‘Everybody Does It’ — Why You Should Turn to Social Proof Theory When Designing Websites
‘Everybody does it!’ — when I was a child this was one of the strongest arguments to convince my parents that what I did or was going to do was right. Though many years have passed since that time, I still follow that principle more often than I would like to admit. In fact, everybody does it. Instead of denying, learn how to use this psychological phenomenon when designing websites.
Goldman’s Clever Idea
Let’s start with a short story about a man who invented the shopping cart — Sylvan Goldman. As an owner of a local chain of grocery stores, Goldman noticed how inconvenient it was to his customers to carry heavy shopping baskets around. This observation resulted in the invention of the device we now can’t imagine our lives without. Interestingly, at first Goldman’s customers weren’t thrilled at all with the idea of shopping cart — despite the sales assistants’ encouragement, they simply refused to use it. A clever businessman didn’t give up, though. He hired a bunch of models to walk around the supermarket with shopping carts. Guess what happened! Seeing other people using carts, the customers followed their steps.
If No One Reacts, Why Should I?
The behaviour of Goldman’s customers isn’t a mystery. Robert Cialdini’s theory of social proof comes as a lucid explanation. According to the professor, we tend to assume that the behaviour of other people in a group is the right one. ‘One means we use to determine what is correct is to find out what other people think is correct.’ The degree of this conviction increases proportionally to the number of people in the group. Bibb Latane and John Darley did a series of experiments in which an individual was told to do a questionnaire in a room with a broken air wet that emitted a dense smoke. The room was either filled with researchers who pretended to be participants or the individual was sitting there alone. What was his or her reaction to the smoke? If the room was crowded, in most of the cases he or she did not react at all, assuming that since others didn’t there was nothing to worry about. The more people were in the room, the less likely was the participant to react. If left alone, however, he or she immediately left the room to notify someone about the potential danger.
What Are They All Queuing for?
‘That’s some kind of crazy research,’ you may think. ‘Such things don’t happen in the real life.’ Well, they do. Can you recall any situation when you saw a long queue to a food truck or checkpoint in a newly opened shop? What did you thought at that time? Did you get interested in it somehow? I bet you did. Maybe you didn’t stand in the queue right away but you at least tried to see the name of the place. Probably you thought you may come there someday to see what is this fuss all about. But first you decided to type it into Google. Sounds familiar? That’s Cialdini’s social proof theory in practice! Not only did you assume that there must be something interesting in the place with a queue but you also decided to look for confirmation on the internet.
Social Proof on the Web
The theory of social proof is of great importance on the internet. Before customers make a purchase decision or choose to use a particular service, they will research it online. That’s why the following elements are crucial and must be taken on board when designing a successful website.
Customer Reviews
Online reviews are in a way an equivalent of a queue. A bunch of positive recommendations on the product page will surely encourage customers to do shopping. But, as in the case of queue, if they are really supposed to work, they have to stand out. ‘Show reviews’ written in a small font somewhere at the bottom won’t suffice. At least few of the reviews should be visible on the product page. Even better if additionally a general note e.g. in the form of stars would be provided next to the product name.
Testimonials
Testimonials work similar to reviews: customer who sees them starts to view the service as trustworthy. Positive testimonials are a thing to be proud of so why not to show them on the very homepage? If placed in the carousel form, they won’t take much place and will definitely look encouraging. Just make sure they rotate slow enough for the customer to read them or even make the section user navigated.
Social Media
What would better demonstrate social proof theory than social media? That’s where people comment and exchange opinions and they need to have a chance to do so. Placing social media buttons that redirect to corresponding channels has already become a common practice for all kinds of websites and let it stay that way. Adding additional ‘like it’ or ‘follow us’ buttons is a great idea as well. The more references to social media, the greater the chance that the customer will click them and that others will follow. Numbers don’t lie and customers trust them: ‘If six thousand people liked the store on Facebook, there must be something in it’.
Partners
Partners who have been cooperating with the company are equally significant trust-building factor, especially in B2B. Seeing numerous partners of a given business, a potential lead automatically gets the social proof mode turned on: ‘If so many firms trusted the company, why shouldn’t I?’ Thus, partners should definitely be emphasized on the website. And since visuals usually work better than text, small size logos of cooperating companies on the homepage would be a really good solution.
Two Birds with One Design
A truly good web design takes into account both: the users’ and the client’s needs. A website arranged according to the above principles does exactly that. The user is satisfied since he has vivid proof of the company’s trustworthiness close at hand and the business is thriving. Social proof theory can really be useful in web design. Admit it, everybody does it.
