Informational Social Influence

Monkey see. Monkey do, as the saying goes. Turns out that this might not be far from the truth. People tend to conform to what others are doing or saying if they perceive them as a source of accurate information. Humans like to be right, so they look to others who are considered experts in their respective fields to understand something deeper. This typically occurs when someone is unsure of something or lacks knowledge in a particular area. Informational social influence is associated with the internalization of said ideas adopted by the expert. You can see how this can lead to social conformity. There have been experiments done to test this theory, such as the Jenness’ Bean Jar Experiment, where participants were asked to guess the number of beans in a jar separately. Then, they were asked to guess the number of beans while in a social group. It turned out that their guesses varied greatly but when they were put into the groups, their estimates were closer in value. This shows that humans can influence one another’s behaviors and beliefs. This is why “social proof” in the advertising world works. If consumers don’t feel like they have enough information on a topic, product, etc., they will seek out a way to have accurate views and information. Social comparison is the process of comparing our opinions with those of others to gain an accurate appraisal of the validity of an opinion or behavior (Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950; Hardin & Higgins, 1996; Turner, 1991). It should be noted that informational influence is different from normative influence. Normative influence is when conformity happens due to one’s desire to “fit in” with the group to gain acceptance and fulfill expectations. The use of informational social influence is used in advertising in the form of social proof to influence the opinions of consumers. A positive view of the brand is the objective to gain new customers. Informative social influence can be a useful tool for widening your brand’s audience.