Individual brainstorm better than the group

People are often more embarrassed in finding solutions to a problem when they belong to a group, a recent study found.

Marketing experts at Indiana University (USA) show volunteers a carbonated beverage brand, then ask them to think of other brands. The results show that, when seated separately, participants think of more products than when they were grouped with two other people.

(Artwork: uams.edu) This finding may be good news for advertisers when buying space at big events. It can also be applied to company meetings.

'When a group sits together to find a solution to a problem, they can ignore many optimal choices,' said H. Shanker Krishnan, a member of the research team. 'Whether sitting with family members or colleagues in the company, we tend to' fix 'the problem quickly and choose the most talked about solution'.

Researchers predict that when a group of people get information, the general trend is that they will discuss it. As more and more solutions are mentioned, team members will be less likely to think of their own choices, explains Krishnan, an Indiana University professor of marketing.

Another factor is the difference in learning and memory. People store and retrieve information in thousands of different ways. So when having to make decisions in groups, discussion can make individuals think about the problem in a completely different way than when making decisions alone.

Krishnan believes that individuals, whether students, managers or football fans, should spend a lot of time reviewing information before moving on to a consensus on a solution to a problem.

Minh Quan