Cognitive & Social Determinants of Buying
Separate how people process choices from how peers and social norms shape them.
Cheat sheet
Separate how people process choices from how peers and social norms shape them.
What to check first
Compare confidence, prior intent and peer influence before attributing the effect to social proof.
How to make the call
Keep the offer if incremental retained membership covers the cost.
AAPOR · Best practices for survey research · further reading for research & consumer behaviour
Indian practice case
Fictional scenario
A Pune fitness studio notices first-time visitors sign up more often when accompanied by friends.
Reveal the step-by-step solution
- Diagnose the problem.
Compare confidence, prior intent and peer influence before attributing the effect to social proof.
- Work through the evidence.
Randomly offer buddy trials to eligible prospects and track individual visits and paid membership.
- Recommend and validate.
Keep the offer if incremental retained membership covers the cost.
More Indian cases
Interview question
How would you use cognitive & social determinants of buying to make the decision in this case? Explain which data you need first and what would change your recommendation.
See what a strong answer includes
Randomly offer buddy trials to eligible prospects and track individual visits and paid membership. Keep the offer if incremental retained membership covers the cost.