Having done quite a bit of research on industry advertising and marketing in the process of developing our latest Business Development Report, The Lead Box is Dead… Long Live iPOS: The Humble Lead Box Concept Reinvented for the Twenty First Century, we noticed quite a bit of advice focused on rewarding behaviours through positive reinforcement (free t-shirts, free guest passes, free personal training, free water bottles, free towel, free… just about anything).
Most people without a background in psychology understand the concept of positive reinforcement pretty well. Positive reinforcement is the presentation of an appetitive (gratifying) stimulus to increase the probability of a desired behaviour. Importantly, the stimulus is presented after the desired behaviour. For example, when the new member walks into the club the front desk staff greets them warmly… reinforcing the desired behaviour i.e. coming into the club.
Pretty straight forward right?
However, when most people think of negative reinforcement they are actually thinking of punishment i.e. the presentation of an adversive stimulus, or the removal of an appetitive stimulus, that decreases the intensity or probability of a particular behaviour.
Punishment is intended to reduce the intensity or probability of a particular behaviour. For example, as part of their “No Judgement Zone” philosophy Planet Fitness both ridicules bodybuilder types/behaviours in their clubs (presentation of adversive stimulus), and limits the weight of their dumbbells (removal of an appetitive stimulus) to actively discourage more advanced health club members who are, typically, heavy users. Of course, given their business model it makes sense for Planet Fitness to actively discourage heavy users in their clubs.
Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, is the removal of a noxious or aversive stimulus to increase the probability of a desired behaviour. For example, Curves don’t have mirrors (or men) in their clubs because their members don’t like them… by removing the adversive stimulus their members are more likely to use the club.
Thom Plummer wrote an insightful Blog post recently that recommended new members be allowed to have a guest work out with them, free of charge, for the first 30 days of their membership.
While this, ostensibly, appears to be a typical positive reinforcement scenario (i.e. offering something of value to increase member’s likelihood of using the club) it is actually a negative reinforcement scenario.
By allowing beginner/new members to have a friend in the club with them it reduces/removes their anxiety, stress, apprehension, and fears of looking stupid, out of place, and being the only out of shape person (negative stimulus) and increases their likelihood of continuing to use the club (desired behaviour).
Remember that, above all else, beginners are focused on their own survival… and there is definitely safety in numbers.
By focusing on the negative you can influence your beginner’s behaviour much more than any amount of, well meaning, freebies.
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