Social scientists have discovered through testing that us humans are more likely to do something if we think other people like us are doing it too, also referred to as "social proof". Used correctly, this can drastically increase your conversion rate and make you money.

The towel reuse example below is taken from the book "50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive" and demonstrates how changing the wording on signage makes a significant impact on human behavior. This makes you realise how powerful your headlines are and makes you wonder why we don't have better signage when trying to enforce cooperation, such as .... hmmmm let me think, how about dog littering?

Encouraging Towel Reuse in Hotels

To be eco-friendly and save cash (we know this is the only reason they care) a hotel attempts to increase towel reuse by using social proof messages. The control signage used a standard hotel message to encourage towel reuse: "Help save the environment and show your respect for nature by participating in the towel reuse programme" and the social proof message read "The majority of guests at this hotel recycled their towels at least once during their stay".

Findings

26% more hotel guests reused their towels with the social proof message - simply by changing a few words. This is a big deal and probably means the hotel can layoff a few chambermaids, with the money saved they can invest in more social proof signage tests! ...now, if only there's a way of stopping the guests nicking from the mini-bar??!

Dog Littering Messages Worth Testing

On a grander scale governments could save big bucks by employing better signage to stop rubbish and dog littering. Here's a couple of messages I thought of to help prevent you stepping in a dog pile next time you're out:

• 95% of dog owners picked up their dog's mess today.
• The vast majority of dog owners pick up their dog's mess, don't be the offending minority.

Increasing your Conversion Rate Using Social Proof

Okay, so you know how to stop global warming and solve the world's dog fouling problem but how can this make you money? Well, obviously these messages can be employed on your website and Amazon.com the market leading online retailer are ahead of the game, remember seeing these messages? "82% buy the item featured on this page", "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought."

So how can you boost your website conversion rate using social proof?