Part 3: E-Commerce Psychology Series - Because They Buy
Key takeaways while enrolled in a course at Interaction Design Foundation
Social validation is when an individual conforms to the consensus of a group. Human psychology dictates that this is necessary in certain instances. How is this relevant to our continuing discussion about E-Commerce? Here are four reasons why.
Reason 1: The Bystandard Effect Is Real
Imagine that you're stranded on the side of the road. Car after car zooms by. But, after 20 minutes, no one stops. Why? What if you were in the driver seat of one of the hundreds of cars that would have passed by. Would you stop to help? Or would you think to yourself, "I'm in a hurry. Someone is sure to stop."
It's likely that most would be thinking the same way, that someone else will attend to the unfortunate soul. The result? Little, if any help. This is is an example of the Bystandard Effect Theory.
Here's another example. I shared a previous blog post link with a friend yesterday. He's also taking a UX design course online. So, I suggested that he turn his notes into a blog post, which is exactly what I'm doing. I've been excited to share what I'm learning instead of filing away my notes, perhaps, to be forgotten. His response to my suggestion surprised me.
After mentioning the long list of other priorities, he stated: "...plus, anything I have to say has probably already been said better." Really?! As a musician, that would be like saying, "I'm sure all the songs have been written that are worth writing. Why bother?" Let me tell you, that's no way to live.
What my friend was really saying was, "I have no value because the world is full of other people. The collective value of others exponentially drive my value down." This friend will never write a blog article until his mental model changes. Why do I write? For so many reasons, and one of those is to create value for other people.
The Bystandard Effect and Chat Platforms
A study by Patrick M. Markey in 2000 explored this bystandard theory on the digital front. His study centered around how a user would behave within a chat, forum or group discussion environment. He posed questions like:
Would their gender influence the response time from others?
Does the number of people already in the chat room influence response time?
If you ask your question of a single member of the group and ask that person by name, will he or she answer your question faster than the group would?
His conclusion was that if you want help, posing a question to the group in general is the least effective approach. Reach out directly to a group member and your chances of getting what you want are far greater.
So What Does This Have To Do With E-Commerce
Two things to note here. First, you will be able to reach people quicker by addressing the user or customer by name. Personalization can have far reaching effects. Second, a user often judges a product, post, or tweet solely on the number of likes producing possible biased views. These two facts could influence the way you interact with users and how you present your information to them.
Reason 2: The Presence of Strangers Influences Sales
There is social validation even in the images that are present online. Regardless of whether the person in the picture is a stranger or not, because both the user and the person in the image share the same attribute of "human", this causes the subconscious mind to lay hold of an idea. "Could I be the one driving that car?" Let's examine the differences in these two groups of images.
The group above shows images of Tesla sedans. Moving, driving at night, in the country, and within the confines of a parking garage. The angles are all different. By themselves they could each serve as a background for a design or an ad. But there is one thing that is missing, human connection. Rubber, metal, glass, plastic, impressive body style, even the Tesla brand will likely fail at bringing lasting interest. It's just a car, after all.
How about this group of images. There's a completely different feeling. Yes, that's it, feelings. Emotional responses all over the place. There's life, energy, and relatable situations. We all get in and out of cars, make puzzled faces at other drivers, use a steering wheel, and even grab luggage out of our hood space...er...frunk, if we own a Tesla. There's a connection here that cannot be achieved any other way.
The inclusion of ordinary people doing ordinary things creates emotional responses. The appearance of people within an image, even if they aren't using the brand, can often be enough. This is where the magic starts to surface. The connection to a brand heightens when the person in the image is holding or using the particular branded product.
This is why understanding the influence that perfect strangers can have on your user is powerful. The next time you question whether to include a two-dimensional human in your design, consider the value of emotional response and whether you can afford to lose interest and sales.
Reason 3: Product Reviews and Ratings Are Your Lifeblood
Harnessing the power of social validation can be done in many ways. Providing platforms and tools for users to write reviews and rate your products is yet another method to influence sales outcomes.
Reviews
Loyalty and customer satisfaction is great, but serves you better when communicated. Why not let your happy customers be an extension of your sales force. This is where reviews come in handy. Reviews tend to stay a while. They can become some of your cherished friends.
You may have thought about another form of customer feedback called the "testimonial." It's function is similar to the review, but it misses the mark by a long shot. Where reviews describe the actual use of the service or product, a testimonial can seem far removed from the intimate application that creates valuable feedback.
Besides, asking ten friends to each write a testimonial is a whole lot easier than asking them to purchase your product and write a review. It's all about the real customers that brings value. So, offer incentives to your customers to drive reviews.
Ratings
Where reviews can be a more qualitative form of feedback, ratings represent a more qualitative approach. Star ratings are the most widely used form of rating system.
Think of the star rating as a summary for what a customer would put into words. It's short and sweet, compact and succinct, and is easily interpreted by the brain. There's many advantages for incorporating a star rating component into your user interface.
Where saving space is concerned, website real-estate is precious. So why not create a way for a similar level of communication while making room for other content.
Sometimes users don't want to read, they'd rather skim. In fact, that's the profile of most users. Skimming from top left to bottom right is what most of us do. Users don't have time to read. Those convenient little stars can prove quite useful. If the user want's to know more, then they can read the full review.
Why Reviews and Ratings Can't Always Be Trusted
Reviews and ratings have become the lifeblood of a company's reputation. Negative feedback weighs much heavier than the positive feedback. So, companies take losses sometimes just to avoid a negative review.
The motivation to harm the reputation of another company or product can be real. It can find it's way from the hands of a contemptuous competitor into the halls of discussion forums, show up in false reviews, and be present in inaccurate ratings.
The creation of non-organic social validation is a form of manipulation and leads to distrust. So how can users trust online feedback?
Martha C. White, who wrote for Time.com’s Money section identified six red flags that can be used to unmask fake reviews. A review is likely to be fake if:
There’s no information about the reviewer.
The opinions are all-or-nothing in nature.
Several are posted at the same time.
They don’t go into detail about the item concerned.
They feature smaller words (e.g., ‘big’, ‘good’).
They’re very short (e.g., “This is really good.”)
What makes a review believable? In general, detail lends authenticity. A review is likely to be authentic if:
An image of the reviewer is visible.
The name of the reviewer is present.
A location is included.
The reviewer tells a story of how the product helped or hindered them.
Personal data is shared, which may not always be possible.
Incentivize your users with a coupon code or discount for giving reviews. Create a place where their positive experience can translate into positive emotional responses for future customers.
Reason 4: Social Networking Spreads Reputation
Social media platforms are built on social validation. While useful for generating leads and sales, social networking builds relationships betweens brands and their audiences. As in product choice, the avenues are endless, cheap, and sometimes free.
People talk about what they like, others respond. As they do, the ranking of content increases, popularity soars, and search engines deliver value and relevance to a user. Recommendations, likes, and comments are digital gold as the social platform and browser algorithms favor the content that has more positive feedback.
This is how social validation influences the success of a post, video, or product. The more comments on a blog post, the more likely it will be to get more comments. It's like inertia, once you're moving downhill, it's more likely you'll keep going in that direction and more likely you'll go faster and faster. Social media platforms are designed to serve up the hottest topics, what's trending.
Quality Trumps Quantity
Similar to reviews and ratings, likes and followers can also originate from dishonest motives. Fake accounts from overseas with fake activity exists. Paying to drum up the appearance of organic popularity is actually a business model. For example, I personally own a YouTube Channel for my music making. I received this message in my LinkedIn account on March 3, 2020 and just recently checked out their Website pricing.
What do you think of this? Sounds like a viable business, right?! Maybe? Let's say I do sign up and get those 1000 subscribers. Does it feel real? Have I really added value to my subscriber base? And more importantly, have I added value to the lives of people that actually care about my content?
This company's website provides little to no information on how they obtain these additional subscribers and increased views. I'm skeptical. Promoting in the name of advertising, however, is a different story. Take a look at this statement made from a different Website that helps to promote YouTube videos.
This sounds much more viable and legitimate. In fact, their process is pretty straight forward. A very simplified campaign form and other settings allow for customized control over how you get more likes, comments, and subscribers. They don't promise specific results, just that you're video will be seen based on budget. This feels completely different then the previous example.
The difference is that one is promising results while the other is providing a method where you, as the content provider, can cast a wider net, then, let the chips fall where they may. What if you're ad, design, or video is lacking quality? You can't force results. It has to be organic.
Real subscribers and followers will continue to interact. Brand interaction is golden. Cultivating real relationships with your customer is key. Likes and comments that are legitimate will provide meaningful value. Social validation must feel real or else it won't validate what really matters. Ethics never fails.
Recap
Understanding social validation is all part of successfully navigating the e-commerce landscape. The Bystandard Effect means that the more people present at a crime scene, the less likely it is that someone will extend assistance. The expectation will be that someone else will help. People influence others even if they are complete strangers. If you portray your brand in an image as being actively used, it is more likely that emotional responses will occur and a higher probability of action will take place by the user. Reviews and ratings are key and can be increased through customer incentive programs. Social media platforms run on social validation. The greater. the popularity, the faster it will spread. Knowing these four will bring you further down the road of e-commerce success.
Action
Comments and discussions about the content above is always welcome. Here are a few items of action to get you moving and shaking, ready to use the information you just learned.
Create new designs and/or ads that feature people where you may not have included human connection before.
Compare the following websites: YouTubePromotion and Promolta. Navigate to several pages. Form your own opinions paying close attention to red flags. Does your opinion of the two sites align with the opinion of the author?
Create a plan or rough draft for how you will incentives your users to leave feedback, provide reviews, or rate your product or service.
Just go for it!
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