Marketers have long experimented with biological influences on consumer behavior — implementing tools and insights found in disciplines like neuromarketing. The goal would be to have the ultimate selling proposition: a perfect understanding of how to communicate a product or service in such a way that purchase would be…inevitable.

Whether that idea excites you or sends shivers down your spine, science marches on. So it was reported recently in PopSci that a group of international scientists got a little closer to figuring out that the act of applause – group clapping – is remarkably similar to viral marketing: “When people clap at a performance, they’re not really driven by how much they enjoyed what they saw, according to a new study. Instead, they decide how long to applaud based on the applause they hear around them.” Check out the full article via the link below.

Why do we think this is important? To create experiences that move people to action, marketers have to think creatively about group dynamics, and purposefully design the cues and triggers that deepen an experience by making it incredibly shareable and interpersonal. That includes online, social and physical moments – it’s omni-channel. You never want your brand efforts to resemble the proverbial “one hand clapping.”

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