Social Validation’s Influence on Online Consumers

I had another “What did we do before the internet” moment the other day while researching which lawn mower to purchase online.  While I’m sure I could just walk into the nearest Home Depot and have someone try to sell me the most expensive lawn mower they have in stock, like many consumers I don’t feel confident that I’m getting the best value unless I do some research. Before the internet this research would involve going from store to store to get a feel for pricing and features, and asking people how they like their brand/model lawn mower. Chances are that I would end up trusting the opinion of my personal network and feeling good about purchasing a lawn mower that they recommended. This is what the concept of “social validation” is all about.

Now that nearly everyone has the power of the internet at their fingertips, seeking social validation before purchasing a product can take far less time, and the sample size is much larger than your personal network. Amazon’s star rating system is probably the most well-known example of social validation in motion. If you jump onto Amazon to research a lawn mower, you’re presented with a huge selection and no way to assess the value of each product other than the price, a ranked list of the best sellers, and the star rating given by averaging the customer star ratings of the product. Sure you could compare and contrast the features and make your own decision, but if one lawn mower gets only 4 & 5 star ratings and another gets 4 star ratings and a bunch of 1&2 star ratings, which one would you buy? The high rated one of course! You are not alone – chances are that the highest rated products are also the products at the top of the best-seller rankings.

But why? The same reason you would end up purchasing the lawn mower that your friend recommended: social validation reduces consumer anxiety.

When you think about it, social validation is influencing users’ behavior beyond the consumer product realm. Would you watch a 2-star movie on Netflix? Do you want to eat at a restaurant that received 2 stars on GoogleMaps? Would you download an album that received two stars on iTunes? Even with areas like movies, food, and music, which are so much more about personal taste than a lawn mower, the best-selling/highest-rated anything continues to snowball into even more high ratings and business.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social media is a strong, up & coming source of social validation that will continue to influence consumer behavior. (Token social media reference, check!)

Angie’s List is a low-cost paid subscription that allows users to pay to tap into a network of user-generated ratings/reviews on contractors and service companies. I highly recommend Angie’s List to any homeowner looking to find trustworthy professionals – 5 stars!  (Do you feel the sudden desire to subscribe to Angie’s List?)

If you work for a company that sells a product or service, you may be wondering after reading all of this: Why do people place so much weight on what other people think? I would suggest spending less time trying to figure that psychology out (trust me, there are studies that can back me up), and more time on figuring out how to take advantage of it. Testimonials help reduce consumer anxiety through a form of social validation, but most realize that those can be hand-picked or <gasp!> fabricated. Instead I would recommend setting up programs that encourage customers (especially happy ones) to share their experiences online wherever users are looking for social validation. Beyond that, all you can do is constantly monitor what others are saying about your product or service, and quickly respond to negative reviews to try to turn that extremely visible frown upside down.

So, does anyone have a lawn mower recommendation? I’ll settle for an experience or comment related to social validation.

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Posted by Adam Rightor Interactive Producer
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 AT 9:30 am

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