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The Psychology of Persuasion

There are three key secrets that make people behave the way you want them to. Based off of the book Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, this article will break down the psychology of persuasion.



The first secret to effectively influencing others is the contrast principle: “The way we see the difference between two things that are presented one after another”. Let’s read this letter, from a girl in her first year of university writing home to her parents.


Dear Mum and Dad,


I’m sorry for not writing as much as I promised, but I’ll bring you up to date now. Before you carry on, you’re not allowed to read any further unless you’re sitting down, okay?


So, I’m doing pretty well now. The skull fracture and concussion I got when I jumped out of my dormitory window when it caught on fire is almost healed. I only spent two weeks in hospital, and can nearly see normally! And I only get those sick headaches like, once a day. Fortunately, the fire was witnessed by a guy working at a local petrol station, and he was the one who called the fire services and ambulance. He also visited me in hospital, and since I had nowhere to live because of my burnt-down dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment. It’s really a basement room, but it’s pretty cute. We’ve fallen deeply in love, got engaged yesterday, and are planning to get married soon. I’m so excited - and I’ll make sure to invite you both down for the wedding.


Now that you’re all updated, I want to tell you that there was no fire. No skull fracture or concussion. No hospital. No fiance. And definitely no wedding! However: I am getting a D in Research Skills, and an F in Ancient Rome. I just want you to see those marks from a broader perspective.


Your loving daughter,

Sharon


Here, Sharon influenced her parents’ minds to not care so much about the classes she was failing. Instead, she used the power of the contrast principle to shift their focus.


The second secret is the reciprocity rule: “We should try to repay in kind what another person has provided for us”. If someone had done you a favour, would you feel an obligation to return that favour? If someone invited you to their house, would you feel the necessity to invite them to yours the next time you meet? These are simple everyday examples of the reciprocity rule. But how do we use this as a weapon? In Influence, an experiment was carried out to discover the relationship between the liking of a person and the purchase of raffle tickets. To no surprise, people who liked the vendor more bought more raffle tickets. In the second experiment, the rules were a little different. This time, if the vendor gave a Coke to the subject, whether they liked him or not, they felt an obligation to return the favour and buy more raffle tickets.


And last but not least, commitment and consistency: “When one agrees to ownership, they are more likely to follow through”. As humans, we have our set routines and live pretty consistent lives. But is consistency powerful enough to make us do what we don’t necessarily want to do? Psychologist Thomas Brown staged a theft on a New York City beach to see if anyone would stop the crime. A researcher posed as a regular beach-goer, listening to music on a towel before taking a walk, leaving her radio out in the open. A second researcher, posing as a thief, swooped in to steal the radio. Only 4 out of 20 people attempted to save the radio and stop the crime. But then a second study was conducted - with a slight twist. Before leaving her belongings, the first researcher asked the test subjects to watch her spot while she took a quick walk. They all agreed. And in this case, 19 out of 20 attempted to stop the thief. This shows the power of ownership, that helped rewire a subject’s brain into actually following through with what the person had asked.




References:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz0SPzMa0E4


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