The surprising reason that people on the kidney donor list often pass on available kidneys. - Contagious Part IV

Hey there!

Estimated read time: 5 minutes

Have you ever heard of the phrase "Monkey see, monkey do"? It's a fun way of saying that we humans are basically copycats. We tend to look to others for guidance on what to do in different situations, whether it's buying a product or choosing a candidate to vote for.

But here's the kicker - if we can't see what others are doing, we can't copy them! So if you want your product or idea to be popular, you need to make it more publicly observable.

The Apple Story

Ken Segall, Steve Jobs' right-hand man, was in charge of Apple's ad agency for twelve years. He worked on some of the most iconic Apple campaigns, including the "Think Different" campaign and the "Crazy Ones" ad. And he even named the iMac, which started the iCraze that we still see today.

One day, Jobs approached Ken's team with a unique challenge. He was obsessed with the customer experience and wanted everything to be perfect. Even down to the direction of the logo on the new PowerBook G4.

Jobs realized that when people opened their laptops, the logo would flip, making it upside down for others to see. He was worried that this could be hurting the brand, so he asked Ken's team if it was more important to have the logo look right to customers before they opened their laptop or to make it look right to the rest of the world when the laptop was in use.

In the end, Ken and Jobs decided to flip the logo to make it more observable. Jobs believed that seeing others do something makes people more likely to do it themselves. And making something more observable makes it easier to imitate. So by making the logo more visible, they were able to increase the power of the Apple brand and encourage more people to buy their products.

This idea of observability is crucial in marketing. If something is built to show, it's built to grow. So the next time you see an Apple logo, remember that it's not just a design choice - it's a strategic move to make their brand more visible and encourage more people to buy their products.

Kidneys

More than 100,000 patients in the US are waiting for a kidney transplant, and with only 40,000 new cases of end-stage renal disease each year, the wait can be agonizingly long. But surprisingly, when a kidney becomes available, 97.1% of kidney offers are refused.

While some of those refusals are based on the kidney not being a good match, social proof also plays a significant role in people's decisions to turn down available kidneys. According to MIT professor Juanjuan Zhang, people infer that a kidney is low quality if it has been turned down by so many others on the list before reaching them.

This social proof leads one in every ten people who refuse a kidney to do so in error, turning down a kidney they should have accepted. Even though patients can't communicate directly with others on the list, they make their decisions based on others' behavior.

So the next time you find yourself making a decision, remember the power of social proof. Sometimes it can lead us astray, causing us to miss out on opportunities that could change our lives.

Halal and Investment Banking

If you're ever in New York City and craving some delicious, cheap eats, there's a spot that's always crowded. Halal Chicken and Gyro, a food cart that offers platters of chicken and lamb, rice, and pita bread, has become a must-visit for locals and tourists alike. People will wait up to an hour in line just to get a taste. But did you know that just across the street, the same owners operate an almost identical food cart called Halal Guys? The food is just as good, the packaging is the same, but there's no line. Why? It all comes down to social proof. People assume that the longer the line, the better the food must be, so they follow the crowd.

This herd mentality doesn't just affect food choices, either. Even the careers people choose can be influenced by social proof. In an experiment with MBA students, half were asked what they wanted to do with their life before starting the program, and the other half were asked a year into the program. Before starting, the students had a diverse set of interests and goals. But a year into the program, more than two-thirds said they wanted to go into investment banking or consulting. This convergence was driven by social influence. People look to others to help them make decisions, and when they see others making the same choice, they're more likely to follow along. Understanding when social influence is strongest is key to using it to help products and ideas catch on.

Hotmail

This is a classic story that you will hear referenced in many books. In fact Apple swiped this one and added it to their playbook.

On July 4, 1996, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith launched Hotmail, a revolutionary new email service that allowed users to access their inbox from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection and a web browser. It was a game-changer, freeing people from the limitations of dial-up internet service providers like AOL. But it wasn't just the practical benefits that made Hotmail catch on. The creators also used observability to their advantage.

Every time a Hotmail user sent an email, it was like a mini advertisement for the service. The bottom of each email included a message and link that read "Get Your Private, Free Email from Hotmail at www.hotmail.com." By including this message in every email, Hotmail users unwittingly became ambassadors for the brand, providing social proof and implicit endorsement for the previously unknown service.

This strategy paid off in a big way. In just over a year, Hotmail had amassed over 8.5 million subscribers. Microsoft soon took notice, purchasing the service for a cool $400 million. Today, more than 350 million users have signed up for Hotmail and its successor, Outlook.

The success of Hotmail's advertising strategy has not gone unnoticed. Apple and BlackBerry have adopted a similar approach, with signature lines at the bottom of their emails often including phrases like "Sent using BlackBerry" or "Sent from my iPhone." These messages not only provide social currency for the user, but also help spread awareness about the brand and influence others to try it. It's a subtle, but effective way to turn ordinary emails into powerful marketing tools.

Conclusion

Here's the thing - if we can't see what others are doing, we can't copy them! So if you want your product or idea to be popular, you need to make it more publicly observable. Just think about Apple - all they had to do was flip their logo and bam, everyone knew they were an Apple user.

And speaking of getting attention, did you guys hear about Movember? Those dudes used the power of mustaches to draw attention and donations for men's cancer research. That's some serious facial hair game.

So the key is to design your product or idea to advertise itself. Make it so cool that people can't help but show it off. Like Lululemon or Livestrong, they create behavioral residue that sticks around even after people have used their product or engaged with their ideas. Basically, they make the private public.

So there you have it, folks. If you want your product or idea to catch on, make it visible, make it cool, and make it something people can't wait to show off.

Best,

Camillo