In Natural Orders I wrote about the "Power Law distribution", where the majority of results come from just a relatively small number of inputs. 

It's something we see all around us every day. 

A few small areas hold the largest number of plants and animals. Just a handful in a team of sales people will bring in most new business. 

A few small critical parts contribute to the majority of the whole. 

In the book Influence, author and professor Robert Cialdini wrote about the six psychological "triggers" that drive consumer buying decisions. 

Sometimes condensed to the acronym CLASSR, these are:

• Commitment

• Liking

• Authority

• Social Proof

• Scarcity

• Reciprocity

Of these six "triggers", we see this perennial pattern repeat again.  

The most powerful triggers in marketing, those that get the majority of results, are by far social proof and (appeal to) authority:

Social Proof: How can you show that others trust you? How can you reduce uncertainty by demonstrating that others agree that you know what you're talking about / can deliver what you say you can?

Appeal to Authority: How can you show that you should be taken seriously? Have you spoken at a prodigious institute or university? Have you produced results for a well-known company? Are you authentic?


The cynical view is to view these as mere name-dropping and credentialism. But there is more to these processes than just "logical fallacies" and "cognitive biases". 

It doesn't matter what a free thinker you are. We all look to the consensus of others. We all look to the blessings of a decreed authority. 

It's not always the right thing to do. But they're often reliable signals of trustworthiness and authenticity.

—Matt