Valitics. Web Strategies, Net Results

These days, with all the big-bang, razzle-dazzle special effects eye candy and CGI capabilities that film makers have in their arsenal to take viewers practically anywhere in the world (or beyond), it’s easy for filmmakers to “go big” with the size and scope of their movies. Sure, every once in a while we’ll get something special like Avatar, but if there isn’t a compelling and substantive storyline beneath that big sugary shell, you get Battlefield Earth. Many a director has fallen prey to the siren call of CGI and pyrotechnics. I am looking at you Michael Bay.

 

Human decision making is complex and often misunderstood.  Unfortunate as that may be, it doesn't seem to affect us too much in day to day life.  In this post, we'll explore how the wording next to a checkbox can save (or destroy) millions of lives.  Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?
 

Social proof has powerful implications for economic bubbles, fashion, Christmas gift buying, and online marketing (of course!).  Put simply, social proof is herd mentality.  When people aren't sure what to do, they look at what other people are doing.  If a person sees many other people making a decision, they'll often make a mental shortcut and assume that the decision is a good one.  In cases where they know the decision is immoral, the actions of the many seem to make the decision more acceptable. 

In 2000, a now famous study found that reducing people's choices can increase sales by 900%.  In the experiment, two jam stands were set up.  One offered 24 flavors of jam, and the other offered only 6.  While more people tried a free sample at the 24 flavor booth, people were ten times more likely to make a purchase if they visited the 6 sample booth. 

There's so much data in online marketing that sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the big picture.  The big picture is that data points are measurements of human behavior.  Understanding the motivations for particular behaviors leads to greater improvement than purely quantitative analysis.  To paraphrase a famous physicist, "Analytics without psychology is lame.  Psychology without analytics is blind."