The science of persuasion

This week, 4th March 2009, I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend an “Influence Masterclass” being given by Bob Cialdini at the Royal Society of Physicians and sponsored by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). Cialdini delivers a good presentation and whilst there was little different from the research described in his books (Influence: Science and Practice and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion), he brought the examples to life and his stories and anecdotes meant I left able to share some of the learning with colleagues quite easily. The focus of Cialdini’s presentation was on 3 of his 6 principles of “Ethical Influence”. The 6 are:

• Reciprocity – you have to offer up first, but if you do something for someone they will do something for you
• Scarcity – increases the value of something
• Authority – people are convinced more easily by authority figures.
• Consistency – if someone commits to something publicly, they are more likely to stick with that idea
• Consensus – People are more likely to be influenced by the similar actions of a group of their peers
• Liking – people are more easily influenced if they like you

We heard in depth about scarcity, authority and consensus. Authority was really interesting and the use of the word “but” was revealed as crucial for establishing trust. Most people when trying to get their point of view across, front end the benefits and then, to establish that they are honest, throw in a couple of weaknesses at the end. For example I might say that “Foviance is a world leader in customer experience consulting ‘but’ we don’t do website graphic design.”

Cialdini argues that people will only hear and retain the information after the ‘but’ and that all we have to do is switch the order of what we say to fix the problem. So, what I should say is “Foviance doesn’t do website graphic design, ‘but’ we are world leaders in customer experience consulting.” In order for you to be more likely to believe what I say, I can have a colleague introduce me and say a little about my credentials.

Cialdini is quick to observe however that his techniques only work where there are real, truthful arguments and benefits, ‘but’ you can’t have everything can you.