Show people what others like them do
Saying what most people like them do can nudge behavior, but the famous towel study has a messy sequel.
In a famous 2008 hotel study, Noah Goldstein, Robert Cialdini and Vladas Griskevicius replaced the usual “help save the environment” card with one saying most guests reuse their towels. Towel reuse rose from 35.1% to 44.1%. In a second study, a card about guests who had stayed in that same room hit 49.3%, versus 37.2% for the standard card.
Now the honest part. When Gerd Bohner and Lena Schlüter tested the idea in German hotels in 2014, the “other guests do it” messages did no better than the standard environmental appeal. In their second study, any message beat no message at all, but the norm advantage didn’t show up. Social proof can work, but it isn’t a guaranteed switch, and context matters.
So use it, then test it. In an onboarding email or empty state, describe a true, specific behavior of users like them, such as how many teams connect a calendar on day one. Never invent the number. Run it against your current version and keep whatever wins with your users.
The example
- Instead of
- “Don’t forget to invite your team!”
- Try
- “Most teams on Plunger invite 2 colleagues on day one. Invite yours?”
Before you flush
Find one true “most users do X” fact in your own data and add it to the onboarding email that asks for that action.