Author: Consumers Pick Familiar Over Original

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Author of the new book, Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in the Age of Distraction, Derek Thompson, says consumers will consistently choose familiar products over new and original ideas when given the choice.

Thompson, who spoke with Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, stated that people really like what they know.

"Familiarity beats originality and distribution beats content. That is to say that I think a lot of people think that if they have this brilliantly original idea that it will inherently go viral, but, in fact, what people really like is sneaky familiarity in all of their products, their consumer products, their cultural products, their movies, their songs. In fact, it is the biggest broadcasts that tend to dictate popularity rather than quality simply winning automatically in the end."

He pointed out that Hollywood is recycling more content at the same time that they are getting better at accurately judging what their audience wants.

"Every year this century, a majority of the top ten movies in America have been sequels, adaptations, reboots or comic book movies. So, essentially, comic book adaptations. It's really remarkable the degree to which Hollywood's business model has completely reoriented around super heroes and sequels. I think that it's interesting that it has become more derivative, you might argue, at the same time that they've become better at measuring audience tastes."

Thompson thinks the better businesses get at keying in on what works, the more subtle the changes will be that get incorporated into what we consume.

"In both music and film, as the industries got smarter, the art got more derivative. It turns out that if you hold a more perfect mirror in front of audience tastes, what we really want, at the end of the day from our culture, is the same things served to us over and over and over again in a slightly new way."