social proof

Examples of social proof in the following topics:

• Brand Management Strategies

  • The rise of social networks is an incredible opportunity for meaningful engagement with current and prospective customers, and free outlets like Youtube enable viral distribution of assets for virtually no cost (indeed, sometime for a profit!).
  • Social media has changed the landscape for branding, and at this point encompasses a critical and necessary series of channels to leverage when pursuing any of the above branding strategies.
  • Along similar lines is social proofing.
  • Social proofing can have an enormous impact on the perception of an organizations brand.

• Social Influences and Purchasing

  • Social influence occurs when one's emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by others.
  • Social influence takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, socialization, peer pressure, obedience, leadership, persuasion, sales, and marketing.
  • These include our need to be right (informational social influence) and our need to be liked (normative social influence).
  • Informational influence (or social proof) is an influence to accept information from another as evidence about reality.
  • Compare and contrast informational social influence and normative social influence and how companies take advantage of them through marketing

• The illusion of control

  • (Langer, Ellen, and Rodin, Judith, ‘Long-Term Effects of a Control Relevant Intervention with the Institutionalized Aged', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35)
  • (Dunn, D., and Wilson, T., ‘When the Stakes are High: A Limit to the Illusion of Control Effect', Social Cognition) Most people will also value a lottery ticket more if they choose it rather than if one is chosen for them at random.
  • (Langer, Ellen, ‘The Illusion of Control', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32) A similar study revealed that well educated subjects actually thought that they could improve their prediction of coin tosses through practice.
  • (Langer, Ellen, and Roth, J., ‘Heads I Win, Tails It's a Chance: The Illusion of Control as a Function of the Sequence of Outcomes in a Purely Chance Task', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 34) Obviously, in all of these examples the subjects had no control over the outcomes of the acts described, yet as psychologist Leonard Mlodinow reports, on a deep, subconscious level they must have felt they had some control because they behaved as if they did.
  • In the introduction it states that sustainability embraces the legal, financial, economic, industrial, social, behavioural and environmental, arenas – and most of the examples provided in this document offer proof that this is so.

• Sociology and the Social Sciences

  • Sociologists occasionally posit the existence of unchanging, abstract social laws.
  • The use of scientific methods differentiates the social sciences from the humanities.
  • Only with the development of mathematical proof did there gradually arise a perceived difference between scientific disciplines and the humanities or liberal arts.
  • Thus, Aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods; Plato mixed geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge.
  • But social life is rarely predictable enough to be described by such laws.

• The Development of Social Science

  • In ancient philosophy, there was no difference between the liberal arts of mathematics and the study of history, poetry or politics - only with the development of mathematical proof did there gradually arise a perceived difference between scientific disciplines and the humanities or liberal arts.
  • Thus, Aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods, and Plato mixed geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge.
  • With the rise of the idea of quantitative measurement in the physical sciences (see, for example Lord Rutherford's famous maxim that any knowledge that one cannot measure numerically "is a poor sort of knowledge"), the stage was set for the conception of the humanities as being precursors to social science.

• Sociology and Other Social Sciences

  • The social sciences comprise the application of scientific methods to the study of the human aspects of the world.
  • Social sciences diverge from the humanities in that many in the social sciences emphasize the scientific method or other rigorous standards of evidence in the study of humanity.
  • Only with the development of mathematical proof did there gradually arise a perceived difference between scientific disciplines and the humanities or liberal arts.
  • Thus, Aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods; Plato mixed geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge.
  • The combination of these quantitative and qualitative advancements thus established social science as an empirical endeavor distinct from the humanities.

• Tradition vs. Science

  • Social scientists began to adopt the scientific method to make sense of the rapid changes accompanying modernization and industrialization.
  • Thus, Aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods, and Plato mixed geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge.
  • At first, scientists sought mathematical truth through logical proofs.
  • Many researchers argued that the methodology used in the natural sciences was perfectly suited for use in the social sciences.
  • The positivist approach to social science seeks to explain and predict social phenomena, often employing a quantitative approach.

• Single-Issue Interest Groups

  • Their membership is often quite devoted to the issue, and motivated by personal experiences or to participation in ongoing social movements.
  • Some see this as proof that the NRA has too much influence in government, while others would simple describe it as evidence of the broad support for the organization.

• Preface

  • The impetus for developing the business fundamentals text as the second of the proof of concept texts was based on the realization that it is a mistake to teach information systems in a vacuum, i.e. without giving students an appreciation of the organizational settings in which they operate.
  • We learned some things from developing the two proof of concept texts:
  • A common thread in most, if not all, chapters will be applicable principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, although these topics are covered in depth in Chapter 12.
  • A common thread in most, if not all, chapters will be applicable principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.

• General Strengths and Limitations of Trait Perspectives

  • One possible proof of this is that several trait theories were developed independently of each other when factor analysis was used to conclude a specific set of traits.
  • For example, an extroverted individual is energized by social interactions and seeks out social situations, but trait theory does not offer any explanation for why this might occur or why an introvert would avoid such situations.