Conformity bias: How to use effectively in your marketing campaign?
By: Akalanka Pathirage
Tags: Marketing Strategies, Conformity, Advertising, Marketing

As humans, we naturally tend to work collectively. We like to be a part of a group. To be feel belonged. After reading this article you will be able to understand how to use that natural tendency to your advantage.

What is conformity bias?

Simply put, Conformity bias is the tendency of humans to act like the people around them instead of using their own personal judgment.

Remember the last time you met your friends. Didn’t you decide to change your mind to follow along with your friends? For instance, you might have decided to went to a movie with your friends even though you are not really interested in it.

It was not the content or the quality of the movie that inspired you to take that decision. It was the excitement of your friends about the movie. Automatically you decided to conform. This is a social phenomenon happening every time and we all have to conform to some extent.

Why do we tend to conform?

We are extremely social creatures. The biggest advantage of us is our ability to work collectively. That ability is the exact same reason for human kind’s superior-rise over every other living form on earth.

So there is a copious amount of programs in our brain to help us do collectively. Conformity bias is one of them. Yet a crucial one. Especially in marketing.

How to implement conformity bias to advertising.

Down here you can see two ad copies. These are “"just for fun” ad copies created by me for a fictional training firm.

This is the first one. Now take a look at the second one.

Can you see what I have added in the second ad? By adding that value 9,567, I have brought conformity to play. This is social proof. There is a higher chance of hooking a customer by this because the customer will tend to conform.

The advertisement only says to join those 9,567 businesses. That is nothing to be scared of. Actually, it is what the brain wants in default. To become a part of a group. So let it be.

So do try to implement conformity in your ads by social proof whenever possible. It will obviously give you tons of benefits in the near future. Also, remember when using social proof always use only the correct details. That is important because trust is the most crucial part of marketing anything.

However, using numbers is not the only way to use conformity bias. Think of you as the owner of a business consultant firm. So when you are advertising you could address the primary need of your target customers. Which is the growth of their business. You could say something like ‘Want to grow your business?’ in your ad copies. So how do you use conformity bias to further develop this ad?

You could say something like ‘Want to grow your business?’ in your ad copies. So how do you use conformity bias to further develop this ad?

Well, you can use numbers like in the previous example. But what happens if the number is not that big. In such a case except using the exact number, you can say something like in the fictional ad down here. The ad is missing a call to action and the graphics are really primitive. But I didn’t want to further spend my time for this since this was not a real one:-).

The magic word in here is ‘too’. By using the word ‘too’ in the copy I have generated the same conformity effect in the reader’s mind.

So be creative and try to implement conformity bias to advertising whenever it is possible.

Hashtag challenges and Influencer marketing: use of conformity bias in social media

In nowadays, Social media platforms have become a vital part of marketing anything or anyone. So let’s look at the role of conformity in social media.

Yeehaw challenge

Yeehaw challenge is a TikTok challenge that recently went viral. In the yee-haw challenge a user stands ahead of the camera for the first part of “ Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and suddenly converted into top to bottom cowboy outfit. This simple hashtag challenge skyrocketed the artist’s popularity.

Conformity bias played a crucial role in here once again. Once you have seen a few people around you doing that trendy thing it is natural for you to do the same. To join the trend.

There were also a few awful challenges reported. Like the one called “tide pod challenge” in which teenagers tried to eat detergent pods. However, this is a strong proof that shows how powerful conformity bias can be.

Also, we have seen how big the companies use social influencers for marketing purposes. Though this was not a new strategy, today social media has transformed this into a whole new profession.

You don’t have to be an actor or a singer to build a fan base. You could be a social influencer. and earn a handsome income.

Conclusion

In summary, Conformity bias is both a natural tendency and a social phenomenon in human society. Technically you could use conformity bias for marketing until the very last day of human civilization.

When used creatively and correctly you could use it for a bigger advantage. Modern hashtag challenges are a good example of present-day conformity.

So What is your opinion about this?