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Optimizing your online conversion? Imitate your customer's behavior!
Our Online Dialogue colleague and persuasion expert Dr. Dirk Franssens has for Online-persuasion.com wrote an article on the persuasion technique mimicry.
Why does a salesperson always copy my smile or the way I tap my feet?
That's because mimicry is a powerful persuasion technique.
Mimicry is the (automatic) imitation of other people's behavior. For example, see the photo below, where all the presidents are adopting each other's posture. You yawn when I yawn. You smile when I smile. You turn your foot when I turn my foot. Mimicry is a powerful persuasion technique used by most devious salespeople. After all, salespeople know that imitating a customer's mannerisms (smiling, twisting your feet, playing with your hair) helps build reputation with the customer. And they know that when a customer likes you, a customer buys from you. In this post, I explain what mimicry is and give 5 concrete tips on how to use mimicry!
What is mimicry?
Mimicry refers to the “automatic imitation” of other people's behavior. As a result, it can be seen as a form of social influence. Mimicry is part of the ‘social environment‘ category in the Wheel of Persuasion (going live soon, sign up for the newsletter!). To understand how mimicry works, imagine participating in the following experiment.
You dine in a nice restaurant. The waitress is very nice and the food is delicious. When it is time to pay and tip the waitress, you give her a very nice tip. Why not? She was nice and friendly, and paid attention to your needs. Your colleague was in the same restaurant, had the same waitress, was also very satisfied, but tipped her much less. Why?
The waitress participated in an experiment and she had been instructed to take your order imitate verbally. She repeated word for word your order as she took it. This verbal form of mimicry subconsciously worked in her favor: you gave her a bigger tip!
Mimicry: customers who like you will buy from you!
Evidence for the existence of mimicry comes from observing babies who automatically mimic other people's behavior (smiling, looking, turning their heads). Some animals are also good at imitating the behavior of others, such as the lantern-bearer who pretends to be a tree leaf to avoid being eaten. Our brain also seems to be completely set up for mimicry. We have special mirror neurons that help us recognize and respond to other people's behavior. Finally, there is also social psychological evidence for mimicry (such as the research example with the waitress). For example, research has also shown that we automatically imitate shaking our foot, or touching our face when others do this, even if they are complete strangers.
Why do we imitate?
We imitate because mimicry obvious benefits has for us and it helps us to achieve our goals. For example, if you smile at me in conversation and I imitate that, you will like me more. It is also more likely that a bond will develop between us and our conversation will go much more smoothly.
Influence on customer buying behavior
Mimicry makes you eat animal cookies
Mimicry: a powerful new online persuasion technique?
In short, we don't know yet. The research on mimicry and customer behavior is scarce. To my knowledge, there is no scientific research yet that demonstrates the effects of mimicry in an online setting (although you can look at this example from How youth imitate smoking behavior of their online peers). Also, I do not know of any A/B test results where mimicry has been used as an online persuasion technique. On the other hand, mimicry is a form of social influence and the conditions under which mimicry should work are present online, mainly on social networking sites.
Social media
Social media, like YouTube for example, can be a platform where mimicry can be used for online persuasion. Create a video where you show real customers buying or using your product. With Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram (or services like that), you can show pictures of real customers buying or using your product. Perhaps even more powerfully, showing friends and family of a client who use certain products.
Another form of mimicry can be applied in online customer service. When online customer services use webcams to communicate with customers, they should try to imitate the customer's speech and behavior. Think of repeating words, smiling along, imitating head movements, etc. Chatbot also recently introduced the Turing test met, meaning 30% of chatbot users were convinced they were talking to a real human being. How did “he” do that? By mimicking the users' speech and behavior! By using mimicry in customer service environments, I expect it will lead to greater customer satisfaction and more positive brand reputations, and maybe even increase future purchase intentions. These and more applications of mimicry should be tested on various metrics relevant to your business.
Five Online Persuasion Tips:
- Google AdWords: Make sure a visitor's search query from your AdWords campaign is reflected on your landing page. For example, use {keyword:default text} in your Adwords display banners, in the content of your landing page, throughout your homepage (where relevant), and in your app. This verbal mimicry should lead to more likes, and thus more CTR, and ultimately more conversions.
- Facebook/Instagram: Post on Facebook and Instagram photos of customers using your products. Compare this to standard product images on metrics such as product/brand reputation, purchase intent and conversion rates.
- YouTube: Use videos to show how people buy and use your products. Again, compare this video to the metrics of a standard product/brand video.
- Online customer service: Use webcams for your online customer contact and educate your people on the power of mimicry. Test for metrics such as reputation, purchase intent and conversion.
- Imitating customer dialogues: Get to know your customers through social media and contact they seek with you, and adapt your language to your customers.
So, what do you think? Is mimicry a powerful online persuasion technique? Do you know of an A/B test on mimicry? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the effects of mimicry as an online persuasion technique!
Originally posted on October 8, 2012 at Online-persuasion.com
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