Herding Experiment: The Effects on Marketing
Today, we learned about the herding experiment: the phenomena where an individual follows the actions of the group. Stanley Milgram, Leonard Bickman, and Lawrence Berkowitz had run the “The Street Corner Experiment.” They had one person stand on the corner and look up at the sky. As they increased the amount of people that would look up at the sky, the more people that would stop and do the same. The conclusion they came to was this idea of “social proof” where if many people are doing it, then they must have a good reason behind it. This is different from conformity because this is not about the desire of fitting in but about the lack of insight on the value of something. This experiment showcased the “wisdom of the crowd” because a group of people would not be looking up at the sky unless there was something to see, and so one would think to themselves: “I should look and see too.”
This idea of social proof and wisdom of the crowd is one of the reasons that influencer culture has taken over much of the social media entertainment industry. If you would like to purchase a product, you are not going to just go watch an a clearly biased advertisement but heed advice from someone who would be well versed in that item. When I came to college and noticed that almost everyone had a tablet or an iPad to take notes for their classes, I was wondering if there was any value in that. Such a large amount of students must understand that iPads are needed for class so I should also think that they are must-have. I had then started binge-watching anything and everything to do with iPads and note taking apps. I especially took notice to learn from students who used iPads for school. While I did not blindly follow along, I had still used this idea of social proof and wisdom of the crowd to make a decision.
The implications of this for marketing do not go unnoticed. A very obvious example is Apple products. I would claim that Apple got more marketing for Airpods from everyday people wearing it than they did from their actual advertisements. The classic white design and the sound when the case closes are two things that would have people take notice when someone is using their Airpods. They are very different from normal earbuds and would cause people to wonder if there is some value in Airpods. I most likely only speak for myself when I say: Airpods are not worth it, and yet, I too have Airpods. This is because I believed that the crowd knew that there was some value in Airpods and it was worth having. There are so many more implications of Milgram’s social experiment and would love to about more.
Sources: https://medium.com/@Brady.Evan.Walker/the-principle-of-social-proof-the-power-of-crowds-f646813171aa
http://wisdomofcrowds.blogspot.com/2009/12/social-proof-and-street-corner.html