I’m late to the Robinhood game, admittedly.
I’m only just starting to explore the app and invest anything through it.
As I’m learning about Influence in Robert Cialdini’s book, I can see some strong elements within the app.
- It makes it possible to be an investor.
It’s a free app available on the app store. The setup process and connecting to your bank is all pretty smooth.
But the real key here is that people want to be investors? Why?
Because investors are making their money work for them. The label investor doesn’t necessarily mean you made money. That’s obviously the goal. But not everyone is successful.
However, the app lets you easily adopt this identity. There’s no calling up a broker or financial advisor. You just unlock your phone and invest through the app.
In Influence, Cialdini even provided an example of someone who just filled out a petition being more likely to adopt the identify of someone that identified with the cause.
So Robinhood knocking down the barriers and getting you to interact (often daily or hourly) as an investor has a huge impact on your mindset.
2. It makes it easy to think of yourself as an investor.
The other factor I’ll touch on today is consistency. Since Robinhood is an app, you can check it often.
In a 2019 article, Asurion reported that Americans check their phone 96 times a day. Or an average of about every 10 minutes.
Robinhood capitalizes on this because you are already in your phone. It’s quick and easy to check your investments. Which reinforces your mindset that you are an investor.
And the cycle continues.
Overall, I think these changes are positive. I believe it should be up to people to invest for their future and not rely on the government to do it all for you.
From that perspective, I think Robinhood brings an ease of access that can have a positive impact on the world.
Finally, take care that you don’t let investing turn you into nothing more than a gambler. Unless that’s your goal. Then more power to you.
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