An instructive lesson for marketers comes from this study in Psychological Science (via Neuronarrative).
The conclusion: Providing someone with a narrative that they can follow, read and mentally envisage works when it comes to getting someone to do something. However showing a live (or as live) example and getting people to relate to it doesn't.
Participants in a study by Yale University's psychology department were tested on their basis of being able to maintain self control (it doesn't say what exactly they had to do sadly).
One lot of participants read about self control. And another group watched people exercise self control, and so "took on their perceptive."
The result? By putting yourself in someone's shoes, you feel their effort. And you are then less likely to do so yourself. You've kind of lived it by proxy and expended the mental energy.
By comparison, reading achieved the desired result. The narrative had a compelling story that made participants then *want* to take action.
Though the study authors talk about police officers and medical staff who have to relate to people every day, for me there is a lesson for marketers too.
In particular I thought of the endless number of shock ads to do with drink driving, health problems, drugs and so on. Do visual depictions of the horrors that ensue if you stray off the straight and narrow work? Without doing an analysis of the impact of these ads, I'd say that only by looking at alcoholism and drug abuse in society has to be no.
Judging from this I wonder whether story based print advertising or PR-led case studies in the media would work better and actually bring about behavioural change.
- 16% of drivers found to be high (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Healthcare Savings and Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment: Saving Lives and Money (takepart.com)
- The Effects of Alcohol on Social Behavior (3quarksdaily.com)
- Motivational Interviewing-Clinical Trial Outcomes (slideshare.net)
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