I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING

​Nah, that’s not me, you say?  If you’ve ever looked at reviews before buying something, or considered ratings on TripAdvisor before booking your holiday, or bought a fidget spinner for your kids, or chosen to eat at a resturant that is full versus one that is empty, or recently bulk ordered toilet rolls in the light of the coronavirus scare, you most certainly have experienced ‘Group Think’/ the Mob Effect / The Herd Effect. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the fact remains that we are deeply influenced by what others do.
 
In 2008, Professor Jens Krause and Dr. John Dyer of Leeds University conducted an experiment where groups of subjects were told to walk in a random path inside of a big hall while not communicating with the other subjects. However, the researchers told a few of the subjects exactly where they should walk.They discovered that the people who were told exactly where to walk started being followed by the subjects walking “randomly.”“We’ve all been in situations where we get swept along by the crowd. But what’s interesting about this research is that our participants ended up making a consensus decision despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to talk or gesture to one another. In most cases the participants didn’t realise they were being led by others”, said Prof Krause.In the end, they found that it took just 5% of people walking confidently to influence 95% of the other walkers to follow them.
 
While the Herd Effect has precipated unsavory behaviours (actual mobs !), and crisis such as the Dot Com Bubble and  stock market crashes, not everything that comes out of  it is bad.  It can be an extremely powerful Nudge guiding positive decisions and actions. Marketeers , have of course, understood and used this psychology to prod people along their paths to purchase. 
 
Pampers, the diaper brand from P&G, for example, drove increased consideration by showing how many other ‘mothers like you’  placed their faith in Pampers.  Olay overcome the barrier of decreased relevance at various e-coomerce platforms by demonstrating how many other ‘women like you’ chose Olay to answer their skin care problems.
 
Amazon has built up such a review powerhouse that 30% of ecommerce shoppers go to Amazon just to research products, basing much of their decision on such peer reviews. Other methods of leveraging such social proof include  ‘Best Sellers”, “Most Popular” page, “Choice of XXX people”  
 
Singapore, uses the Herd Effect, habitually, to nudge people to adopt positve behaviours. The Public Utilities Board, for example, encourages people to conserve water & electricity by having the monthly utility bills display how your energy consumption compares to your neighbours, gently nudging people to not exceed the ‘avergae’. Public Service campaigns regularly shine light on behaviours they want people to emulate by showing a ‘collective’ of people performing the desired action.
 
Human race is a herd. We find comfort in numbers, and  with people with whom we have something in common. While Herd Metality is often associaited with negative emotions & outcomes, it is a powerful nudge that can be used to accelerate adoption of postive goals.