De-individuation
Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb coined the term “de-individuation”
in 1952. De-individuation refers to how, when we find ourselves
in a group, we become less self-aware and also less concerned with
how others will evaluate us. Think of all the people you’ve
heard yell obscenities at sporting events. Do you think they would
do that if they were in a small, intimate group watching that same
event? Basically, de-individuation means that when in a group, we
feel more anonymous and therefore less individually responsible
for our actions, often causing us to say or do things that we would
not normally feel comfortable with.
Diener, Fraser,
Beamnan, and Kelemn conducted a study that showed how de-individuation
can lead to antisocial behavior. On Halloween, researchers evaluated
1,352 trick-or-treaters – either alone or in groups –
who had the chance to steal candy from 27 Seattle homes. The researchers
figured that Halloween would be the perfect occasion to conduct
such a study because the children would be in costume, making them
more anonymous. When the children came to doors where they were
greeted by experimenters, they were told they could choose only
one piece of candy. In some cases, the experimenter asked the children
their names, while in other cases the children were allowed to remain
anonymous. The experimenter would then leave the room, as though
they had to go get something. Unseen observers took careful note
of how the children responded: When alone, 7.5% took more than one
piece of candy; when in groups, 20.8% took more than one piece!
It was also interesting to observe that the children who remained
anonymous stole more candy than did the children who gave out their
names. De-individuation prompted many of the trick-or-treaters to
go against what was socially acceptable and steal more candy.
Social
Validation and Conformity or Groupthink
Anytime we
find ourselves part of a group, we feel some susceptibility to peer
pressure and/or the opinions of others in the group. The more esteem
we feel for the group, the more their opinions matter to us, and
therefore the more we feel pressured to align our own opinions with
those of the group. Even if we don’t really agree with the
group, we will often go along with them so we are rewarded instead
of punished, or liked instead of scorned.
In a way, this
is an obvious observation. Anyone who has ever been to the movies
knows that the size of the crowd in the theater has a big effect
on how good the movie seems: The larger the crowd, the funnier the
comedies are. The larger the crowd, the scarier the horror flick
is.
Consider the
following other examples:
- Conforming
because you believe everyone else is correct.
- Conforming
because you fear the social rejection of not going along.
- Conforming
simply because it’s the norm.
- Conforming
because of cultural influences.
Social
Validation and Marketing
Certainly a
huge part of advertising is to make a product seem very popular.
Marketing professor Max Sutherland explained, “The more a
brand is advertised, the more popular and familiar it is perceived
to be. We, as consumers, somehow infer that something is popular
simply because it is advertised. When people are buying gifts for
others, social proof is one of the most effective tactics that a
sales clerk can use.”
Many salespeople
find great success in telling clients that a particular product
is their “bestselling” or “most popular”
on hand because such a tactic increases the social validation of
the product in the mind of the buyer. When customers feel like something
is more popular, they spend more money to acquire it, even if there
is no proof other than the salesperson’s word. So it is with
advertising: Simply asserting that a product is in super high demand
or that it is the most popular or fastest selling, etc., seems to
provide proof enough! When consumers think a product is popular,
that’s often all they need to go out and buy it.
The creation
and use of social validation is rampant: Clubs make their spots
look like “the place to be” by allowing huge waiting
lines to congregate outside their facilities, even when the place
is practically empty inside. Salespeople often recount the many
other people who have purchased the item in question. Sales and
motivation consultant, Cavett Robert, said it best when he stated:
“Since 95% of the people are imitators and only 5% initiators,
people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof
we can offer.”
Making Social Validation Work
The power of
Social Validation can be used to your benefit in any persuasive
situation. If your product or service is socially validated, people
are most likely to use it or to switch over to it. People are always
looking around and comparing themselves to see if they line up with
everyone else. If they feel a discrepancy between where they are
and where everyone else is, they will most likely conform to the
group standard. Consider the following ways you can enhance the
effects of social validation to your benefit:
1. The
larger the group, the better.
The larger the group, the more people will conform. Social theory
shows us that when a group grows, so does conformity to that group.
2. The
greater the familiarity, the better.
The more a person can identify with the group, the more that person
will be influenced to change their behavior and/or opinions. Social
validation is more powerful when we observe people we consider to
be just like us.
3. The clearer the principle of social validation, the better.
Find the best use of social validation in your product or service.
Is it the best selling, the most popular, used by the elite, the
fastest growing? Is it part of a trend or is it the industry standard?
Who uses it? Do you have testimonials from other clients or users?
For more information
on the world-famous, fastest-selling, highest-rated Magnetic Persuasion
Training, log on to www.magneticpersuasion.com.
Many cults try to use unethical social validation to keep new followers.
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