People Gravitate Towards the Crowds

It occurred to me over the weekend, as I stood in the heat surrounded by 70,000 of my closest friends in Piedmont Park, that crowds attract crowds. It's a weird phenomenon. Shouldn't people want to run away from crowds? When it's 90 degrees outside, shouldn't people seek shade far, far away from anyone else?

Here are a few examples:

1. Food Tents: With over 70,000 people packing into Piedmont Park for Music Midtown, a small amount of brave food vendors stood ready to feed the masses. Many tents didn't represent a specific food brand, they were simply labeled based on the food that they served such as "Chicken Tenders and Fries". Still, crowds of people hovered around these tightly packed tents like hungry vultures. While waiting in the back of a long pizza line, I noticed the tent next to it was completely empty and selling similar food. Why were we all waiting in this huge line then? It occurred to me that without knowing the brand of the food vendor, individuals couldn't make a decision based on experience so they subconsciously gravitated towards food that everyone else seemed to like. I, however, was hungry and chose to risk it for the sake of quick food.

2. Stages: At any point in time, there were at least two stages holding a great performance. Still, the empty stages attracted crowds of people who simply waited for an artist while great performances were going on elsewhere. Why? It's a domino effect. A few people begin waiting at a stage which causes a few more people to consider waiting at the stage, and then more people begin worrying that they won't get a good spot and suddenly a huge mass of people are standing sweaty and bored. All the while, great performances are going on elsewhere.

3. Bathrooms: Let me paint you a picture. The bathrooms for Music Midtown were simply glorified Porta-Potties. The collection of stalls were positioned in a "U" shape, and everyone seemed to line up for only the ones closest towards the opening. The lines for the back stalls were about a 1/4th of the size of the lines towards the front. It baffled me that people didn't look up long enough to notice this and even out the length of the lines. Even after noticing that the other lines were shorter, many people stayed waiting in a longer line simply out of the fear that the shorter lines represented stalls that were either broken or dirtier.

After noticing that crowds tend to attract more crowds, I began wondering: how can marketers capitalize on this? If crowds attract crowds, all that marketers need to do is attract a small crowd and then these small crowds will naturally attract a much larger crowd.

Crowds attract crowds simply because people are skeptical of what they don't know. New brands can capitalize on this by creating marketing campaigns early that are specifically designed to garner buzz and attention. The fear of the unknown is powerful, and marketers need to remember that people are strongly attracted to brands that seem to draw a lot of positive attention.