« Everyone “Diggs” 1 Block Off The Grid (1BOG.org) | Main | Interview with Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle »
Social Proof - Better than Green Marketing?
(This post is based on a case study in Robert Cialdini’s latest book, Yes!)
Imagine you’re in charge of persuading your hotel guests to reuse their towels.
Card # 1:
“Help save the environment by participating in the [towel reuse] program.”
Card #2:
“The majority of guests at the hotel recycled their towels at least once during their stay.”
The surprising (or perhaps not surprising) answer: Card #2! People were more persuaded by the actions of others than by the thought of “saving the environment.”
Following Social Proof
Most people would like to believe that they are not influenced by the “herd.” Yet what they say and what they do often tell a different story.
When people aren’t sure what course of action to take, they often unconsciously rely on what Cialdini calls “social proof” in order to make a decision. The best social proof is the knowledge of what other people do in a similar situation.
Could you improve the results of the “towel experiment” even more - using Social Proof?
Yes! This was done by using a card saying “the majority of the people who stayed in the same room participated in the towel recycling program.” In this case, guest participation increased by 33% over the standard environmentally-driven message of Card #1. The closer the social proof to your personal immediate situation the greater the influence of social proof.
Thoughts on how to utilize Social Proof
So the first thing that comes to my mind is for my coaching business to use more testimonials not of big companies but of companies that are similar to my ideal clients. Also, I am thinking that green businesses reading this blog could let their prospective customers know more about the actions their current customers are taking.
How can you use the influence of social proof to help your business today?
October 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Great article, Patrick! Very thought-provoking. We’re thinking about how to apply the concept of social proof at my startup.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:17 am
[...] Social Proof Versus Green Marketing [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
[...] Social Proof Versus Green Marketing [...]
September 12th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Wow! What a great tip.
Our desire to go along with the crowd oftentimes overpowers things that, in reality, could be so much more important.
We should all know this point inherently from our days in high school. Our desire to be “accepted” often led to decisions that we otherwise wouldn’t have made.
Why wouldn’t this principle apply in marketing?