Made to Stick: Post #6--Emotional

Emotional: Many would contend that ultimately all decisions have emotions at their basis. The car you drive, the house you live in, even the clothes you wear have some foundation in emotions you feel. Conjuring up the right emotion to get someone to do something is thus critical. The authors talk about how hard it is to get a teenager to stop smoking, unless you can get them to resent Big Tobacco. The authors also discovered research that people will give money to individuals, not concepts—not exactly groundbreaking but fascinating in their explanation. The message is simple—make people “feel” a heartfelt emotion if you want them to do something. Mother Teresa said it (and the authors quote her) ‘If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” Thus, appealing to people’s emotions and their identities works.

Made to Stick: Post #4--Concrete

Concrete: Our senses make things real and memorable. The vision of a sweating glass of ice tea on a humid July afternoon is a far more powerful and memorable image than simply saying that it’s hot July afternoon. Our brains are wired to our senses and, therefore, we remember concrete images better than abstractions—such as using the word “currency” vs. “a crisp five dollar bill.” We’ve all heard of Aesop’s Fables. This ancient Greek slave told us memorable stories about universal truths. Remember the Tortoise and the Hare…about how slow and steady wins the race? I’ve personally experienced the value of concreteness that comes from writing business fables—fictionalized case studies that put concepts into action. People love such fables because they get to “see” what the author is talking about. Finally, there’s a fascinating segment in the Made to Stick called “Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes” that describe how a teacher taught a class about prejudice…both effective and powerful.

Persuasion: Authority

This is the 5th in a series of 6 posts from a book review of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.

Authority: Everyone has experienced the effect of authority on influence. From bosses asking us to stay late to the advice given to us by our lawyers—authority helps us make up our minds quickly. In one experiment, the researchers (Pfeffer, Fong, Cialdini, and Portnoy) asked participants to play the role of senior editor for a book publisher dealing with an experienced author. Those acting as senior editors were asked to consider a sizable book advance for the author. The editors were divided into two groups: One group read positive comments about the author, which were made by the author himself. The second group read the identical comments made by the author’s agent. The result: The editors rated the author’s comments more favorably on every element of comparison, especially likability, when those comments were made by a third party (the agent), rather than by the author himself. Bob Cialdini and his colleagues have written a great book—I suggest reading it!

Persuasion: Liking

This is the 4th in a series of 6 posts from a book review of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.

Liking: Benjamin Franklin once wrote: ‘He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” Though this sounds counter-intuitive, it is not. Researchers (Jecker and Landy) conducted a study in which participants won money. At the conclusion of the experiment, the researcher approached one group of winners and asked if they would be willing to return some of the money they’d won from the researcher because he had used much of his own personal money to run the experiment. The rest of the group was not asked. In a follow-up survey, the group that was asked the favor rated the experimenter higher than the unasked members of the group. Bottom line message here: Ask people for help. Not only will you probably get a return for asking, but they’ll also like you more.

How about writing an endorsement for The Journey of the Accidental Leader on Amazon?

Persuasion: Consensus

This is the 3rd in a series of 6 posts from a book review of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.

Consensus: In an experiment involving compliance of hotel guests in order to measure the effect of social pressure (consensus), researchers (Goldstein, Cialdini, and Griskevicius) simply placed a sign in each hotel room asking guests to reuse towels for the sake of the environment. There was an immediate uptick in the number of people who cooperated. When the wording on the sign was altered to not only appeal to the environment but to state that the majority of guests complied with this request, the compliance rate rose to 26%. Finally, when the sign was altered yet again, this time to say that not only did most guests reuse towels, but also that guests who had stayed in that room previously and cooperated with recycling the compliance rate shot up to 33%. Please recycle paper after you read it!

Persuasion: Commitment/Consistency

This is the 2nd in a series of 6 posts from a book review of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.

Commitment/Consistency: Researcher Anthony Greenwald discovered that when people are asked whether they will engage in socially desirable behavior (such as, “Will you vote?”), they usually answer “yes.” Those people who answer yes tend to live up to their promise (remain consistent with their previous commitment) at much higher rates than those never asked. For example at one restaurant (where people notoriously are no shows despite reservations), one manager changed his request from "Please call if you have to cancel" to a direct question: "will you please call if you have to cancel?" People always answered "yes." Just by asking the question and getting people to answer yes, which they are compelled to in such socially desirable situations, the manager dropped his no-show rate from 30% to 10%--a huge revenue booster to be sure. Do you read leadership books?
If so, check out The Journey of the Accidental Leader on Amazon!

How to Be Persuasive

This is the 1st in a series of 6 posts from Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.

As a big fan of Dr. Bob Cialdini, I have used his classic book Influence in my courses for many years. Now, he has collaborated with colleagues Noah Goldstein, Ph.D. and Steve Martin (the Ph.D. not the comedian!). The new book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive is an excellent read for any student of the discipline and anyone who wants to improve business. Here are just a few examples:

Reciprocity: In one experiment a social scientist Randy Garner tested the effect of yellow 3M Post-it Notes. He sent out a survey and cover letter three different ways: one set of surveys contained a yellow sticky Post-it on top of the cover letter with a handwritten note requesting completion on the sticky note; one set of surveys had a handwritten request only on the cover letter; the final set of surveys contained only the cover letter and survey, with no personalized note of any sort. The results: 75% survey completion rate for the first group (with the handwritten Post-It note); 48% return rate for the second group (with the handwritten note on the cover letter itself); and 36% with only the cover letter. I just bought more sticky notes!

Persuasion--50 Ways

How to Be Persuasive
Excerpts from Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive

I've been a huge fan of Dr. Bob Cialdini for many years and have used his classic book Influence in university classes and courses for years. Now he has collaborated with colleagues Noah Goldstein, Ph.D. and Steve Martin (the Ph.D. not the comedian!). The new book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive is an excellent read for any student of the discipline and any business person who wants to improve business. Here are just a few examples:
1. Reciprocity: In one experiment a social scientist Randy Garner tested the effect of yellow 3M Post-it Notes. He sent out a survey and cover letter three different ways: one set of surveys contained a yellow sticky post-it on top of the cover letter with a handwritten note requesting completion on the sticky note; one set of surveys had a handwritten request only on the cover letter; the final set of surveys contained only the cover letter and survey, with no personalized note of any sort. The results: 75% survey completion rate for the first group (with the handwritten Post-It note); 48% return rate for the second group (with the handwritten note on the cover letter itself); and 36% with only the cover letter. I just bought more sticky notes!
2. Commitment/Consistency: Researcher Anthony Greenwald discovered that when people are asked whether they will engage in socially desirable behavior (such as, “Will you vote?”), they usually answer “yes.” Those people who answer yes tend to live up to their promise (remain consistent with their previous commitment) at much higher rates than those never asked. For example at one restaurant (where people notoriously are no shows despite reservations), one manager changed his request from "Please call if you have to cancel" to a direct question: "Will you please call if you have to cancel?" People always answered "Yes." The results are in: Just by asking the question versus getting people to answer yes (which they are compelled to in such socially desirable situations), the manager dropped his no-show rate from 30% to 10%--a huge revenue booster to be sure. Will you read my latest book The Journey of the Accidental Leader?
3. Consensus: In an experiment involving compliance of hotel guests used to measure the effect of social pressure or consensus, researchers (Goldstein, Cialdini, and Griskevicius) simply placed a sign in each hotel room asking guests to reuse towels for the sake of the environment. There was an immediate uptick in the number of people who cooperated. When the wording on the sign was altered to not only appeal to the environment but also that the majority of guests complied with this request, the compliance rate shot up 26%. Finally, when the sign was altered yet again, this time to say that not only did most guests reuse towels, but also that guests who had stayed in the very room being asked to ruse (direct peers), had in fact, recycled, the compliance rate shot up to 33%. Please recycle this paper after you read it!
4. Liking: Benjamin Franklin once wrote: ‘He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” Though this sounds counter-intuitive, it is not. Researchers (Jecker and Landy) conducted a study in which participants won money during the experiment. At the conclusion of the experiment, the researcher approached one group of winners and asked if they would be willing to return some of the money they’d won from the researcher because he had used much of his own personal money to run the experiment. The rest of the group was not asked. In a follow up survey, the group that was asked the favor rated the experimenter high than the un-asked members of the group. Bottom line message here: Ask people for help. Not only will you likely get a return for asking, but they’ll also like you more.
5. Authority: Everyone has experienced the effect of authority on influence. From bosses asking us to stay late to football coaches telling us to drop down and give them twenty push-ups and from products recommended by the American Medical Association to the advice given to us by our lawyers—authority helps us make up our minds quickly. In one experiment, the researchers (Pfeffer, Fong, Cialdini, and Portnoy) asked participants to play the role of senior editor for a book publisher dealing with an experienced author. The “senior editors” were asked to consider sizeable book advance for the author. The editors were divided into two groups: One group read positive comments about the author, which were made by the author himself. The second group read the identical comments made by the author’s agent. The result: the “editors” rated the author’s comments more favorably on every element of comparison, especially likability, when those comments were made by a third party (the agent) than by the author himself. Bob Cialdini and his colleagues have written a great book—I suggest strongly that you consider reading it!
6. Scarcity: Brian Ahearn of State Farm Insurance Company is responsible for recruiting new independent insurance agencies from across the country to partner with State Farm, thus giving State Farm expanded territorial coverage. And every year, Brian and his team send out recruitment letters with little direct success from the mailing. More recently, he decided to use the scarcity principle in his letter by using legitimate information about the offering. His new letter now includes that while they are looking for new partners, they were looking for only 42 firms nationally and that State Farm had already lined up 35 firms. His letter contained this sentence: ‘It’s our sincere hope that your agency will be one of the remaining agencies that we appoint before the year end.’ Within days, he began to get eager responses from agencies that did not want to lose out on the opportunity. Scarcity derived from legitimate information drives behavior.

That’s it, if you want more…lots more about persuasion, go to Amazon today buy the book: Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive( 2008, Free Press).