Humans are strongly influenced by what they see or know other people are doing. It could be because they don’t know what the best option is in a situation so they (consciously or unconsciously) let others’ behavior guide them. Or it could be that they chose to mimic a behavior because they think it will make people look more favorably on them or like them more.
To encourage a behavior, give details of similar people doing it.
To reduce energy usage, many energy or water companies tell people how their consumption compares to ‘similar’ neighbors or ‘similar’ sized homes.
Telling physicians how their prescribing behavior compares to similar physicians can lead to a decrease in overprescribing.
Note: The comparison should be to aspirational or similar people.
