Cockroach Instinct

Scientists reported this week that cockroaches respond to peer pressure. The real roaches were perfectly willing to follow the lead of robotic roaches even when the robots led them against their own instinct.

The cockroach scientists claim they have no interest in studying humans. But the idea of peer influence is at the heart of marketing efforts, both for good and for bad.

Cockroaches lack the human ability to reason - however the basic concept of peer pressure can work similarly in the human experience. Our instinct, even our rational mind, may lead us one direction, but the appearance of a swell of public support for a differing direction can be a powerful force.

Most professionals in communications understand full well how the concept of peer pressure can be used in “buzz marketing” campaigns. Converse shoes, for example, are wildly popular not because they have the best orthotics or stamina or athletic features, but simply because everyone is wearing them. Philip Sawyer, the Sr Vice President at Starch (a corporation that has been analyzing the effectives of advertising for 80 years) argues that getting consumers to talk about a product (or brand) is “the definable proof of engagement with an ad”

But what about peer pressure that we - the communications staff - experience? If our gut instinct motivates us in one direction, is our judgement overwhelmed by the industry tide? Do we strike the right balance between the information we use for analysis and the instinct we have based on experience?

I had the recent experience of previewing a proposed TV commercial that I found troubling. I was in the target audience and suspected that others in my shoes would feel at best uncomfortable, at worst offended. But the focus groups said the opposite, so I retracted my objection. It turns out my gut instinct was right - those viewers with a similar profile to myself absolutely rejected the ads. In this case if I had listened to my gut instinct, many months and precious dollars would have been saved. On the other hand, we all know the danger of viewing messaging too personally and missing the broader public perspective. Should I have gone with my gut instinct and taken a risk, or followed the research?

Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink) is writing a new book on gut instinct. I heard him speak about his new subject matter at a marketing conference in Las Vegas last June - at the time he was still writing, so his theory may have evolved since then. In a nutshell, he asserted that peer pressure can easily move people to lose trust in their own instincts. Further, he claims that our gut instinct may be more accurate than hard data.

A few years ago the Harvard Business School hosted a symposium with the question: “when should you listen to your customers and when should you go with your gut?” Among the many examples of “gut” successes was the hit movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, which many movie industry insiders initially rejected, deeming the film not marketable to a mainstream audience. The Harvard symposium advice was that surveying customer needs isn’t useful for radical innovation (because it overpowers gut instinct), but can be very effective for incremental innovation.

Gladwell advised last June that gut instinct isn’t random - it’s something like the combined effect of our experience, insight, wisdom, knowledge base, etc. Having a gut instinct about whether or not you’ve chosen the right lottery numbers is not what he’s alluding to.

In the end many crucial public relations decisions have to be made with a combination of gut instinct and solid research. The best strategic media plans are informed by both. That’s why its so critical to have advisors who are willing to dig deep into your issue area. For example, it may be that investing in social networking is the right innovation for your company, or it may be that strategically it doesn’t make sense but so many industry insiders are touting it that you feel obligated to invest in that strategy.

It feels risky to blog about the cockroach study, I hope no one imagines I am calling them an insect. The best of public relations is not being the cockroach, who is pressured to make decisions against their better instinct. It’s certainly not being the robotic cockroach, luring insects into bad choices. I think its more like the scientist, seeking to understand behavior and engaging new ways to communicate ideas.