
Alexey Gaponov, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
#desire #focusingillusion #reactance #enemy #choices #marketing #indoctrination #sales #motivation #socialproof #authority #Ikea #blame #mimeticconflict #status #confirmationbias
We choose help people that we like, people that make us happy.
We like people that are similar to ourselves. People that remind us of our best attributes.
Therefor, if we want to be persuasive, we must be likable.
As humans, we mirror one another’s behavior. We reciprocate emotions and we reciprocate favors.
To be persuasive, you (more…)
You like things? I like things! It’s hard not to, am I right?
Liking others, and being likable, is essential in the art of persuasion. People don’t help or support those they dislike.
But what if the things that someone likes aren’t capable of reciprocating that affection? They’ll forever support that, too.
People will dismiss an opportunity for improvement or learning if it means they might have to question their behavior… or their access to a favorite treat.
I could never eat healthy — I like cookies too much!
I love my morning Frappachino!*
Well, I don’t smoke that much.
This represents the most insidious of all the Liking: Consumables. Food, soda, beer, drugs.
*It’s 2017 — is Frappachino still a thing? (more…)
You like cake? I like ice cream, although I’m flexible.
They’re both desserts. They fall under the same utility in classic Economic Theory, meaning they serve the same purpose: dessert!
Yet we all know that people have different tastes and preferences. Even economists understand that we like different things, which can make economic models complex!
In his book Influence, Robert Cialdini identified liking as one of his six (now seven) principles of persuasion.
If we want to persuade and influence people, it’s important that we’re liked and that we like others. It’s essential.
No one wants to help the jerk.
But in the age of Social Media, what does it mean to “like?”
I can barely feel my fingers. The wind whips while I work in the wintry 6° weather. Fahrenheit.
My car’s alarm won’t stop sounding since I tried, and failed, to jumpstart the car. It’s a constant blast of the horn.
Now I’m trying to silence the alarm with some key trickery that the dealership is suggesting over the phone. I can barely hear anything over the car’s alarm.
“Turn it left for ten seconds,” he says. “No, wait, try turning the key to the right.” (more…)
When you’re shopping, how closely do you monitor the price tags? We tend to think we’re very price-conscious. We do pay attention to price, it’s true, but there are many more factors at work.
Price is often one of the least important concerns when we find the right item.
For example, we can get generic shoes at many stores. Do you buy the cheapest shoes you can? Or do you look for something that expresses a bit about your personality? If not shoes, maybe you prefer that people use your title when addressing you. Maybe you like to see your name in lights. Maybe you drive a fancy car.
Everyone has a desire to express and elevate their status, and the right item to do that will make someone say, I gotta have this, price be damned.
Chapter 6 of My Life in Advertising, Personal Salesmanship. While Claude C Hopkins worked at Swift and Company selling the lard substitute Cotosuet to home users, the company was having a hard time selling to bakers. The price was higher than the competition.
Hopkins insisted that price has nothing to do with salesmanship, and he sets out to prove it.
Have you ever felt obliged to do something for someone to repay her for her efforts? Maybe you sent a thank-you card to a great aunt for that fruitcake. That time when you tipped at a restaurant when grabbing takeout. Someone held a door for you and you hurried through, trying to not waste his time.
Obligation goes beyond wanting to do something. You feel like you have to do something. This is reciprocity. You might call it tit-for-tat.
We recently covered anchoring, setting a large opening bid to help sway a negotiation towards that anchor. Reciprocity is almost the opposite.
My father-in-law recently gave me a great example of reciprocity that he uses in his college classroom. (more…)