A tale of two coffee machines - Weapon of Influence in action

Last week I was on holidays in a very nice hotel located on a very nice and warm island. Everyday I was part of a small ritual - I was standing in a line to the coffee machine.

It was a very nice Coffee Maker with an automatic grinding system etc. One of the very interesting features was that this coffee machine had a plastic tube on top so that you could see the coffee beans. The tube was clearly visible, so even from long distance you could tell that this coffee machine serves "fresh" and "real" coffee.

It took me 2 days to realize that standing in that line was completely pointless. Because on the other side of the table there was a second coffee machine - also very nice. It also had an automatic grinding system and other features that expensive coffee machines should have. Only difference was that coffee beans was hidden inside and there was no plastic tube on top.

And there it was - incredible situation where people were queuing to get a coffee from one machine where the second one was completely abandoned.  Of course I never stood in the coffee line again.

I thought of two mechanisms  that triggered this situation:

1. People like everything "fresh" and "authentic". Unlike in the 80's where plastic was a biggest hit we must have everything "organic" (even fast food). If you see the proof (coffee beans) you automatically choose the one with the "fresh" product.

2. Robert Cialdini defined 6 weapons of influence - one of them being "Social Proof". People are just like a bigger and less hairy lemmings - we do what others do. Automatically. So first thing people noticed after entering the cantine was a line to a coffee machine. Assuming that there must be a reason for that they were queuing as well.

Of course this observation can be translated into marketing tips. But that is entirely different story.