What do you picture
when you think of Bali?
White beaches,
turquoise seas, mysterious temples?
In 2001, I headed
off across the world with a couple of friends, to see for myself. It was indeed
paradise, but while we were there something happened
that I’ve never made sense of…Until last week!
I was alone, walking down the street in a busy market,
when a lady grabbed my wrist and tied a leather bracelet around it. She was not
unfriendly, she kept repeating, “Gift, gift, gift”.
I am, by nature, suspicious. I protested.
I fumbled, trying to untie the knot, but couldn’t. In
broken English she told me she had a shop down the next street. She wanted me
to see it.
I felt mildly uneasy.
But I went with her.
I went, of my own accord, down a small alleyway
in a place I didn’t know, with a woman I had never met.
What occurred when we reached the shop is not important -
needless to say we were not on our own, things became a little tense and I
ended up throwing a large note - about 50,000 Indonesian Rupiah (the equivalent
of only a few pounds) at the lady as I ran.
I’ve not thought much about this over the years since, but
one niggling question has remained with me.
It’s probably a question you're asking too.
Why on earth did I go with her?
Strangely, the answer came to me last week as I read the
book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert
Cialdini.
In his book, Cialdini sets out six principles, or weapons,
of influence used by salespeople, fund raisers and the like – the type of
people who try to get us to do things we don’t necessarily want to do!
For each of these principles he provides enlightening case
study and anecdotal evidence to suggest both how and why these behaviours occur
and how, as marketers, we could use these to benefit us.
One of the reasons I am drawn to copywriting is learning
about the psychological aspects of buyer behaviour and how to tap into them – I
found this book fascinating! Yes, it was published 30 years ago, but the
ideas in it are still completely relevant today.
What are the 6 ‘principles of influence’?
1. Reciprocity
The theory: As a society we view fairness as important. If
someone gives us something we feel the urge to return the favour, to give
something back. No-one likes to be left feeling like they ‘owe’ someone else.
At its simplest, think of a time when someone has given
you an unexpected Christmas present. It leaves an uneasy feeling, a knot in the
stomach, the need to provide a present in return, to find a way to ensure you
are ‘even’. Often, the temptation will be to over-compensate – providing
something of greater value to somehow make up for it.
Companies all around us use this principle. Charities send
packs of blank Christmas cards through the post, requesting that a donation be
made before you use them. Copywriters offer free content health checks or free
e-books. In return we willingly provide our contact details. Because, we owe
them that, right?
But even more subtle than that – the huge push towards
content marketing and selflessly sharing useful information is driven, in part,
by the law of reciprocity.
If you make it your business to help people, when they
need the type of services you offer, not only will you be at the forefront of
their mind, they might feel like they owe you one.
2. Commitment (and Consistency)
The theory: We like to be seen to
act with consistency. If we say something out loud or write something down
we are more likely to stick to it.
If
I claim to be a vegetarian, and campaign against animal cruelty, I am unlikely
to suddenly tuck into a juicy steak (at least not in public!). Not only that,
if someone approaches me to give money to a charity like the RSPCA, I may feel
that in order to demonstrate that I’m committed to my beliefs I should donate
to them.
After
all, if I love animals as much as I claim to, how could I justify not wishing
to provide a shelter for a dog for a week?
To
refuse would be to make myself look like a fraud.
Charity
fundraisers use this principle. Rather than asking outright for a large
donation, they might ask for a small act instead. Something that is very
difficult to refuse and will cost you little or nothing. This could be
spreading the word about their charity, or asking you to place a fundraising
box in your house. Once you have shown support for them in some way, preferably
publically, it then becomes easier for them to ask for more…And believe it or
not it becomes harder for you to refuse.
3. Social Proof
The theory: What parent hasn’t at some point used the phrase, “Just
because your friend Johnny does it, doesn’t make it right!”? And yet, it is the
most natural thing in the world to follow the crowd. It is instinctual. If you
see other people doing something you assume it’s the right thing to do.
Not just that, it suddenly becomes a more desirable thing
to do.
You have the choice of two restaurants next door to each
other. One is bustling, with a small queue forming in the doorway and the sound
of laughter spilling onto the street. The other has only three occupied tables.
Which one would you choose?
You don’t want to miss out, of course you choose the busy
one – look at all those people who think it’s great – look at the ‘social proof’
– it MUST be the better restaurant.
Is this necessarily
true?
Look around and you’ll see this in action. Tip jars and
buskers caps ‘pre-populated’ with coins (well
if other people are giving money, I should too!), the popularity of Trip
Advisor for making travel decisions, and the determination of brands to receive
as many ‘Likes’ on Facebook as possible. It makes sense – If a post appears on
your timeline to tell you that four of your friends like something, you’re much
more likely to at least give it a shot!
4. Liking
The theory: If you genuinely like someone, you are far more
likely to buy from them.
It’s a no brainer - how often do you meet a sleazy
salesman and decide that you wouldn't buy from him if he was the last chocolate
seller in the world?
Well, maybe you'd
make an exception for chocolate,
but you know what I mean!
We tend to like
people who are similar to us, or familiar. By making themselves more personable
and conversational brands and small businesses alike play on this.
5. Authority
The theory: We feel a sense of duty or obligation
to people in positions of authority.
This
could be a teacher or a manager, or it could be someone we merely perceive to
be an authority. We might base this on their clothes, how
confidently they speak about their subject, or even their car.
Business blogging is a great way to take advantage of
this. By sharing your knowledge about your subject, not only do you increase
the chance of people finding you online, but when they do find you they see you
as someone who knows their stuff. And who else do you choose when buying a
product or service, than someone who you think of as an authority.
6. Scarcity
The theory: It's no
secret that if the biscuits in the tin are running low we make sure we get
there quick to get our fair share. If something looks like it might run out we
are far more likely to want it! Hence the popularity of limited edition or
'limited time only' offers, not to mention the incredible overwhelming response
to Black Friday this year!
I saw scarcity in action recently...
Our house had been on the market for three weeks and we’d
had a fair amount of interest, but no offers.
There was a second viewing in the diary for Thursday. A
young couple came to look round on Tuesday, 2 days before this second viewing.
Quick as a flash they were back for a second viewing and had made an offer. We
refused their first offer and before the end of Wednesday they had offered the
asking price, which we happily accepted.
I wouldn’t mind betting that the other second viewing in
the diary for the next day weighed heavily on their minds when they were trying
to work out what to do – after all the estate agent, surely, would have dropped
it into conversation!
In fact it probably worked in our favour in two ways by
limiting the time they felt they had available before the house was sold, but
also offering some level of social proof that someone else liked it too!
Back to the streets of Bali...
So, what strange forces were
at play when I mindlessly followed a stranger down a lonely alleyway?
Well this is my theory:
When I was given a ‘gift’, even though it was not one I
received willingly, I immediately felt that I owed the woman something
(reciprocity). My first thought was to return the gift, but I couldn’t. She gave
me an option to do something easy in return – go and see her shop. Once I had
said I would go, I felt I had to go through with this (consistency), but decided I
could immediately turn and leave. Obviously this was not as easy as I had
naively assumed, but I didn’t like the people in the shop, there was no way I was going to buy
anything from them ([not] liking).
As this story illustrates, Cialdini’s principles are not
necessarily always used for the good, it is possible to use them to deceive or
mislead. It pays to be aware of the theories
so that you can resist other people using them to manipulate you.
Next time you want to persuade someone to do something
think about whether you could take advantage of one of the six principles. But remember,
if you want to be ‘liked’ in business you must be careful just how you use your ‘weapon’ of choice...
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Have you ever been caught out by any of Caildini's principles? I'd love to hear your stories below...
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