Why People Applaud

“What does it mean when people applaud? Should I give 'em money? Say thank you? Lift my dress? The lack of applause - that I can respond to.” Barbara Streisand

Beyond my chosen calling of "word of mouth", I find no other anthropological study so interesting than "why people applaud?".

Watching The Rockettes and The Nutcracker at different venues over the last two weekend was a testament to the "cause and effect" of applause.

I was also listening to a CBC radio program this weekend that dove deep into the subject,  learning in many respects - we applaud for many the same reasons we "word of mouth" - both are highly refined social grooming skills and each performance art has their masters.

Many years ago at P&G, some brash colleagues and myself caught onto the "groupclap effect" and would play on the whims of our corporate auditorium audience by timing our clapping to produce a bigger or smaller result. Much like word of mouth, it is amazing to find out how few people you require to produce a deafening sound or disrupt applause into a murmur.

So what's in common with applause and word of mouth?
- we do both to show appreciation
- we do both to help the performer or recipient
- we do both do be civil and to share a common bond with other humans
- we do both to share our mutual interests
- we do both to validate our understanding
- we do both to provoke a reaction
- we do both in an attempt to synchronize with others
- we do both to influence a better result

There is also a negative side to both:
- we do both to show cynicism - think about the waitress who drops a plate in a restaurant
- we do both to mock others - the thudding sound of one person clapping mockingly is sometimes worse than silence

The conclusion - word of mouth and applause is instinctive human nature that is understood and  harnessed by a wonderful few. Many politicians are great at orchestrating the latter, only some are good at harnessing the former. 

If I was back at university, I would love to do a thesis on this subject and analyze some of the unusual and changing characteristics of applause:
- is a show funnier when you add studio applause?
- do people enjoy something more when there is bigger applause?
- what is the most influential and best timed applause - delayed, isolated, provoked
- do we try to synchronize applause?
- why do people applaud in movies when there are no performers there to receive it?
- what is the effect of funneling "extra" applause into a speaker system?
- what types of people applaud louder?
- why don't we applaud planes landing successfully anymore?
- how many rounds of applause is optimal?
- how do speakers maintain applause?
- why do we feel compelled to applaud even poor or unsuccessful performance?
- what's the psychology behind "applause for a musical encore"?
- what's the trigger that moves "applause" to "standing applause"?

Any or your own thoughts and insights on applause.