Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature

In 2003, the first white–painted bicycle shrine appeared on the streets of St Louis, Missouri, to commemorate a fallen rider. Soon, cities in other US states had their own versions; but today, we see these shrines in more than 80 cities around the world. Like the ‘cellotaphs’ – the rash of floral tributes that mark the site of road–accidents in the UK with cheap flowers and sentimental prose – this phenomenon seems to have come from nowhere and yet suddenly it is everywhere.
How do you explain the explosion of cultural phenomena of things like this? Like the adoption of text messaging when there has been little or no active promotion of the behaviour? How a Mexican wave happens? The emergence of online communities? Unless you have a good explanation of how these kinds of things arise, you won’t have much chance of altering them.
HERD explains that most of us have misunderstood the mechanics (the ‘how’) of mass behaviour because our thinking is shaped by misplaced notions of what it means to be human. This is why so many government initiatives struggle to create real change, why so much marketing money fails to drive sales, why most M&A programmes end up reducing shareholder value and most internal change projects don’t deliver lasting transformation.
Mark Earls uses a diverse range of different sources, anecdotes and evidence –  from the comic Peter Kay and urinal etiquette, to international rugby and the rise of new musical stars – to show that we are at heart a ‘we–species’, but one suffering from the ‘illusion of I’. In doing so, Earls challenges some of our deepest ideas to reveal the truth about who we are and what marketers, managers and governments can do to set about influencing mass behaviour. Bold in its conception and engaging in its execution, HERD offers the most radical new theory of consumer behaviour in a generation.
This re vised and updated edition articulates the provocative but highly practical model of mass behaviour and encourages the reader to put it to work in their organization and work, but more fundamentally, it changes how each of us sees ourselves and those around us: to see ourselves as first and foremost social creatures who do what we do in the company (and under the influence of others).
‘If you’re not practicing what Mark Earls is preaching, get comfortable being part of the back of the pack.  There are few who understand the human like Mark does!’
Robert Barocci, President/CEO, The Advertising Research Foundation
‘HERD is that rare thing: a book that transforms the reader’s perception of how the world works. Mark Earls has mapped out the behavioural patterns of the post–millennial landscape with gripping accuracy and come as close as anyone to explaining why we do the things that we do, the way that we do them. An indispensable manual for the Web 2.0 era.’
Matthew d’Ancona, The Spectator
‘HERD is a must read. These days, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the speed at which the world is changing. Mark Earls is one of those extraordinary folks that provides context and makes meaning of these changes. With HERD, Mark opens our eyes to a new way of thinking about human behaviour and how it will affect your business.’
John Winsor, Crispin Porter Bogusky
‘This book is a must. Once you have read it you will understand why Mark Earls is regarded as a marketing guru. And you will feel as though you understand the world a great deal better. And the other reason you have to read it? Everyone else is.’
Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
‘This book has a vital place in the fast–growing library of books seeking to find newer, more accurate models of human behaviour. Just like rational agency, it seems individual agency m ay have been dangerously overrated.  The implications of this stretch far beyond any one discipline or field of activity.’
Rory Sutherland, IPA President, Vice–Chairman Ogilvy UK


Spis treści:
Dedication.
About the Author.
Foreword by Russell Davies.
Notes on Paperback edition.
Introduction.
At the ‘cellotaph’.
Ghostbikes.
So how are we to explain this kind of thing?
Bigger boys made me do it.
A book about mass behaviour.
Mass behaviour is hard to change.
Bad theory, bad plan. Better theory? Better plan?
Old news?
I and the other.
Market research and me.
We’re all individuals – I’m not.
Understanding the how not just the what?
What the book will cover.
How to use this book.
Part One: A ‘We–Species’ with an illusion of ‘I’.
1: The Super–Social Ape.
Tea and kindness.
Advertising works.
Even more advertising works.
We want to be together.
Say what you see.
A we–species.
Are we stardust?
The successful ape.
Homo or Pan?
When I grow up.
Primates are social.
Why the naked ape?
Sexuality.
The infant ape.
So why naked then?
The brain of a social ape par excellence.
How others shape us.
How we make each other unhappy.
The social brain.
The sound of the crowd.
The empathetic ape.
Language and stroking.
The loneliness of autism.
Collaboration: the keys to the kingdom.
Self–interest and collaboration.
Game on.
Game over and over.
Collaboration across the nation?
Learning from each other?
How collaboration built the world.
Shirts – the work of many hands.
Summary of this chapter.
Questions to ponder.
Questions and issues for marketers.
2: The Illusion of ‘I’.
Pepper’s ghost.
What doe s Pepper’s ghost tell us?
I woke up this morning . . .
What it is – oh, I forgot.
Eternal sunshine and spotless minds.
False memories.
Monkey see.
Lazy minds.
Don’t think too hard.
Retelling the story.
The big when.
The illusion of consciousness.
Depression and the distorted self.
Treatments.
Summary of this chapter.
Issues arising.
Questions and implications for marketers.
3: ‘I’ vs. ‘Us’.
Yes we can.
Travelling for real.
Beware Greeks.
Ubuntu.
Peace and reconciliation.
Wo die Zitronen blühn.
Studying consumer tribal behaviour.
Beyond marketing.
Far from the madding crowds.
The politics of ‘I’.
The collective mind.
No such thing as society.
Is the rest of the world so wrong?
‘I’ ideology.
How social psychology got individualized.
‘I’ research.
Expert opinion.
Heroes and villains, and other individuals.
Unhappy feet?
The curious tale of curious George.
What this chapter has demonstrated.
Some questions.
Issues for marketers arising from this chapter.
Part Two: The Seven Principles of Herd Marketing.
4: Key Principle No. 1: Interaction.
At the market.
At the urinal.
In the lecture theatre.
Complexity vs. complicated.
Complexity as a way of seeing the world.
Interactive animals.
Interactive humans.
Back to the football
Learning from the Mexican wave.
At the office.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Aberdeen.
Summary so far.
Every day, every day, in every way . . .
Crime and punishment.
New York, New York.
The physics of crime.
More crime, less physics.
Crims, saints and fl oaters.
Fighting on the beaches (and in the suburbs).
The facts.
Analysis.
What to do about such riots.
Markets and interaction.
Behavioural markets.
The challenge for market research.
Issues arising.<