Transcend logic.

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November 18th, 2009

For those of you who are convinced that all it takes to change a consumer’s mind is some irrefutable statistical data, it would be wise to revisit the fate of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis.

Dr. Semmelweis (1818 -1865) was a Hungarian physician who in 1847 discovered that the incidence of potentially fatal puerperal fever (also know as childbed fever) could be drastically cut simply by doctors washing their hands during the delivery process. Dr. Semmelweis drew his conclusion by compiling and analyzing data from hundred of deliveries, both physician-assisted and midwife-assisted. His conclusions were indeed eye-popping: infant mortality in clinics where hand washing was the norm fell from 10% to just over 1%.

With such compelling data, one would think that the medical establishment would rush to adopt the simple practice of hand washing as protocol in the delivery room. But despite Dr. Semmelweis’s best efforts, the practice was not widely accepted until well after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory.

Wow. If evidence that a simple practice such as washing your hands can cut infant mortality by 90% isn’t compelling enough to change behavior, what makes you think some factoid about the difference between you and your competitors will?

For most consumers, facts don’t change minds. Facts simply justify what they already think. Trying to change someone’s mind with facts is fine, but you’d be advised to wrap it in some bigger story.

Take teenage smoking campaigns, for example. For decades, millions of dollars in public service dollars went in to costly campaigns to convince teens to quit smoking, or better, to not take it up at all. These campaigns all used undeniable statistics, and made for a very compelling story. And the results? Virtually no change in teen smoking behavior for more than 20 years.

The past decade, however, saw the launch of the “No Stank You” campaign, which rather than convincing with statistics, focused on the “uncool” aspects of smoking, and basically made fun of kids who smoked.

This campaign has been monumentally successful, lowering teen smoking rates by more than 30%. With nary a statistic in sight.

So if you want to change behavior, have more on your side than facts, statistics and other empirical data. Create a movement. Play to peer pressure. Make your product heroic. But whatever you do, transcend logic.

Posted by Mickey