One set of signals that we can often see on ecommerce sites, involve credibility. The Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility describes some of the ways that those signals may manifest.

Judith Donath suggests in the presentation that sometimes when we send signals that aren’t appropriate, there may be a strong societal cost attached. For instance, she states that getting through traffic is a lot easier if you attach police lights and sirens on your car – people move out of the way. But if you aren’t a police officer, sending out that signal may have some serious repercussions.

Although, there is something to be said about tigers (like in a circus), they may not stand on boxes naturally, but they can be trained.