The conformity threshold in groups: When between 30-80% of people choose something

According to this story on Science Daily (with the longer article being behind a pay-wall at the Journal of Consumer Research), there is a measurable tipping point where groups will conform in their choices rather than go for variety.

When a certain item reaches 30 percent of the group, our tendency to do something different weakens....until 80-90% choose it, when the instinct to want to be different kicks in again.

So say Pascale Quester (University of Adelaide) and Alexandre Steyer (Sorbonne-Assas, Paris) who carried out a study in a Paris restaurant called 'Flam's' and created a special menu called Flam's Plus where groups of diners could choose without worrying about the individual menu prices (which they would do if they went a la carte).

The data from 70 tables found that people "like to differentiate themselves from a growing minority or an overwhelming majority, but tend to conform in between", hence the fact that conformity was the norm when something was chosen between 30-80% of diners.

Interesting stuff and something that I think retailers could apply more widely. For example, if you are an online retailer and want to push customers in a certain direction, a little note with 'one third of people chose this item', or if you want them to try something different, '9/10 went for this, here are some alternatives', might just work when it comes to shifting stock.

Image - Joi