There are certain attitudes that are common in all human beings that serve to make decisions in our day to day. In his book ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’, Robert Cialdini unveils six patterns of behavior that individuals use in our daily decision making process. These principles can (and indeed must) be applied to Social Commerce, to understand consumer behavior and improve the shopping experience based on our experiences.
From Awareness, we propose the following table which outlines the six social principles and their application in the Social Commerce area:
From this, we can draw the following conclusions:
The opinions of others matter to us
The influence of opinions and criticisms in the purchasing process has increased in recent years. In fact, there are even products that are not acquired without previously consulting the section of ‘Reviews’ (See the case of hospitality and the tourism sector in general). In addition, there is a trend towards the decentralization of the debate, which moves from the web to social networks. As it is pointed out, users prefer the opinion and suggestions of their close contacts as they deserve more credibility.
Irrepetible and unique? … I’m interested!
The human being feels a natural attraction towards everything that is exclusive and limited. We love to differentiate ourselves from the rest – in a way to emphasize -, and for that reason we look for products that help us to obtain it. In this sense, Social Commerce success stories have shown that offering something for a limited time (group purchase) or in exclusive (pop-up stores) can help brands strengthen the bond with customers, increase loyalty and boost the sales.
Made for me
The customization is another milestone to be marked companies in the coming years; and in this the online shopping experience has a lot to say. It is no longer enough to launch an infinite catalog of products to some users who do not have the time or desire to dedicate to the search. Brands must submit relevant proposals to their customers based on their profile and likes , and that happens to evolve the stores towards the so-called Smart e-Commerce.
Shareability
The information must be able to be shared easily and directly . In the area of Social Commerce, this can be achieved through the integration of social networks within the on and off line sales point, to facilitate the user interaction with their network of contacts. Precisely, the phenomenon of “share” is entirely key for brands as it helps them to gain virality and can become a very powerful word-of-mouth channel.