You see testimonials all over the internet. Maybe one testimonial has an eagerly smiling picture next to it. Maybe another declares a product to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Many of the newest and sleekest credit union website designs employ testimonials (example: HFSFCU.org has testimonials all over the place). And there’s a reason for it: studies show testimonials persuade people to act.

Why you should use testimonials

When it comes to making decisions, “Social Proof” is one of the most motivating factors out there. If humans know that other humans are doing something, they will also want to do that thing. We are naturally drawn to what others like and do, and model our behavior after them. (This is why television sitcoms use canned laugh tracks to encourage you to chuckle.)

In 1968, several psychologists conducted an experiment where they had a single man stand at the corner of a busy street and stare up at the sky. Only a couple people stopped to see what he might be looking at. But when they had five people stare at the sky, the number of others who stopped to look increased exponentially. Soon, a whole crowd was assembled. The psychologists found that people simply assumed if several people were looking, there must be something interesting to look at.

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