The Smarter Screen

Surprising Ways to Influence and Improve Online Behavior

By: Shlomo Benartzi, Jonah Lehrer

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A leading behavioral economist shows how businesses can improve consumer thinking and decision making on screens.

The typical American office worker now spends the majority of his or her waking hours staring at a screen. In the 21st century, every business is a digital business, which is why it's so critical to understand how we think and behave online.

Acclaimed behavioral economist Shlomo Benartzi reveals a toolkit of interventions for the digital age. Using provocative case studies and engaging exercises, Benartzi shows how businesses can update their nudges to help consumers make better decisions on screens.

Consider these solutions:

• The tournament model used for Wimbledon and March Madness may help consumers identify what they want more easily. While most websites attempt to display as many options as possible, if people can select options from manageable rounds they tend to make better choices.
• People are more willing to tell a gadget the truth about their risky health behaviors than an actual doctor. When dealing with sensitive subjects, the absence of human feedback - an absence made easy in an age of screens and machines - can be a great advantage.
• The precise location of an option on a screen can have a massive impact on consumer choice. (In some instances, screen location matters more than personal preference.) The same logic also applies to information, as certain layouts can dramatically influence our levels of attention.
• Although most websites are designed to make the act of reading as easy as possible, Benartzi explains why this can be a big mistake. Sometimes the careful use of ugly fonts and other forms of "visual disfluency" are an important way to boost reading comprehension and retention.

This book will help you transform the challenges of the digital world into powerful new opportunities that will drive your success in an age of screens.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2015 Shlomo Benartzi (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"This book is a real eye-opener. It describes how we really function in a screen-based society, and how the digital world is changing our thinking about ourselves and others." (Robert Shiller, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics; professor of economics at Yale University; author of Finance and the Good Society)

"We know that the way we organize a buffet influences the choices people make. What is much less clear is the way online environments influence our decisions. In this useful book, Benartzi and Lehrer give us precise insights about the relationship between what we see on the screen, what we think, and what we choose." (Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University; author of Predictably Irrational)

"Our lives increasingly depend on the interaction of bounded minds with bound-less information on screens. In this insightful book, Benartzi explores the human experience in the digital world and considers the many ways - social, psychological, ethical, and financial - we might make screens serve us better. A fun, important, and revelatory read!" (Eldar Shafir, professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University; coauthor of Scarcity)

Great application of behavioral sciences

If you liked Nudge or Misbehaving or Thinking Fast/Slow, you'll enjoy this book which does a very good job of bringing these fundamental concepts to life and applying them to the specific context of our digital lives.

Not the best book for listening

He has a few good points. I feel that most of his studies are biased and repetitive. Too many PDF based exercises to listen to it in your commute. I don't recommend this book. Especially if you're planning on listening to it in the car.