People are animals: Three examples

(1) My sister called me last week fuming. She is campaigning in favor of a school referendum in her town of Mount Prospect, Illinois and she was frustrated by the fact that many of her confirmed “yes” voters hadn’t taken advantage of early voting. “What are they waiting for? There’s a chance of snow on election day that might keep them home! It’s beautiful today. Why won’t they just check it off their list?”

(2) In a famous “Marshmallow experiment” 2 out of 3 children gobbled up a marshmallow instead of waiting 15 minutes — when they would be granted two marshmallows to eat. One marshmallow immediately was better than two if you don’t have to wait for it.

(3) I invited a close friend to an event last week. She said she was free, but before she would commit to coming she asked, “Who else is going to be there?”

Procrastination, delayed gratification and peer validation — this is how humans are hardwired to behave. Never think your marketing efforts are immune to the foibles of humans being humans. You’ll be disappointed every time.