Priming to win a bet

In the Movie "Focus", Will Smith has a series of bets with a supposed stranger while sitting in the stands of a football field, all of which is won by the stranger. He looks at the stranger in desperation and tells him to look for any player on or off the football field. If his friend (Margot Robbie) guesses the jersey number of the player picked by the stranger, the stranger would have to pay him  $2 million. Else, he loses $2 million.  After the stranger looked through his binoculars and picked a player, Margot does the same. To her surprise, she looks at someone she knows sitting on the bench and screams "The number 55". The stranger was shocked that he had lost the bet.  

Although Margot guessed right, she picked the person on the field who she knew. She had no idea that the stranger would pick the same number. Will explains that he had been priming the stranger the entire day. The lift in the hotel of the stranger had a poster with the number 55. This poster was planted by Will. The security of the hotel had a badge with the number 55.  There were several people with the jersey number 55 on the way to the stadium. A poster with the guy Margot picked, was stuck on a van that was made to pass the car of the stranger. The stranger also saw the player pretending to have gotten into an accident on the way to the stadium. All these subtle cues were planted in the subconscious of the stranger and this made him more likely to pick the player with the jersey 55. Although he doesn’t know it, his subconscious makes him pick this.

Priming is a tool commonly used in Behavioral Economics,  borrowed from Psychology.  It is a process whereby recent or current experience passively (without an intervening act or will) makes you more likely to do something related to the experience.  For example, a study found that if people are primed with images of money (dollar sign) on the screensaver of a computer in the room, they tend to be less helpful. In particular, they are less likely to pick up things that an apprentice dropped in the room. The dollar sign primed a sense of "time is money" or even "selfishness" in the minds of the participants.

Priming, however, doesn’t always have to be subconscious. It can work as a prompt as well.  A poster in the toilet can prime you to save water. 

Okay, now pick any number from 1 to 55. Go on, pick. I can bet $55 that the number you chose was 55. 

References:

Reis, H. T., & Judd, C. M. (2000). Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. Cambridge University Press.
Vohs, K. D., Mead, N. L., & Goode, M. R. (2006). The psychological consequences of money. science, 314(5802), 1154-1156.
Halpern, D. (2015). Inside the Nudge Unit: How small changes can make a big difference. Random House.

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