Flock of Birds, or Customers

[RetailActress]

Have you ever watched a large flock of birds flying? How they all follow each other and do the same thing in the same direction at the same time?

Lately, it has struck me that customers in our store are similar.

They all seem to converge on our store at generally the same time (around 11 a.m.), take the same time to shop, try on things, and then flock to the counter to be checked out. Suddenly, we are 3-5 people deep at each register!

I wonder if there is some natural rhythm governing this phenomenon, or, perhaps, an Immutable Law of SC.

Yours in scientific inquiry,

R.A.

[StanFlouride]

When John Madden was doing color commentary on football games he mentioned more than once how when he was a coach at Oakland the seagulls would show up on game days during the 3rd quarter.
Not only did they recognize the crowd as a source of food they also seemed to know when those people would be leaving.
Not as mysterious as the behavior of SCs, granted but still pretty odd.

[BoxGirl]

Yeah, they do that at my store too. It's kind of a sheep thing, near as I can figure. They don't quite know what to do with themselves, so they wander around aimlessly until they see the only customer in the entire store that isn't co-dependent looking at sweaters. Suddenly, it's like "Oh yeah! I needed a new sweater!" and they follow each other around in this manner until the Non-Co-Dependent goes to the checkout line. And everyone sees her step into line, and they all swarm. "Oh THERE'S the line! I better get in it before there's too many people!"

This phenomena has led to the term "Sheeple" (Sheep-People). Coined by my boss. I think it describes them very well.

[Skeksin]

If lines are long, and I have time, I actually go wander the store for a bit longer. Better than waiting on the line. Of Course I usually shop after 10pm....

[RetailWorkhorse]

.....I've witnessed that!

Oh gods, hide me please.

[Lyse]

They do this at call centers, too. We will be almost completely dead (glances up at the queue and the 10+ plus wait for calls), and then....

BAM!!!!!!!!

Everyone and their brother decides to call in at once. They really should learn to coordinate better, don't you think?

[Jack Doe]

RetailActress, you've actually hit on something that physicists, sociologists, anthropologists, and psycologists have looked into for a while now, and that is how patterns develop between objects in motion when each object is moving independatly of eachother. The first major study into the field was "Brownian Motion," and applies to macro-particle physics. When they tested and proved the theory, other sciences began applying the concept to include how a mass of people move as a mob (eg, SC's and Doorbuster sales,) how flocks of small birds fly, schools of fish swim and the like.

[Nimisha]

I think it's a topic in game theory as well. Although mentioning game theory is enough to cause most maths students to run and hide I've found!

... Never ask one to try to explain to you what it's all about either. You'll either be met with a dirty look or a barrage of confusion.

[MannersMakethMan]

I think it's a topic in game theory as well. Although mentioning game theory is enough to cause most maths students to run and hide I've found!

... Never ask one to try to explain to you what it's all about either. You'll either be met with a dirty look or a barrage of confusion.

Unfortunately for you, I'm not most maths students. Now did you want that explanation?

[Nimisha]

Unfortunately for you, I'm not most maths students. Now did you want that explanation?

As a second point, those who aren't confused by it also tend to be the dispensers of confusion.

...

That said I would love to know what on earth game theory is! I'm such a math wannabe

[TheComputerError]

Look at these people
Amazing how sheep'll
Show up for the slaughter

So, we can use the motion of customers to do the calculations for an Infinite Improbability Drive? Another way to look at it would be that customers aren't unlike a hot cup of tea, other than the fact that tea tastes good.

[MannersMakethMan]

As a second point, those who aren't confused by it also tend to be the dispensers of confusion.

...

That said I would love to know what on earth game theory is! I'm such a math wannabe

I've been called a dispenser of confusion before, and with that in mind, to avoid confusing you too much, I'll just say that basically game theory is about developing a set of rules that mathematically capture the best strategy for any given situation. It also makes sure that what you believe about a scenario makes sense with respect to probability laws.

I'll also direct you to any book by my old lecturer Jim Smith, who I'm sure can explain anything better than I can - Amazon will surely have a copy, or at least something similar.

Embrace the maths geekiness - you know it makes sense!

[Nimisha]

I've been called a dispenser of confusion before, and with that in mind, to avoid confusing you too much, I'll just say that basically game theory is about developing a set of rules that mathematically capture the best strategy for any given situation. It also makes sure that what you believe about a scenario makes sense with respect to probability laws.

I'll also direct you to any book by my old lecturer Jim Smith, who I'm sure can explain anything better than I can - Amazon will surely have a copy, or at least something similar.

Embrace the maths geekiness - you know it makes sense!

Sounds about what I thought it was. I imagine implementing it is much more difficult than describing the gist of it LOL

Despite being a biologist I know that eventually everything boils down to math. The question is can you account for all the variables, not can it be predicted.

Thanks for the book idea!

wrt the topic, I noticed that working tier 1 for one of the big auto companies (interestingly enough, one that is about to go belly up) that not only did calls come in bunches, but grouped by type of call! We'd get a string of people unable to set their radios, turn off their hazzard lights (true story), or wanted to reset their oil light while driving.

Then I'd get a whole day of "My car caught fire and burned down my house destroying all my possessions" "I was in a car accident and the seat belts didn't lock and the airbags didn't go off and my son was killed" type calls. God that was a bad day.

[wagegoth]

This phenomena has led to the term "Sheeple" (Sheep-People). Coined by my boss. I think it describes them very well.

Here's the Wikipedia article on it. Wish I could confirm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheeple

[Chromatix]

On the topic of Game Theory, a classic example is called the Prisoner's Dilemma. Here's a description of the scenario:

Two prisoners, who do not know each other, are both in jail on suspicion of the same offence. Because this is not a Western judicial system, the police would much prefer to obtain a "confession" or a "witness" than do the hard work of forensic investigation.

So each prisoner is given the choice of confessing to the crime, or implicating his fellow prisoner. Both prisoners know that the other is being given the same choice with the same consequences, but they are not able to communicate. They also know that the possible consequences are as follows:

- If one prisoner confesses and the other accuses, then the confessor will be executed and the accuser will go free, after having served as a "witness".

- If both prisoners accuse the other, both will be executed for committing perjury.

- If both confess to the crime, both will be imprisoned for one year and then set free.

This is only one version of the Dilemma - there are many forms of consequences. But as you can see, the decision is not at all clear-cut. Either decision could lead to death if the other prisoner chooses one of the two options. Either decision could also lead to freedom, either immediately or eventually.

In this case, the optimal solution for rational prisoners who assume that the other prisoner also acts rationally and optimally, is to confess to the crime. This gives both prisoners their freedom after one year.

The trick is that if you assume that the *other* prisoner acts rationally and optimally as above, then you could take a risk to obtain your freedom immediately, by accusing him. This could lead to his execution and your immediate freedom. But if the other prisoner also makes this gamble, it leads to both of you being executed, which is the pessimal solution.