Leveraging “Social Proof” for Sustainability
Why do people do what they do? This has long been studied to benefit the marketing of goods, but how can we leverage what we know about human behavior to forward the sustainable practices of consumers and organizations? With that in mind, I revisited Robert Cialdini’s now-classic book, INFLUENCE: The Psychology of Persuasion. And, in this case it was the concept of “social proof” that drew me in.
When a consumer hears or reads that “others think this is the way to go/product to buy,” that may be all it takes. And that’s one reason marketers have gotten so savvy in their use of testimonials, or in the care they take to select actors of several different looks/races/ages for ad campaigns. People like to “see themselves” in the existing group of those who buy iPods (of course) or among those “billions” who buy burgers at McDonald’s (though this may be changing).
What might this mean for engaging more citizens as consumers and business decision-makers with the concept of sustainability? We’ve got to leverage the social proof that plenty of other people are already embracing it. Cialdini points out that the principle of social proof works best under specific conditions which include “uncertainty” and ” similarity.”
It sure seems like there’s been a lot of proof that we need to start managing resources and paying attention to the environment. Still, many today remain uncertain that changing their lifestyles and worrying about the planet, for instance, is really necessary – or personally applicable. So, how might social proof kick in? Writes Cialdini: “Without question, when people are uncertain, they are more likely to use others’ actions to decide how they themselves should act.”
And, if those “others” that people are observing are similar – for instance, they seem to be middle class and married with two kids in grade school – all the better. “The principle of social proof operates most powerfully when we are observing the behavior of people just like us. It is the conduct of such people that gives us the greatest insight into what constitutes correct behavior for ourselves.”
This occurs both in the realm of citizen/consumer and in the realm of business. I remember how quickly many not-at-all skincare-related brands started to copy the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty’s “real women” approach a few years back. Whether it was wise or not, other industries that were uncertain about how, or whether, to market to women saw an established brand doing it, so they too took the plunge. And, the more brands did that, the more additional brands followed behind. Marketing to women had been important before, but it seemed to take that sort of nudge to get corporations to MOVE on it.
To be clear: knowledge of this social proof principle can and likely will always be used for the… how shall we say… “less than honorable” sell. But, what we can acknowledge is that a sustainable way of life and thinking is still an uncertainty for a large number of people. So, those folks, as consumers and business minds, are very likely looking around at “people like them” to get the social proof they need that pursuing sustainability is the thing to do.
So, consider leveraging the powers of persuasion in the direction of sustainability. Will you and your brand/organization be there to further the proof?
