0:01

As I record this episode,

0:01

we've just emerged from Tropical

0:05

Cyclone Alfred hitting the shores

0:05

of Southeast Queensland and Northern

0:08

New South Wales here in Australia. In the lead up to the event, most

0:11

people did what you'd expect them to do.

0:14

We stockpiled water, organised

0:14

sandbags in case of flooding,

0:18

taped windows, and so on. And while there was an expected shortage

0:21

of bottled water and fresh fruit and

0:24

vegetables in supermarkets, there was

0:24

one other item that was in short supply.

0:30

Toilet paper. People have been buying it up in bulk.

0:34

And we saw the same thing happen

0:34

a few years ago during COVID 19.

0:37

Videos emerged of people fighting over

0:37

rolls of toilet paper in supermarkets.

0:42

It was ridiculous. It is highly unlikely we're

0:44

going to defecate more than usual

0:47

when in a lockdown situation. So what drove this bizarre

0:49

behavior and why did it happen?

0:53

And importantly, What can this teach

0:53

us about communication and change?

0:58

That's what today's episode is all about.

1:01

Hi, friends, and welcome to a new episode

1:05

of Less Chatter, More Matter,

1:08

the communication podcast. I'm your host, Mel Lloyd, and

1:10

I'm recording this episode on the

1:13

lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal

1:13

people here in Meanjin, brisbane.

1:16

And as I said in the intro,

1:16

we've just experienced a tropical

1:20

cyclone here, which is very unusual

1:20

for one to hit this far South.

1:25

So I just want to say upfront

1:25

that I know many people had

1:28

homes and belongings damaged. They lost power and so on.

1:32

And this episode is in no way

1:32

making light of that impact.

1:36

But instead, I did want to focus

1:36

on some of the behaviours we

1:39

saw leading up to the storm. Behaviours that we've seen in other

1:41

situations too, because it's worthwhile

1:46

unpacking them to understand why

1:46

humans do the things we do, but

1:49

also how we can apply those lessons

1:49

to our communication and change.

1:54

So today I'm going to share four

1:54

reasons why people hoard toilet paper

1:58

during disasters and what we can learn.

2:00

Let's get into it. The first influential

2:04

factor is uncertainty.

2:07

Uncertainty breeds fear, fear breeds poor

2:07

behaviours, or just weird behaviours.

2:12

We react poorly to uncertainty

2:12

because our brains hate it.

2:16

Our brains are these old things

2:16

that are living in modern worlds.

2:20

They were designed to keep us safe. So certainty is very comforting to us.

2:25

When we don't have certainty, sometimes

2:25

we just don't know what to do.

2:29

And we see this all the time in

2:29

workplaces, particularly during change.

2:33

If we can't provide all the

2:33

answers, people tend to resist.

2:37

This uncertainty is also linked to

2:37

the status quo bias, which basically

2:42

means we like things to stay the

2:42

way they are, even if sometimes

2:46

it's not in our best interest. And again, this goes back to that idea

2:48

that The status quo provides safety.

2:53

If we move outside of that status

2:53

quo, we are taking on risk, and

2:57

we are hardwired to avoid risk.

3:00

So, when we see people hoarding

3:00

toilet paper, part of that is just

3:04

a response to uncertainty, and

3:04

a desire to control what we can.

3:08

What does this mean for your

3:08

communication and change practices?

3:12

Well, firstly, Try to create

3:12

as much certainty as possible.

3:16

That means very clear communication,

3:16

not using the vague corporate

3:19

speak or vague timelines and so on.

3:23

And secondly, I know we don't

3:23

always have all the information.

3:26

So say so be upfront about what

3:26

you know and what you don't.

3:31

And that's always appreciated. And another tip that I always

3:33

share is to talk about the

3:36

things that aren't changing. So, for example, Yes, we're changing

3:38

this technology, but our process

3:41

remains the same, and so do our roles. Sometimes you have to anchor people

3:43

to things that are certain to

3:46

help them manage the uncertain. So that's number one, uncertainty

3:49

and the status quo bias.

3:53

The second reason why we see toilet paper

3:53

flying off the shelves is social proof.

3:58

It basically means that what our

3:58

peers, colleagues, Friends and

4:01

families think about something or

4:01

what they do has the power to change

4:05

how we think and behave as well.

4:08

Social proof was a term coined by

4:08

a psychologist, Robert Cialdini.

4:12

So if you don't know about Cialdini, look

4:12

up his books, uh, they are incredible.

4:16

And he found that people are likely

4:16

to do what they observe others doing.

4:20

And it's even more powerful when the

4:20

people we are observing are like us.

4:25

So for example, if the messenger

4:25

is your team leader or a colleague.

4:30

So this is what we call the representative

4:30

bias, and it's where people evaluate

4:34

probabilities based on the degree

4:34

to which someone is similar to them,

4:37

or the degree to which a situation

4:37

represents your pre established view.

4:42

And whether we like it or not,

4:42

we are getting sucked in by

4:44

social proof all the time. E-commerce sites tell you how many

4:47

other people have bought the item you're

4:50

looking at, or that people who bought

4:50

that item also bought this other item.

4:55

They're great examples of social proof

4:55

to influence purchasing decisions.

4:59

We also use testimonials when

4:59

we promote courses and products

5:02

or even using new technology. We rely on peer reviews on

5:04

e commerce sites, Google,

5:07

TripAdvisor to make decisions.

5:09

We look at how busy a cafe is to judge

5:09

how good it is, even if we haven't

5:13

looked at the menu or the reviews. Because if it's so much busier

5:16

than the one next door, then

5:18

in my mind, it must be better. A 2012 study found social proof

5:21

can be so powerful, it can even

5:25

change our minds when it comes

5:25

to intentionally hurting others.

5:28

So there was this study called Opposing

5:28

Torture, and basically the researchers

5:32

spoke to different groups of university

5:32

students, and asked if they were against

5:36

the use of torture in interrogations. Now as you would expect, I hope,

5:38

most of the students responded that

5:42

they opposed the use of torture. But, when they were told that

5:44

most of their peers were in

5:47

favour, the tables turned.

5:50

80 percent of them then saw

5:50

torture as morally acceptable.

5:54

So in times like these, when we

5:54

see other people hoarding toilet

5:57

paper, we tend to follow the crowd.

6:00

There's a part of our brains thinking,

6:00

if they're buying up toilet paper, there

6:03

must be a reason for it, so I should too.

6:06

So how do we apply social

6:06

proof to communication?

6:09

Got a couple of ways you can think about it. The first is who the

6:11

communication comes from.

6:14

If your trusted colleague is saying

6:14

the new cafe downstairs is great,

6:18

you're more likely to go and try it. Or if a couple of team members are

6:20

raving about this new AI tool at

6:24

work, you are more likely to use it. So this is where change champions can

6:26

really help your internal comms, and it

6:30

doesn't necessarily work if the social

6:30

proof is coming from a senior leader.

6:34

So just think about who the messenger is.

6:37

And the second way you can use it is

6:37

think about how you write the subject

6:41

line or the title of your communication,

6:41

because including social proof in

6:46

a headline or your key messages can

6:46

make a big difference to whether a

6:49

person decides to engage with your

6:49

message or not, and if they believe it.

6:53

So for example, you could use a subject

6:53

line like, 20 of your team members

6:57

have already completed this survey. That's going to be much more

6:59

persuasive than complete this survey.

7:03

So that's social proof. The third one related to

7:05

uncertainty is loss aversion.

7:09

So this is a bias where

7:09

we tend to feel losses.

7:13

More than equivalent gains, even

7:13

if those losses are only potential

7:17

losses, we don't actually know. So in fact, the pain of a loss

7:19

can be twice as powerful as the

7:24

joy from an equivalent gain. So for example, we'd rather

7:25

not lose $10 than find $10.

7:31

And this is linked to Prospect Theory,

7:31

which was developed by Daniel Kahneman and

7:35

Amos Ky back in the sixties and seventies.

7:37

And it basically means we weigh up

7:37

potential outcomes from decisions we

7:41

have to make based on cost and risk.

7:44

So for example. We might be much more willing to

7:45

pay for an outcome that's a sure

7:48

thing rather than pay less for

7:48

an outcome that's not as sure.

7:52

We're willing to spend

7:52

more to get certainty.

7:55

Now what all of this means is that we

7:55

tend to do whatever we can to avoid

7:59

incurring a loss, which means we often

7:59

avoid taking even well calculated risks.

8:05

It's also linked to regret aversion

8:05

where we tend to do things to avoid

8:09

feeling... disappointed later on. It's like FOMO.

8:12

And when we think about

8:12

toilet paper in supermarkets,

8:15

people don't want to miss out. They see other people buying it,

8:16

and they don't want to regret

8:19

not buying it themselves later. So even if supermarkets hiked up

8:21

the prices on toilet paper, and

8:25

you probably still had enough

8:25

stocks at home, you are likely to

8:28

go and try and buy some yourself. We are so irrational like that.

8:33

Now, what does all of this mean

8:33

for communication and change?

8:35

Well, firstly, people want to avoid loss.

8:38

So if they perceive the change as a

8:38

loss in some way, they will resist it.

8:43

This is where hyping up the benefits

8:43

in your messaging is really important.

8:48

Genuinely hyping up, of course. Your messaging might also need to very

8:50

carefully position the gains against

8:55

the perceived losses to help people

8:55

gain that perspective, that what they're

8:59

getting is going to be so much bigger

8:59

and better than what they're losing.

9:03

So, for example, yes, we're replacing

9:03

system X with an AI system, but that

9:07

means you'll be saving on average

9:07

10 hours a week on this repetitive

9:11

work with this clunky system. And that's 10 hours you can use

9:13

to focus on X, Y, and Z instead.

9:17

So that's loss aversion. If something is perceived as being rare.

9:23

People want it more, and that's the

9:23

gist of scarcity, which is a fourth

9:28

reason why people buy toilet paper when

9:28

they don't need it during disasters.

9:32

Scarcity is one of Cialdini's six

9:32

psychological principles of persuasion.

9:37

It's why people line up for days outside

9:37

of shoe stores when there's a limited

9:41

edition version of a sneaker dropping;

9:41

or a new iPhone is coming, even though

9:46

they probably already have a perfectly

9:46

functioning iPhone or they already have

9:50

10 million pairs of sneakers at home. It's why people drop thousands of dollars

9:52

on designer handbags or waste a whole day

9:57

monitoring their devices in an attempt

9:57

to get Taylor Swift concert tickets,

10:01

not looking at anyone in particular. There was a lovely experiment in 1975

10:03

that demonstrated this scarcity principle.

10:09

So in this research, they

10:09

asked participants to rate

10:12

chocolate chip cookies. And to me, this sounds like a

10:13

experiment I can get behind.

10:17

Now there were two jars. One had 10 cookies in

10:18

it, the other had just 2.

10:22

And they were all exactly the same cookie.

10:25

People just had to taste a

10:25

cookie from each jar and rate it.

10:28

And even though they're exactly the same

10:28

cookie - The cookies in the two cookie

10:32

jar were consistently rated higher

10:32

than those from the 10 cookie jar.

10:37

Basically, scarcity drove a perception

10:37

that those cookies were more delicious

10:42

and more valuable because there was only

10:42

a few of them in that two cookie jar.

10:47

In the case of the great toilet

10:47

paper, hoarding, scarcity was

10:50

a big driver of behaviour.

10:53

People saw toilet paper was getting

10:53

scarce, and so they wanted it

10:56

more, even if they didn't need it. And again, it's a little bit like FOMO.

11:00

Marketing, it uses scarcity all the time.

11:04

You see it when they use phrases like,

11:04

there's limited tickets available, or

11:07

limit of one product per customer, or

11:07

there's only one seat left on this flight.

11:12

E commerce sites use it all the time.

11:14

You can see how many of a particular

11:14

item is left in stock, how

11:18

quickly they're selling and so on. But there are a few

11:21

caveats about scarcity.

11:23

And the first is that scarcity due to

11:23

high demand, like Taylor Swift tickets,

11:28

is much more effective than scarcity due

11:28

to limited supply, like a coin collection.

11:34

Luxury items that last a long time, like

11:34

a diamond necklace, are more appealing

11:38

compared to what they call fleeting

11:38

luxuries, like a limited edition book.

11:43

And a scarce item that shows your

11:43

status like a pair of Gucci sunglasses

11:47

is even more effective because

11:47

you layer on top of that, our need

11:50

for this social gratification. So how do you use scarcity to make

11:53

your communication more effective?

11:58

Here's a few examples. When promoting a training course for

11:59

employees, you could say something like:

12:03

Spaces are filling up fast for this hugely

12:03

popular, unique learning opportunity.

12:07

Don't miss out. If you're selling a product,

12:08

you could say: Hundreds already

12:10

sold and only a few remaining. Get in quick.

12:13

You'll never

12:13

have the chance to buy this again.

12:17

If you are selling a service like a

12:17

training course, you could say something

12:21

Gain exclusive access to our annual

12:21

leadership communications course, usually

12:25

reserved for C suite executives only.

12:28

You could even use visuals to show how

12:28

many places on a course have already been

12:32

taken, for example, as long as that visual

12:32

shows that there are only a few left.

12:37

So layering scarcity with social

12:37

proof can also be really powerful.

12:41

So for example, a testimonial from

12:41

someone who attended a training course,

12:46

they might say how great it was, how

12:46

happy they were, they were one of the

12:49

few people who got to do the course,

12:49

and then they encourage others to

12:52

do it before the course books out. That could be a very powerful message.

12:57

Alrighty, it is time

12:57

for your episode recap.

12:59

So in today's episode, we explored the

12:59

behavioural science behind people's

13:03

stocking up on toilet paper in times of

13:03

disaster and how we can apply some of

13:07

those lessons to our own communication. There were four ideas I shared.

13:12

Firstly, uncertainty

13:12

and the status quo bias.

13:15

We really like things to

13:15

stay the way they are.

13:18

And when faced with uncertainty

13:18

that creates fear and fear

13:21

creates poor behaviour. In times of change, use your

13:23

communication to try and alleviate

13:26

some of that uncertainty by

13:26

pointing to what is certain and also

13:30

talking about what's not changing.

13:33

Number two was social proof. Basically, we tend to follow the crowd.

13:37

So if everybody else is buying toilet

13:37

paper, then we will buy toilet paper too.

13:42

Imagine if nobody actually ever

13:42

started hoarding it, there would

13:45

still be plenty left in the shelves.

13:47

And so for your change in comms,

13:47

social proof can also be used as

13:51

a powerful driver of behaviour.

13:53

So use testimonials from change champions

13:53

and think about using messengers

13:57

who are liked and representative of

13:57

the audience you're trying to reach.

14:02

Number three, loss aversion. We hate the idea that we might

14:04

experience a loss and that we

14:08

might regret taking an action. The pain of a perspective loss

14:10

is felt twice as strongly as

14:13

the joy from a potential gain. So we have to reframe perceived

14:16

losses as benefits where we can.

14:20

And finally, scarcity. The more rare something

14:22

is, the more we want it.

14:25

So when toilet paper becomes scarce,

14:25

we want it, even if we don't need it.

14:29

In change and comms, we can use

14:29

scarcity to help drive behaviour.

14:33

Like attending a training session

14:33

or participating in a new program.

14:38

All right, team. So that is our episode for today.

14:42

I am so excited because in the next few

14:42

weeks, we've got more, uh, extra guests

14:46

coming on board, I'm traveling a bit

14:46

too and attending a few conferences.

14:49

So I'll be sharing that back with

14:49

you to find out what I've learned

14:52

from around the globe around what

14:52

are the trends that we're seeing and

14:55

what are people working on in the

14:55

comms and change sector more broadly.

14:59

So I'm super excited for that. Also super excited that in November

15:00

this year, I will be running a retreat

15:05

with my friend Petra Zink over in

15:05

Queenstown, very exclusive, very limited.

15:09

We are maxing out at 20

15:09

people to this retreat.

15:13

It's two days. You're going to walk away with so

15:13

many tools and practical things for

15:18

your own business, your own brand.

15:20

You do not want to miss this. I promise you we have a big

15:22

focus on practicality and also

15:25

why not do it in Queenstown. So for more info on that, check

15:27

out the link in the show notes.

15:30

In the meantime, keep doing

15:30

amazing things and bye for now.