Continuing the theme from my last post, I was recently reading the book Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely (Duke University) and was struck by his use of the metaphor of living in two worlds simultaneously, “…one where social norms prevail, and the other where market norms make the rules.” (pg. 68)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
He starts with the story of enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws and to show your appreciation you offer to pay your mother-in-law for the dinner. In a situation that calls for social norms, introducing market norms is offensive and can damage relationships. Through several social experiments, he shows that it is difficult for these two norms to co-exist in a situation and generally market norms will overpower the social norms.
The implications to online communities was blogged about several months ago by Jeffrey Henning at vovici (Social Norms and Market Norms in Online Communities). Jeffrey makes the case that it is important to understand the nature of the community from the beginning and to be consistent on whether it will be driven by social norms or market norms.
The same can be said for organizations that are trying to take advantage of the social aspects of work. When does going above and beyond the job requirements to help out a colleague (because of the social relationships) become activities that should be compensated by the company? Returning to Ariely, the title of the chapter is “the Cost of Social Norms” and he discusses the implications of companies that try to develop a social relationship with customers or employees. If, or when, the organization has to shift to a market norm, there is a feeling of betrayal and the relationship is worse off than if it had been governed by market norms all along.
