. (See pictures showing the history of the Exxon Valdez disaster...
...Wood conducted yet another experiment. This time, she asked 240 undergraduates to list either two big changes in their lives or eight big changes in their lives. Going back to the chips-vs.-crisps test, she found that those who had to think about eight changes in their lives were significantly more likely to choose the odd-flavored crisps than those who had to think about only two changes...
...what's going on here? In her paper, Wood hypothesizes that "changing circumstances may break habitual cues that favor old favorites and promote a more general 'change mindset' in the individual." You break up with your boring girlfriend, and suddenly you find that a lot of your old habits - Simpsons reruns after work, burritos from the same place every night, Sunday mornings in bed with the newspaper - feel too feeble for your emboldened new self. Or, as Wood writes - rather poetically for a marketing professor - "the familiar threads of everyday life stitch our habits into place." Unstitch the threads...
...Wood admits her findings need to be replicated. But these preliminary results have far-reaching implications for everything from advertising to substance-abuse treatment. The findings suggest that when everything seems uncertain and awful, we may be most primed to undertake positive changes in our lives. Want to start exercising more or drinking less or getting off drugs? Maybe you should think about a new city, a new home, or at least a new routine...
...overthink. In her fifth experiment, Wood found that when research subjects are prompted to "STOP and THINK CAREFULLY" about a choice - she literally put those commands in capitals in the instructions - people were more likely to opt for their old, familiar choices. The lesson? Don't think, don't look, just leap...