Herd Mentality... (Are you part of the herd)?

Then you are in the not in the herd herd.

The death of the herd will be the death of marketing for any niche. The herd, yours, mine and every one's is alive and well, thank goodness we have a we smell a scam herd. And their noses work most of the time.

George Wright, P.S. And then there is the Way outside of it herd.

Emotion. Often fear. Sometimes hope (especially for those who are in a desperate situation).

Those are some of the strongest reasons, but there are others.

Cheers,
Becky

P.S. I think many of us are part of a herd to some degree. It may not be the "IM herd." Instead, it might be...

The "OMG I must hide in my bunker because the terrorists are coming" herd.

The "I must conform and buy a house in a development community that looks just like every other house" herd.

The "I must have the latest gadget" herd.

The "If I was just a bit more beautiful/skinny my life would be perfect" herd.

The "I must see this movie/TV show so I fit in on Monday morning when everyone is talking about it at the water cooler" herd.

And so on.

Hey Neil...

I know something about herds... and turning them. I own a herd
of horses and I learn a ton from them every day that I apply to
relationships with humans... they aren't so very different from one
another.

If you want to turn a herd you start with the leader. Like human
herds, horses have a very structured "chain of command" within
the herd.

If a herd stampedes you race to the front and begin slowly turning
the leader in a wide circle... gradually tightening the circle until the
leader just decides to stop running. Every horse in the herd will follow
without question.

I've witnessed this same herd turning technique on forums. Someone
will start belittling or criticizing someone else. Soon, many jump on the
bandwagon with criticism. When someone (anotehr forum leader) eventually
comes along and challenges the leader of the critics you can watch the herd
slowly turn in favor of the one being criticized (assuming the new leader
makes a viable case in favor of them).

It's an interesting dynamic.

I think the application to marketing is what we often refer to as social
proof. A leader within a niche who likes your product can soon influence
the entire herd to buy it.

Example: How many copies of anything do you think you'd sell if Admin
posted a positive blurb about it?

Tsnyder

Exactly. I remember everyone jumped on that bandwagon (including myself) all really to just market Perry himself.

I said I am out of the herd, not that I was stupid.

Hi Neil,

You kind of answered your own question -- social proof. If you can get a few individuals moving, that will move a few more... which results in more moving... and pretty soon the herd is stampeding.

So it's not as if the herd goes from a standstill to a stampede. You have to get a few of the herd moving first.

BTW -- you can get the herd moving a lot faster if you put your product in front of the influential "bulls" and "cows."

For example, if I tell this forum to buy a product, the members will shrug and go on their way.

But if Allen Says PMs everyone with the same recommendation, he'll cause a stampede. And this stampede will spread off the forum onto other forums, blogs and social networking sites.

Cheers,
Becky

P.S. Kim, one of these days I'll come out with something new. I keep thinking I should put out an "IM Predictions 2010" (not a serious report, but people enjoyed 'em in 2006 and 2007).

Hi Christophe,

No offence, but that was the main lesson I gained from Allen's experiment - no-one is outside of it, and the more you think you are, the more you are deceiving yourself.

It's like the yin-yang - there's no escape. The harder you push to remove yourself from a herd that you don't want to associate with, the more you are backing your ass blindly into a new one.

The starting point to understanding this type of human psychology is to accept that no matter how much knowledge and wisdom you gain on the subject, you will always be human and therefore will continue to be totally unaware of the other typical human behaviours that you didn't focus on and remain ignorant about. You might be less herdy in one area, but by becoming so you must be more herdy in another.

Unanswerable question -

Which option is more sensible just prior to a tsunami -

a) walk out towards the sea to investigate where the water has gone

b) stay where you are and do nothing

c) get crushed in the stampede as everyone runs for high ground

You can't avoid the herd mindset - it's the reason why we are the dominant species. You can learn about it and try to eradicate acting upon it, but once you declare yourself as exempt from it's effects, you have just proved that you are not.

You become a chief mover in the 'I want to think independently' herd. And before you know it, you're looking for someone to learn from who can demonstrate how to think more independently, groups of independent thinkers to join and belong to, 'independent thinker' t-shirt and mug suppliers.....

Hi Neil,

Flatulence.

No seriously, haven't you ever got your kicks shouting 'shark!' at the beach?

I recommend 'The Life Of Brian' for further study on the subject.

I thought we were all part of the herd

Some of the herd follow the leader. Some misbehave and go off in their own direction. Others give up and die. But they are all part of the herd

Yes, that's right! I think I should do a little research too.



Oh, crap. And I didn't even put a disclaimer in the report. I guess I better find me a good lawyer.

cheers,
Becky

Hi Frank,

From - Life Of Brian -

I find it fascinating.

Check the attempts to apply logic in the 'predator avoidance' part halfway down on this page - shoaling and schooling - then watch a few Attenborough programs about 'bait balls' and decide for yourself if it's better to be a loner, or to follow the crowd for safety in numbers, or something else entirely.

Or read stuff like this - cargo cult - and see if you don't find yourself scoffing temporarily at their naivety, before recoiling in horror at the realisation that our very nature means that we are continually doing exactly the same, but are too closed-minded and conditioned to assume our own personal superiority to realise it.

Example - the classic 'cargo cult' is based upon -

But the natural human reaction for someone who discovers this behaviour for the first time (who is of a culture more 'advanced' than the tribal cultures referred to) is to assume that this behaviour is confined to those who's societies are of the same ilk. But that's the catch. That's the herd mindset that says 'we are better than that'. We are not. We just make a stupid assumption that because our 'advanced' society doesn't believe in 'magic' as such, that we have crossed some line that seperates the enlightened from the unenlightened.

Instead we should try and understand what kind of 'magic' we are currently and foolishly believing in - that future generations will scoff at and give an interesting name to, with 'cult' on the end.

Hi Tsnyder,

You have to be careful with this one. A lot can depend on who is making the posts - what I mean is there is a big difference between -

a) Person A criticises. Persons D,E,F & G join in with the criticism. Person B challenges the criticism of A. Persons D,E,F & G change sides and back person B.

b) Person A criticises. Persons D,E,F & G join in with the criticism. Person B challenges the criticism of A. *Persons H,I,J & K come out of the woodwork* and back person B.

Both have elements of herdyism, but very different levels.