(AI-free post)
Ever tried to compare two conventions or trade shows together?
What are your evaluation criteria for this?
Well, more often that not, my bet is that you’ll look at the attendance number.
And that might be misleading.
Surprised?
Let me explain why.
Take a party or a concert, is its quality related to the numbers of attendees?
This question just interrupted your emotional brain and forced you to use your rational brain… how does it feel?
You know that crowds don’t mean much, now that you think about it, right?
So why did your brain trigger you into thinking numbers matters in this context?
It’s a cognitive bias, a shortcut for your brain.
It’s called social proof.
If a high number of people are drawn towards anything for that matter, including a show or a convention then our brains are meant to use this shortcut: it MUST be good, otherwise why would they go? Right?
Unfortunately it’s also called the lemming effect mentality (in French we cal it the Mouton de Panurge effect. It stems from the story told by Rabelais back in the 16th century).
So why do we fall for this mental trap?
Because emotions, what Nobel winner Daniel Kahneman calls “system 1” of the brain, is made to save us time and energy.
While system 2, the rational brain one could say, consumes a lot more energy.
Yes, you could say that, basically, we’re lazy. But it’s a bit more complex.
The number of stimuli and decisions to be taken in a business day could be overwhelming if we had to weigh in ON any decision we take rationally.
Emotions save us time, but they could also be highly misleading.
And BIG NUMBERS elicit emotions from us (why is for another post).
An example : the lottery?
The bigger the prize, the more difficult it is to win it, and we all know it.
Yet, most people will be drawn to these numbers, instead of a smaller one with higher chances of winning.
Another function of these cognitive biases, like this one, the social proof, is to help us stick together as a group.
Why are we, by default, made to stick together as humans?
It’s a survival mechanism.
In the group there is protection.
Simply look at any animal kingdom documentary and you’ll see that pack animals find protection by staying and following the group.
Sure one of them might be eaten by an orca or a lion, but due to the numbers, you’re better off in a pack than alone in the savana or on the coral reef.
Not to mention it saves energy to follow the group.
That’s the principle at work behind leadership.
It takes more energy to lead than to follow.
When you follow the leader, you do a transfer of responsibility, yet saving energy.
Back to our trade show choice.
When you chose one, weight in rationally the numbers. Question them.
As for the questions to ask, you’re welcome to work with us to learn which ones we ask organizers, before we select or disqualify their shows.
Because conventions organizers know about the effects of numbers on your psyche, they will use them to convince them their show is the one to go to.
It’s an emotional/sales argument, not a rational one.
In trade shows, like in finance, or like in any decision in life, it’s always best when emotions and rationality match.
Or like a lot of spiritual or personal development say: emotions are not your friends.
They are definitely not yours when it comes to choosing a show, but they can be yours when engaging with visitors, but that is for another post.
PS : If you want to learn more about this phenomenon, read our post about causality and correlation.
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