5 great examples of social proof in action
Whenever I’m looking for a new app to download, there’s one thing that instantly impacts my decision before I even look at the screenshots: the star ratings. And not just what the rating is; how many ratings are there? If the number is low or the star rating is below 4, I’ll go and check out a couple of reviews to see why. Are there technical issues? Frustration with paywalls? Content issues?
What I’m looking for is social proof. I’m looking for evidence to support my decision to download the app or not, and this (fairly or not) is one of the most important parts of forming that decision.
Social proof “refers to the tendency of human beings to follow the actions of others when making decisions”. In the app store, the reviews from others and whether or not they think the app is worth it help me decide whether or not to also try out the app.
Countless experiments and examples have proven the power of social proof in marketing and UX contexts, from long lines outside Apple shops on the day a new iPhone is released to McDonald’s boasting that they’d sold over a hundred million hamburgers on billboard ads in 1958 (check out this article for more on these examples and lots more)
Here, I want to share a couple of cool examples from the world of UX that I’ve come across recently…
