A government official told me about an American wheat farmer who was entertaining an overseas delegation at his farm. He told them about his nosy neighbours and how farmers were forever watching what the next one was doing so they didn't 'miss out' on anything'.
It was early September and as I understand it, most wheat farmers will sow their winter wheat in about October or November. To prove his point, he had his staff go out on the farm with their machinery and pretend to sow the winter wheat - the machines of course had no seed. By that afternoon all his neighbours were sowing their winter wheat.
This story demonstrates that we, human beings, fear loss more than anything else, and secondly, we use the behaviour of others to justify our own actions - this is called social proof and its effect was very apparent with the farmers.
A recent study by social scientists told one group of people that installing insulation in their homes would save them 50 cents a day on heating costs. The other group were told that without insulation they would lose 50 cents a day. The 'loss' language group had a 150% higher uptake than the first group.
At the moment an organisation I am working with is active in creating export channels into the United States for pasture based technology in dairy. The United States runs a mainly confinement system. But by setting up successful New Zealand pasture based dairy farms - or monitor farms - we're able to show American dairy farmers that the confinement system is losing them profits and also simultaneously we benefit from providing 'social proof' to neighbouring farms.
In fact, farmers drive hundreds of miles to see what the New Zealand farms are doing. By implementing tactics around social proof and 'loss' language, we are putting in place catalysts that help create change.
The challenge of course is how we reach a 'tipping point'. Of course it can be a bit like winning the lottery. You can't win if you don't have a ticket. So we're busy 'buying tickets' at the moment - but I would be interested in any comments on how we achieve a tipping point.
www.strategicpr.co.nz
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