A common word floating since 2020 apart from Covid, Corona, Lockdown, Quarantine, isolation is “HERD IMMUNITY“. This is common to humans at large as it means that most in the community would imbibe. Technically referring it as resistance to the spread of a disease within a population that is based on pre-existing immunity of a high proportion of individuals as a result of previous infection or vaccination. Because herds tend to imbibe from the community at large.

We also have heard and have been attributed to a herd, but the reality is that, humans as a specie are tuned to live in a Herd Community. They imbibe characteristics, behaviour, nature & mindset of people they are mostly associated / surrounded with. This is similar to the “MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO” behaviour.

People in general are conformists, who generally look towards others for information, ideas, knowledge for decision making. This could also be called a power of Imitation.

All of us would have experienced a situational imitation, while making decisions like eating at a restaurant, visiting a bar, buying things online etc. We tend to seek information about things and draw inferences and learnings of others. This generally pertains to cases where we may have limited information. Example: You are at a mall and you feel like having coffee and you see two coffee shops. Cafe A is bustling with people inside the cafe moving in & out grabbing their takeaways, whereas Cafe B is dull has negligible customers. A normal tendency would be to walk-in to Cafe A as a mark of assurity, with a rational that there are so many people trying out the coffee and may be this place was serving a better brew.

We tend to seek confirmations and affirmations from others for decision making and thereby getting Influenced and this forms the rule of Conformity.

Humans also have a tendency to seek belongingness. To be able to be a part of a community, group, troop, team etc. The power of belongingness forms a Normative nature of human behaviour. This could also be a fear of being ostracized. A normative form thus have a huge social influence. This differentiates a sect from the rest, so that there is an established differentiation.

Influence could be exercised upon individuals using the rule of Conformity (Feedback/Review) & the rule of Normativity (a showcase that a lot many people are consuming/using)

The power of social influencing could be used to impact a workings in both positive / negative forms. However it is important to note that there are two attributes which has a direct and an inverse relationship.

Products generally falling in the Functional categories tend to have a direct relationship to social influences. Products such as Phones, Laptops, Bags, Pens etc. can be directly impacted with the forms as explained above.

However products and categories which fall under the Symbolic form tends to have an inverse impact. Example if a TV Shows, Songs, clothes etc. One doesn’t like to be classified for a symbolic form.

If alinged with the power of social influencing approach, a marketer can surely incorporate it as a strategy to give the deliverables a nudge for a better offtake.

–xx–