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.

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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!