After going over some of these hilarious comics in class, it was quite surprising how many of these Pathetic Geek Stories I relate to. Most of them are embarrassing stories from the awkward phases we all endure through stages like puberty and junior high.
The comic above stood out to me because we have also been reading the book "Predictably Irrational" and have completed reading "Nudge." Both of these books suggest ways that consumers make decisions and how surprisingly irrational and impulsive we often behave. I think this comic exemplifies those ideas further by showing how many silly, irrational decisions we make based off of social influences and following our possy. I know that I have been guilty of "following the herd" and making certain choices because everybody else is doing it.
In particular, the comic represents the risky shift effect.* The girls are much more likely to shoplift because the group has decided to have a different persona and get rid of their "nice, quiet, smart geek" identities. By shoplifting collectively, they are each held less accountable for their actions than they would be if they were stealing individually. Which brings me to my next point: they probably wouldn't shoplift individually. The power of the group leads them to make a decision that they would not have made on their own. This action can be referred to as deindividuation.** The group clouds the individual identities and morals and makes the girls perhaps go against their core values.
Of course, this is just a comic strip. However these ideas of behavior that the comic represents I believe influence nearly everyone in everyday lives. Clouding personal values by becoming a homogeneous group can poison everything from politics to that pair of shoes or new gadget that you just have to have.
*Page 412 Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being by Michael R. Solomon
**Page 412 Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being by Michael R. Solomon
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