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Comments (4)
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Save/ShareResearcher Daniel Gilbert is one of the world's foremost authorities on how ordinary people can learn to make smarter decisions. He studies decision-making in lots of different situations. But the first paragraph of this new profile of Gilbert in Harvard Magazine has relevance to travelers in particular.
Your parents recommend taking a Caribbean cruise and tell you about a discount deal. You've never taken a cruise and aren't so sure you'd enjoy it, so you dig up some information on the Web and even watch a couple of videos. You recollect the times you've been on ships, and your past visits to Caribbean islands—rum drinks, aqua waters. But will you really enjoy an eight-day cruise? Turns out there is a better way to answer this question: ask anyone who has just gotten off a cruise boat—a total stranger is fine. That way, you'll be 30 to 60 percent more likely to accurately predict your own experience than by basing your decision on painstaking research and inner speculations.
Another traveler's verdict is "a useful guide because we are far more similar to each other than we realize."
This research may sound counter-intuitive to some people, though it certainly explains the popularity of user-review sites like TripAdvisor.
What do you think? Will you ask a stranger (or friend or family member) who's just back from a destination whether you should go there? Or will you make up your own mind?
MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL
Get Psyched! Even storm clouds and crying babies can't dim the glow of a getaway if you follow these sometimes-counterintuitive strategies—based on scientific research.
MORE ON DANIEL GILBERT'S RESEARCH
Read the blog for his book Stumbling on Happiness
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i will make up my own mind. i've never asked other's opinions on whether i should go to this trip or not. i do my own homework while planning the trip. so far, so good. trip advisor forum also helps.
Posted By mari on March 15, 2010, 4:18 PM
Perhaps not so practical, but a very good idea. If you can find/know someone, YES do this, there's nothing like a 1st hand report.
Posted By Fran on March 21, 2010, 9:33 PM
This is silly! How does asking someone that has just had a bad cruise experience relate to how your future happness? If a stranger had the norovrius does that mean that I will?
Posted By bob on March 22, 2010, 3:59 PM
Perhaps creature (dis)comforts are not all that one might recall about a trip after a year's time. Asking women in labor to recommend whether to have children would help reduce our population explosion. Waiting a year would produce other effects. It IS useful, however, to anticipate, perhaps eliminate, problems based on others' experiences. Asking the right question at the right time is key.
Posted By Carol Woodall on March 28, 2010, 11:40 PM