FEBRUARY 3, 2009

Following The Herd

I have written previously that when I am saturated with information and can’t decide what to do,  I turn to others for input.  In fact, I have recently discovered that this is typical psychological behavior.  A recent book titled Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive describes how the power of persuasion can impact consumer response in very significant way.

The author of the book, Robert Cialdini, gives two examples of how small changes in a business approach can have a big impact on consumer response:

First, an infomercial writer changed the wording at the end of the program from “Operators are waiting, please call now” to “If operators are busy, please call again”. This caused a huge increase in the number of people who purchased the product, because they thought others were buying it too. It’s amazing how changing just a few words can make such a difference.

Second, Cialdini also did an experiment aimed at encouraging greater participation in a hotel’s towel reuse program. In addition to the usual signage, the hotel informed guests that the majority of people who stay with them actually do recycle during their visit. As a result, guests in those rooms were 26 percent more likely to participate. Ironically, when asked, the majority of people they surveyed were adamant in saying they weren’t influenced by other people’s behavior.

The book’s conclusion: be mindful of the true power of “social proof” and how, when people are undecided about a course of action, they tend to look outside themselves to others to guide their decisions. This concept is reiterated in a recent blog post by Gayle that talked about the online shoe company Zappos. She pointed out that Zappos uses most of the money it would spend on paid advertising instead to enhance the customer experience, like by providing free shipping. Its belief is that word-of-mouth marketing by customers who feel well treated by Zappos has more influence in attracting new buyers than traditional advertising.

Peer-to-peer communication, either directly or subliminally, is the new persuader. This is evident through the technology of the new age - YouTube, texting, blogging, Twitter, and social networking.  It’s surprising to me that some companies are slow to catch on, for clearly, those hesitating to adapt are missing out on a big opportunity to reach out to their customer base in a more effective way.