Social Networks and Their Influence: Why You Should Avoid It
The idea of persuasion has been transformed and is interpreted in various ways. Some people believe that it is an act to leverage social proof, while others believe it is a tool to build trust and common belief systems. Human beings often misconceive the concept behind persuasion and fail to identify its applications. One of the major drawbacks behind this is they get influenced easily and fail to develop a discerning mindset. In one of his articles for Digital Tonto, Greg Satell shares why you should be conscious of your social networks and have a discriminating opinion about things.
How Social Networks Influence
Satell talks about the conformity studies performed by psychologist Solomon Asch. The experiment proved that people incline more toward conformity even when the popular opinion is wrong. Satell adds, “The idea that people have a tendency toward conformity is nothing new, but that they would give obviously wrong answers to simple and unambiguous questions was indeed shocking. Now think about how hard it is for a more complex idea to take hold across a broad spectrum of people, each with their own biases and opinions.”
The Three Degrees of Social Networks
In 1948, Congress approved funding for the Framingham Hearty Study which studied the health and lifestyle-related aspects of 5029 men and women. The research went on for 32 years and led to various insightful conclusions. The research established a conclusion between people’s lifestyle choices and social networks. The report stated that your health and lifestyle choices are influenced by your friends, their friends, and their friends’ friends.
How Social Influence Impacts Companies
When business professionals get into a conversation, they defend a bunch of people unknowingly just because they believe in their opinions. Such behavior paves the way for a complex web of opinions that we push forward without knowing much about it. Satell believes that this is precisely why CEOs should not provide earnings guidance to investors. The pandemic put a stop to earnings guidance, but CEOs of renowned companies have begun the practice again.
Persuade Networks, Not Opinions
For every business professional that wants to persuade their consumer base in believing their product is the best, you must focus on shaping your networks. After years of meticulous research, experts have found out that people generally believe in and behave similarly to their social networks. Therefore, you must focus on the thought processes of majorities and the shared purpose.
Click on the link to read the original article: https://digitaltonto.com/2022/this-one-simple-scientific-principle-explains-why-you-shouldnt-waste-too-much-time-trying-to-convince-people/