Repeat business: is it contagious?

I recently read an interesting New York-based study, which suggested that divorce is contagious. Apparently, if a friend or relative gets divorced, the chances that you will do
the same increase.

The research reported that
a staggering 75 per cent of participants were more likely
to follow suit. The figure only dropped to 33 per cent when
it was a friend of a friend who had divorced.

The study called this ‘social contagion’, the power and influence from the extension of information through family friends and social media.

But is this so-called social contagion really a new enigma or has it always been part of
our make-up? Can the decision-making power of those around us really have such an impact
on our major life decisions?

I am testament to the fact that, seemingly, it can. When
a close friend moved house, it prompted me and my husband to realise that we could afford to do the same. Although we may have moved eventually, seeing our friends manage it with such ease gave us confidence to
take the plunge.

Is it actually the great British reserve that holds us back from doing something until we see someone else do it? Apparently not, if a study conducted in the US during the 2010 elections
is anything to go on.

Picture the scene: three groups of Facebook users were formed. The first group received a message asking them to vote for their preferred candidate and to click a button to say they had done so. Their action, and those of fellow members, were visible, enabling everyone in the group to see who had
voted and who hadn’t.

A second group received
the same message asking them to vote, but they couldn’t see which of their friends had done so. Finally, a third group was created. They didn’t receive a voting message.

The results showed that
the first group voted at a
much higher rate. Seemingly,
it is not the message, but the person attached to it, that is
the influencing factor.

As with many articles I read, I began to apply the situation to my own work, in this case, marketing legal services. We
all read advertisements, press releases and so on, but do we as a professional service operate in a contagious market space?

The power of people and their influence can never be denied. Certainly at my firm, returning clients and recommended clients are the top source of all new work. For me, this is the biggest sales tool we have at
our disposal.

Yes, marketing initiatives, client communications, quality client care and brand association all assist in the decision-making process, but there is no bigger compliment than client referrals. It shows how the service was valued
and is an example of how ‘contagious’ word of mouth
and people power can be.

So, if businesses are aware
of social media and its power
in reaching their target market, what’s to stop us from using
this even further to our advantage? What if we
changed the example voting experiment to the subject of making a will? Would we see friends and contacts influenced in a similar way?

We may think that success is all about having the advertising, the all-singing website or being in the press, but it’s not. Word
of mouth is ten times more effective than advertising.

We are fascinated by what people are up to and what services they use. We look to others to help us decide what
to do, think and buy, and social influence has a huge impact
on behaviour.

It’s contagious marketing
at its best. SJ

Claire Currie is a partner at Kirwans