The persuasive power of "social proof"

分享者：趙廷真

網址: http://wheresthesausage.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/the-persuasive-power-of-social-proof.html

　　我從企管生活雜誌(BA’s Business Life magazine)Steve Martin的文章”yes! 50 secrets from the Science Persuasion”裡得到了一些啟發。對，我知道現在發布有一點晚 ;-)。這些啟發是有關於”社會口碑驗證”的說服力量。Steve的東西很酷的原因是因為這些東西是有被科學證實的。
　　我們也許會想說我們想要和他人不一樣且多一點個性。實際上，我們時常被其他人做的事情所影響: 這就是社會口碑驗證。
　　Steve提到一個令人印象深刻的例子: 有一個飯店試著要讓顧客重複使用毛巾。有一個科學研究指出40%的民眾會重複使用毛巾。飯店於是放置「大部分入住我們飯店的房客都會重複使用毛巾」的口語標至於飯店廁所裡。猜猜看發生了什麼事?毛巾重複使用率提高了26%。
　　我在法國巴黎的時候，替這種現象取了一個「忙碌加工場效應( busy boulangerie)」。我的太太Anne-Marie只想要我在巷口那間隊伍很長的麵包店買麵包，因為人多一定好吃。
　　Steve說到這就是社會口碑證實推薦廣告如何發揮它的效用。Whiskas(貓食品牌公司)長久以來使用「十個養貓者裡有八個說Whiskas」的廣告詞。即使此品牌已經有一些年沒有在使用這個標語了，但是我猜想消費者大概還是透過集體意見的方法在蒐集資訊。 推薦在商業世界裡發揮了他的功用。舉例來說，Oracle的海報競賽，公開了使用Oracle軟體的公司及97%的財星500大公司都使用他們的服務的事實。當決定是否採購相關軟體時，你會想要成為那孤單3%的公司嗎?
　　社會口碑證實是為什麼跟進者無法打敗大品牌的原因之一。它也提供了領導性的品牌在改革和刷新核心事業的方向，大部分的人會傾向於購買被視為最好的產品及服務。 最後下一個結論，如果你是一個領導品牌，想清楚如何使用社會口碑證實會讓你獲益良多。

　　Great bit of insight from Steve Martin, author of "Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion", read in BA's Business Life magazine. Yup, been flying a lot lately ;-). Its about the persuasive power of "social proof". What's cool about Steve's stuff is that its backed up by scientific evidence.

　　We might like saying we all want to be different and individual. In reality, most of us are influenced by what everyone else is doing: this is social proof.

　　Steve quotes a fascinating example of a hotel trying to get guests to re-use towels. Research showed that 40% of people did this. The words on the card in the bathroom were changed to read "The majority of guests you stay in our hotel re-use their towels". Guess what this small change did? Towel re-use went up by 26%!

　　My own name for social proof is the "busy boulangerie" effect, learnt when I lived in Paris. My missus Anne-Marie told me to always buy bread from the place with a queue round the corner, as it meant it had the best bread.

　　Steve suggests social proof explains why, when done well, testimonial advertising can be highly effective. For years Whiskas catfood maintained market leadership with its campaign based on "8 out of 10 owners said their cats preferred Whiskas". Even though the brand hasn't used this idea for years, I bet consumers still play it back in focus groups.

　　Testimonials can also work well in the business world. The one that sticks in my mind is Oracle's poster campaign, quoting results from leading companies who have used their products, or plugging the fact that 97% of the Fortune 500 use their brand. Would you really want to be in the top 3% if you had to buy business software for your big business?

　　The power of social proof is one reason what its hard for follower brands to attack Leader Brands. Provided Leader Brands do a good job of constantly renovating and refreshing their core business, people will tend to stick with what most people see as the best product or service.

　　In conclusion, may be worth looking at how you are using the persuasive power of social proof on your brand, especially if you are a Leader Brand.

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