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Is Coffee the Persuasion Bean?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the this-is-not-the-mocha-you-are-looking-for dept.

Gli7ch writes "According to an Australian study, our geek wonder-drink of choice might turn us into yes-men. From the article: "The experiments showed that "caffeine increases persuasion through instigating systematic processing of the message"." Apparently this has implications for the advertising world, "because it suggests that they should schedule adverts for times when people are likely to be consuming caffeine, such as breakfast time."."

27 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. It *is* morning... by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Is Coffee the Persuasion Bean?

    Excellent question.

    I'd recommend sending $1.00 to paypal@grub.net. Will post the results in my journal later this week.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:It *is* morning... by p33p3r · · Score: 3, Funny

      If coffee is the persuasion tool of choice, I suggest that you buy more coffee.

      brought to you by the International Coffee Board.

    2. Re:It *is* morning... by grub · · Score: 2, Funny


      Ha! I've had one payment already! :)
      You don't want to be left out, send that dollar!

      --
      Trolling is a art,
  2. Overly chatty by PIPBoy3000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Personally, I become overly chatty instead. This often leads to me speaking my mind more freely at meetings than I otherwise would. The little part of me that asks "should I really say that?" doesn't speed up as much as the bouncy part that says "What? That's a stupid idea! Let me share with the group."

    Needless to say, coffee turns me into a "WTF-man" more than a "yes-man".

    1. Re:Overly chatty by Scrameustache · · Score: 4, Funny

      Personally, I become overly chatty instead. This often leads to me speaking my mind more freely at meetings than I otherwise would. The little part of me that asks "should I really say that?" doesn't speed up

      Irish cofees ARE delicious, but you shouldn't drink them before meetings : )

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

  3. Move all TV ads to breakfast time? Fine by me! by billstewart · · Score: 2, Funny
    Hey, it's a nice friendly article showing up at 8am! Sure, move all the TV ads to morning when I'm having coffee and those silly morning people are watching TV, and don't bother showing them in the evening when I'm actually watching TV - No problem!

    Of course, beer probably makes people more receptive to advertising as well; this could be a problem.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  4. That explains it. by suso · · Score: 2, Funny

    This must be why I'm so impressionable then.

  5. So to kick your caffeine addiction.... by xIcemanx · · Score: 5, Funny

    ....all you need to do is to be told "don't drink coffee" while drinking coffee

    Brilliant

    1. Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... by GundamFan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That is the same kind of logic you can use to blow up robots' heads should the ever revolt.

      But seriously I gave up caffine a few months ago and I don't think I was any more suggestable with it than I am now... but I guess that is part of the trick if you where in a stat of suggetability you wouldn't notice.

      --
      I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
      Mark Twain
    2. Re:So to kick your caffeine addiction.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nice try, but my head was built with paradox absorbing crumple zones.

  6. Wait a minute... by nekoniku · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!

    {slurp}

    ...no, wait, I see what you mean, now!

    --
    "It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
  7. Caffeine helps me concentrate by dada21 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm a pot-a-day kind of man, and I loved my Senseo which runs overtime every morning. I have to think and type up to 2000 words every morning, and the days I am out of coffee are the days I don't think straight. It might be an addiction, but who knows.

    I would have to say that coffee does NOT make me a yes-man, as I've always been anti-authority and loved playing Devil's advocate. Maybe the article writer is confused; coffee might bring out our most consistent opinion or process. Does coffee make leaders more leader-like, and followers more follower-like? I'd say so.

    When I have performed public speaknig engagements recently, the coffee buzz always makes me a better speaker (and calmer, actually). I wonder if caffeine, the drug, just puts us into our most comfortable role as many drugs do (including following others if that is how we're designed).

    1. Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When I have performed public speaknig engagements recently, the coffee buzz always makes me a better speaker (and calmer, actually). I wonder if caffeine, the drug, just puts us into our most comfortable role as many drugs do (including following others if that is how we're designed).

      Actually, becoming calmer on caffeeine means you have the neurological wiring for ADD.

      Good job.

    2. Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate by dada21 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, becoming calmer on caffeeine means you have the neurological wiring for ADD.

      I do. The most productive years of my life were when I had a personal assistant helping me stay on track with my tasks and to-do lists. In recent years I've considered hiring a "Gentleman's gentleman" not just to drive me around and tend to me as a butler, but to be a personal assistant in my daily responsibilities. The added income I'd make just by staying on track would likely offset the costs of hiring a good assistant.

      I've always been ADD, but I don't consider it a penalty, really. It helps me think outside the box on nearly everything, but when I discover something unique or insightful that is different than my competition, I find I can focus nearly completely on it until I come up with a marketable idea. Surely a sign of deep ADD, but the solution isn't drugs or medicating, just pay a little more for someone with OCD to help me focus.

    3. Re:Caffeine helps me concentrate by iabervon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The study showed that people were more likely to change their opinions in response to an essay when they'd had caffeine than a placebo. It doesn't say how that validated their explanation, but the first reason they gave was scientific jargon for "the people on caffeine actually read the essay", and the second reason was that they were happier.

      I haven't seen the original study, but these things are often done with a survey of opinions on a topic, with a bunch of gradations from "completely agree" to "completely disagree". Of course, there are a number of confounding factors here. It could easily be that people who get their caffeine pay more attention to the essay and are more willing to mark down less strong opinions than they actually hold to please the authors of essays.

      To get some idea about persuasion, you need a follow-up study to see whether people's opinions are still affected after the drug has worn off.

      Of course, 11 years ago, my Latin teacher was dosing her students with caffeine at the start of class, and I can still come up with "O Colonia quae cupis ponte ludere longo", while I reread most of "The Turn of the Screw" since that year before I remembered that I'd read it before.

  8. Other applications by Zephyros · · Score: 5, Funny

    So if coffee is a yes-drink...and alcohol is a yes-drink...screw pheromones. We need to start buying women coffee martinis. There's the real liquid panty remover.

    1. Re:Other applications by kutuz_off · · Score: 3, Funny

      Re-read the summary. Do you really want to turn attractive (presumably) women into yes-men?

  9. Starbucks using this already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I knew there was some reason I had an insatiable desire to see "Akeelah and the Bee"...

  10. Two problems by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The article doesn't say what kind of "persuasive argument" it was. If it was a logical argument, then this study boils down to "people with two cups of coffee in them follow logic better".

    What bothers me more is that the topics chosen are highly emotional ones. People get so fanatical about them that they resort to assassination and fire bombing. The study purports to show that people changed their minds about euthanasia and abortions. Would you, in repsonse to a single argument from a stranger? Would anyone you know?

  11. Oh, this is good by Joebert · · Score: 2, Interesting

    YOU: "Want to go out to the club, have a few drinks ?"
    HER: "No, I don't drink..."
    YOU: "Want to go have a few cups of coffee then ?"
    HER: "Sure why not."

    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  12. Wildly-spun presentation of the obvious by dpbsmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is not very different from saying that people with presbyopia are more likely to be persuaded by print advertising when they are wearing their reading glasses. Or that people are more likely to be persuaded by loud commercials than soft ones. Or that people who listen to radio are more likely to be persuaded by radio ads than people who do not listen to radio.

    Obviously you are more likely to be persuaded by a message to which you are paying attention, focussing on, are awake for, etc. etc. That is, if the message is persuasive. You're also more likely to exercise critical acumen on a message to which you are paying attention.

    This doesn't mean caffeine is some evil zombie-making, will-sapping, mysterious persuasion drug. It just means, surprise--in some situations caffeine makes us more alert.

    It certainly does not mean "coffee makes us say 'yes.'" Try another study in which people are asked to read a contract containing some sneaky buried one-sided details that work against their interests. Ask them to review it with and without coffee. I'll bet that coffee helps them notice those details... and that in this case, coffee will "make them say no."

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

  13. No-man by Asicath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe it's the reverse?

    Without coffee I'm grumpy in the morning and more likely to be a no-man. Coffee just turns me normal.

  14. Re:Move all TV ads to breakfast time? Fine by me! by VultureMN · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, like running out before the local grocery opens. I hate that!

  15. let me be the first to say... by owlnation · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...that I welcome our new dark roasted overlords.

  16. Re:Obviously... by saider · · Score: 2, Funny

    I assumed it was the beer.

    --


    Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
  17. Re:Coffee and Marriage by saider · · Score: 2, Funny

    DO NOT under any circumstances try giving caffiene to the kids to make them "yes-men".

    --


    Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
  18. Re:Can't be true by Changa_MC · · Score: 2, Informative

    In the words of that immortal band: "There's no 'x' in espresso, dammit! For the love of God, people!" --Music Pirates

    --
    Changa hates change.