Each of us has a reserve of credibility. This reserve grows and shrinks in our daily interactions with others. Often, credibility is gained by quoting statistics, opinions and testimonials from others. Who do you trust?
Credibility is a currency in the emerging social networking trends. There are sites like Epinions.com that allow individuals to write about their experience with a product. These opinions may encourage you to either buy or stay away. Writers are rewarded for their efforts when others read and rate their opinions. The incentives are somewhat indirect allowing writers to be compensated for either good or bad reviews. Interestingly enough, this lends much more credibility then say a product testimonial published on a product website.
Word of mouth was the earliest form of advertising. Someone buys a car or uses a service such as a car mechanic and they mention it to friends and casual aquaintences. This simple vehicle for propogating a message has evolved into "viral marketing". Reaching a large number of people rapidly at low cost are just a few of the benefits of this form of marketing. The most valuable part of this marketing is the credibility that is tapped.
A debate was started in December '06, when several bloggers received a rather expensive gift: a laptop with Microsoft Vista installed. The debate centered around the credibility of bloggers who accept gifts and whether they are influenced by vendors to write good things about their products. Robert Scoble enthusiastically endorsed it by saying "it's an awesome idea." Another blogger Joel on Software emphatically disagreed, turning on the point that in his experience receiving gifts was ethically wrong and how it had tainted his own writing and perceived credibility within the community.
Would you buy a house without physically signing any paper? ContractPal.com offers an online contract service that drives the agreement process between two or more entities (individuals or businesses). The process is automated enabling users to answer a set of questions using query forms, populating a set of documents and providing secure electronic signatures to close the deal. You can test drive ContractPal with a New Years Resolution. Employ a little social networking (does social networking work?) to help you keep your resolutions by inviting a few friends to join you in keeping the resolution or else... The else can be anything from eating a can of Alpo dog food to what ever you can concieve. You may also create a reward such as a dinner at a favorite restaurant.
Credibility is built on trust. We trust those who keep their promises, give helpful advice and are trusted by others. We build many of our decisions based on a fabric of emotions, a little bit of logical analysis and a need to solve a problem.
The Week Before Ironman Oceanside
8 years ago
1 comment:
Nothing like a good bribe to solicit positive feedback.
I dunno, I just might buckle at the chance to have a new laptop with Windows Vista ;-).
Surely I would buckle if someone offered me a MacBook Pro.
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