Vivid Testimonials Matter

Posted by Andrew on September 3, 2007

In 1977, Eugene Borgida and Richard Nisbett published one of the most interesting studies about the power of testimonials. They took a group of potential University of Michigan students, and they provided them a course catalog with recommended classes. The students were divided into three groups.

Group 1 received no special information about the recommended classes.

Group 2 received base rate information about classes based on aggregated reviews from students that had completed the courses. This was the most thorough information presented to any group.

Group 3 heard a panel of several students talk about why they liked the recommended courses so much.

Even though the statistical information reviewed by Group #2 was the best, most high quality information, the testimonials by far made the most difference in class choice. Students in the face to face condition signed up for an average of 1.4 more recommended courses than students in the control condition.

The lesson - vivid testimonials matter. But beware - basic text testimonials may not have nearly the effect of powerful video testimonials.