The Watercooler Effect
An Indispensable Guide to Understanding and Harnessing the Power of Rumors
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"A fresh look at informal communication, and how information spreads rapidly...An absorbing and compelling book." -Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music and The World in Six Songs
"Nicholas DiFonzo is one of the world's experts on why rumors spread. If you've ever wondered where rumors come from or whether some new rumor is true, this book will fascinate you." - Chip Heath, coauthor of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
During the 2008 presidential election, both campaigns sought to detect, decipher, and defuse a host of derogatory rumors. After Hurricane Katrina, rumors swirled about stranded residents shooting rescue workers. Tipping off the economic crisis, costly rumors crippled financial institutions as they flew through the stock market.
Pyschologist Nicholas DiFonzo has studied hearsay for more than fifteen years, and in this book he shows how the process that gave rise to these troubling rumors is fundamentally the same as a tête-à-tête around the company watercooler. With The Watercooler Effect, you'll learn:
*how businesses or campaigns can control destructive rumors
*how to sort fact from fiction
*why a "no comment" response can be more detrimental than helpful
*how an organization can increase trust from within
*why rumors can actually become more truthful the more they spread
DiFonzo argues that rumors stem from our deeply rooted motivation to make sense of the world and are a window into both individual and group psychology. Using fascinating case studies and surprising research findings, The Watercooler Effect gives you the tools to find the truth behind the rumor.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
DiFonzo, a professor of psychology at the Rochester Institute of Technology whose work on rumors was featured in the New York Times Magazine's 2006 "Year in Ideas" issue, uncovers some surprising facts about rumors: what they are and why we spread them, listen to them and believe them. Drawing on a host of studies, DiFonzo illustrates how rumors are "a fundamental phenomenon of social beings." Rumors are created by people who are in unclear or confusing situations and want desperately to find an explanation. There are different varieties of rumors: they can express something much wished for (year-end bonuses), while others are a form of propaganda. Rumors can be a remarkably efficient way of spreading information: a study of military gossip during WWII found that the "grapevine" passed information just as accurately as and more quickly than official channels. But gossip drives wedges between people as often as it binds them. "Viral" rumors, spread repeatedly by e-mail, can gain credibility from repetition, and such repetition can turn a rumor into a self-fulfilling prophecy: banks fail, stocks tank. DiFonzo's clear explanations and entertaining examples make for thoughtful reading.
