How to Increase Sales with Social Proof

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If you are walking down the street and suddenly see a crowd running in the opposite direction and shouting "Save yourself quickly!", then you will most likely run along with it. The interesting fact is that you will follow the crowd immediately, and you will understand the reasons for such behavior in the process. This is how the human brain works, and marketers do not miss the opportunity to use the crowd factor for their own purposes. In this article, we will tell you how exactly this tool can help you increase sales.

The principle of social proof: what it is and how it works
The situation we looked at in the introduction is a clear example of social proof - a phenomenon where a person makes a decision based on the actions and opinions of other people.

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History of the discovery of the principle




Have you noticed that many comedy TV shows add a laugh track?? This trick was invented by wordpress web design agency American sound engineer Charlie Douglas in the middle of the 20th century. The idea came when he noticed that the audience did not always react correctly to jokes during the recording of programs. To fix this, Charlie used a pre-prepared recording of laughter. This caused a wave of fun at the right time, because we all know that laughter is contagious. In fact, this is manipulation based on the crowd factor: if everyone laughs, then the joke is funny.

The term "social proof" first appeared in the book "Psychology of Influence" by Robert Cialdini , published in 1984. The author described this principle as a trigger that effectively influences consumers. Cialdini cited various experiments as examples. For example, the larger the list of participants in a charity program, the more willing people will be to donate. And if a person finds a friend among the participants, the likelihood that he will join will increase.

Psychology of principle
Why does the social proof trigger work? The thing is, we live in a system. People are easier to control when they are not separate individuals, but simply a grey mass. Therefore, the belief that being like everyone else is safe is instilled in people from childhood. At home, on the street and at school, a child is told: “Behave normally!”, “Look how others do it!”, “Why aren’t you like everyone else?”, “What’s wrong with you, look how others act in such situations”, “Are you crazy, no one does it!” and so on. That is, we are dictated what the norm is and motivated to fit into this framework.

In addition, our brain is always looking for easy ways. In order not to overload itself with processing unnecessary information, it creates patterns. One of them is imitation of other people. We look at them and repeat them automatically, because it is easier to rely on the opinions of others than to conduct your own analysis and make an informed decision. This is clearly seen in everyday life. For example, when you do not know how fast to move on a certain section of the road or where to throw away the popcorn cup in the cinema after the show.