Social Proof
People generally look to other people similar to themselves when making decisions. This is particularly noticeable in situations of uncertainty or ambiguity.
This trait has led compliance professionals to provide fake information on what others are doing. Examples of this are staged interviews on television advertisements or "infomercials".
Read more about this topic: Influence: Science And Practice
Famous quotes containing the words social and/or proof:
“America owes most of its social prejudices to the exaggerated religious opinions of the different sects which were so instrumental in establishing the colonies.”
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851)
“The insatiable thirst for everything which lies beyond, and which life reveals, is the most living proof of our immortality.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)