Self-Identify and Belonging

Something kickass copy like to say.#

Self-Identity and Belonging#

Here’s one of my favorite psychological case studies. It comes from Robert Cialdini’s must read Influence and shows how researchers were able to convince a group of Iowans to reduce their energy consumption.

To do this, the experimenters did not preach environmental concerns or the horrors of international way. Nor did they mention the money savings. Instead, they told the Iowans this:

Reduce your energy consumption over the next 30 days and we’ll feature you in the newspaper† (I CAN INLUDE FOOTNOTES MARKDOWN).

That promise of the limelight worked. During their initial test—during a cold midwestern winter—the residents lowered their natural gas consumpetion by an average of 12.2%. However, there was some bad news for these energy-saving folks.

It was no longer possible to feature them in the local paper.

But that was just the beginning. Here’s when the real test began. The researchers were also curious to see what would happen in the following months. And when they checked back a month later, they discovered something even more extraordinary.

The Iowans had saved even more gas—a full 15.5% reduction from original levels.

The experiment was later repeated during the summer months with the same promise of the limelight which was later revoked. That first month, the next group of Iowans used 27.8% less energy than comparable homes in their area. Then—after their newspaper dreams had been crushed—they saved a whopping 41.6%!

While everyone is free to theorize why this may be, I like the following explanation:

Over the course of those initial 30 days, those fine Iowans became the kind of people that conserve energy. Perhaps they even began to see themselves as being more ecologically-minded and globally responsible.

What’s even more interesting is Cialdini’s theory: that the original incentize may have been the only thing holding the Iowans back from knowing they were doing it for the right reasons, and with that social validation removed, they were free to fully embrace and embody their new conservationist identity.

Whatever the reason, this much is true. People want to see themselves a certain way—and when they do, they’ll continue to actin accordance with that growing self-image.

A Note on Belonging#

Another way to think about this is our desire to belong. We want to belong to certain groups, and herd mentality influences everything—from your politics to what you eat and how you dress.

My girlfriend thinks her beater Prius makes it look like she cares about the environment. There are no shortage of displayed rainbows amongst the queer community. And, at the end of the day, I think my RedWings make me look like a cool guy.

However someone sees themselves, treat them that way in your copy.

Action Items#

Determine the group of people who already own your product and why/how they relate to it and see themselves. Craft your sales presentations accordingly.

What group can you ask them to join? (Walnut Valley Puppies)