Invisible Influence by Jonah Berger Page A

clothing store.
    Yogi Berra had a job as a greeter and headwaiter at Ruggeri’s, one of the best-known Italian restaurants in St. Louis. Even after he led the Yankees to win the World Series in the 1950s, Berra would don a tuxedo and greet patrons as they entered the restaurant in the off-season.
    As salaries increased, players spent more of the off-season on baseball and less on their other pursuits. It wasn’t worth risking an injury and jeopardizing their main paycheck.
    Ruggeri’s also changed. Elevated both by its reputation for good food and Berra’s celebrity (even though he no longer worked there), the restaurant became more and more famous.
    While the newfound fame was a boon for the restaurant’s owners, others were less excited. Berra, for one, stopped going. When asked why by some of his friends, he replied, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” 15
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    Traditional economics would suggest that what one person chooses shouldn’t be influenced by what others are doing. Choosing art or buying a beer should be based on price and quality. So unless the artist tacks on a couple thousand dollars to the painting’s price or the brewer starts watering down their beer, people’s preferences should remain the same.
    If anything, people should imitate others. Just like the people trying to guess how far a point of light moved in a dark room, others’ choices provide information. The more people who picked something, the better that thing must be. Otherwise, why would so many people pick it? If popularity signals quality, people should pick whatever is popular. We should be more likely to do something when others are already doing it.
    But that doesn’t always happen. Just like Ruggeri’s, people often avoid things when too many other people like them.
    â€œSnob effects” describe cases in which an individual’s demand for goods or services is negatively correlated with market demand. The more other people who own or use something, the less interested new people are in buying or using it.
    Most of us don’t want to be the only one doing something, but if too many people start doing it, we go ahead and do something else. When kale or quinoa becomes too trendy, there’s a backlash. And when everyone starts talking about how dots are the new stripes, some of the initial dot wearers move on. Even if it means giving up something they like because others like it as well.
    In some instances, the reason is rather practical. Restaurants aren’t fun when they’re too overcrowded. You have to wait longer to get a table or call further in advance to make a reservation. It’s hard to enjoy your meal when you have to yell to be heard above the chatter.
    But it’s more complicated than that.
    Talk to a music lover about a band that just became popular, and they might respond with a familiar refrain: Asian Spider Monkey? I like their old stuff. Their early albums before they sold out and became so commercial. They had a more authentic sound then. It had more edge to it and was less poppy. It was more real .
    Now, it’s possible that Asian Spider Monkey’s early musicwas truly better. While some artists mature, many run out of good ideas.
    But how likely is it that the Beatles, Madonna, and many other successful artists actually sounded better before they became popular? Ever heard someone say they like an unpopular band’s early stuff?
    While it’s possible that popularity is creativity-sucking kryptonite, there’s a more likely explanation. Regardless of whether its music changes, when a band becomes popular, liking it makes people less unique. If you were one of the twelve bystanders who happened to catch one of Asian Spider Monkey’s first coffeehouse shows, you’re in a small, select group. No one had heard of them, so—unlike saying you like Dave Matthews Band or Beethoven—saying you liked the Spider