Blokes in pubs....

Slightly tongue in cheek - but also an interesting question:

Why do people pay professionals but then take their advice from the 'bloke in the pub'?

 

[Digger]

because they're sozzled and prone to doing daft things when otherwise they would rationalise - eating daffodills / dancing in Bonfires / getting stabbed is really silly and not clever at all :redface:
I said that out loud didn't I :|

 

because they're sozzled and prone to doing daft things when otherwise they would rationalise - eating daffodills / dancing in Bonfires / getting stabbed is really silly and not clever at all :redface:
I said that out loud didn't I :|

You did; well done

But when they act on business advice they have (presumably) left A & E / the cells and sobered up?

An accountant of my accquaintance was intending to write a guide entitled 'why you shouldn't listen to men in pubs' following our conversation on this exact topic..

 

[I Love Spreadsheets]

Comes down to trust, you automatically trust the people you drink with and know

 

[TotallySport]

because the people in the pub tell them what they wanted to hear, and the professional didn't

 

[ShortCouture]

I wonder if (being a bit more serious) it's to do with personal recommendation. The e-commerce industry knows that product recommendations/reviews written by real customers have a significant effect on sales of that product. We value the opinion of others, over the opinion of professionals.

Presumably this is because we think/know that the professional (or website) is trying to tell us something - but a customer experience seems more genuine.

 

because the people in the pub tell them what they wanted to hear, and the professional didn't

There is a lot of that in it. Having lived in and run a pub I have observed this quite closely.

The 'Bloke in the pub' (By which I am referring to a type, not to anyone who just happens to be in a pub) always 'knows a bloke' or his brother has a mate who have done great and wonderful things to avoid tax, or to get a better deal than anyone else.

I think there is also an ellement that we love the 'hooky' hence the success of 'stolen' perfume vendors..

 

[mobyme]

A lot of the "blokes in the pub" are professionals in their own field and swap advice almost like a mini forum; the difference is if they are regulars and you know them to be genuine the advice you get is usually pretty sound.
Thanks to the advice that I received from a local tree surgeon in the pub I was able to save two trees that the council's "expert" had condemned.

 

[S-Marketing]

There is a lot of that in it. Having lived in and run a pub I have observed this quite closely.

The 'Bloke in the pub' (By which I am referring to a type, not to anyone who just happens to be in a pub) always 'knows a bloke' or his brother has a mate who have done great and wonderful things to avoid tax, or to get a better deal than anyone else.

I think there is also an ellement that we love the 'hooky' hence the success of 'stolen' perfume vendors..

The comment about the 'Hooky' is very true. I know a market trader who's marketing strategy is to look as dodgy as possible and pretend everything is stolen. When he was just another trader selling cheap stuff from the wholesaler he was doing ok, now everyone thinks they are getting a bargain as the stuffs 'nicked' he's loaded.

Human nature, dont you just love it.

 

[The Met Lab]

...probably cos the bloke propping up the bar has talked to all the professionals whilst they have had a jar or seven and knows just as much - and they are free to boot,,

 

[Christine Hough]

I think there may be more in it. When you are consciously weighing things up in your mind things get screened a lot more. But the half heard off hand comment seems to get under the radar straight to the subconscious. Given the relaxed state in a pub I think it just reprogrammes us and we do not consciously weigh up what is said.

My mother was appraoched by a wily roofer who had just stuck a bit of plastic under her tiling and unclipped the gutter. She knew she had a good builder repair the roof just a year ago and told him 'no'. But as he went he muttered something under his breath about being 'I wouldn't accept work like that!' It went straight in and she changed her mind and asked him to 'repair' it... that was until I went around and so did the police!

Problem was there was nothing they could do as he had not done the 'repair' but I have no doubt her next door neighbour was duped. She was too ill and elderley though to want to make a complaint to the police!

 

[virtuallysorted]

"Because those you fall down drunk with, stand back up as your best buddies" - or so my old boss told me which is why he encouraged us down there as much as possible! (Great boss!)

But I think probably that people are naturally suspicious when they think you are trying to rip them off... Hence why if you have a monetary interest in getting them do do XYZ, they'll take the word of "the bloke down the pub" before yours, since they are an impartial advisor and don't care what you do.

I often wonder who these mythical blokes are... I've often thought that we could replace scores of policemen looking for bodies with "some bloke's dog" or replace various officials with "a passerby".

 

[gmoto]

I've had all sorts of incorrect and ill considered advice from 'professionals', many of which I've paid.
No doubt I've had more and worse from "some bloke"s, but in both cases I do try and do my own research over anything of importance, which thanks to the wonders of the internet tends to be fairly easy these days.

 

[chocolate fountain man]

Sometimes the bloke in the Pub is spot on and does know what he's talking about,although in my case it was the bloke I was having a cuppa with , never go in Pubs, not since '82 anyway, I had my cylinder head changed last August and a few weeks later an oil leak appeared, garage that did the job klooked at it and said "looks like a faulty head " and wanted £60 an hour to investigate and report back, obviously they would have "found something". I mentioned it to the guy I was talking to, he gave me some advice and with the help of a few bits of clean cloth some meths and a bit of talcum powder found out the fault was with the fitting, back to the garage for the free repair.