Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior (11 page)

Despite that seemingly innocent and automatic response, outwardly committing to holding a “good” attitude can make someone more likely to comply with a request. Once that “good” attitude is publicly known, that person will feel pressure to act in ways that are consistent with a positive attitude, such as complying with a request.

I know what many of you are thinking right now (I’m a mind reader, remember?). You’re thinking that we’re so accustomed to responding with a “good” or “fine” that those statements have lost their actual meaning; they’re so automatic that they aren’t strong enough to actually change our attitude, let alone change our behavior and likelihood of complying with a request. You’d think so, but research tells us otherwise. In a study examining that particular strategy, Daniel Howard (1990) phoned residents of Texas and asked them if a representative from the Hunger Relief Committee could visit them to sell cookies. Among residents who were asked only that request, 18 percent agreed. However, among residents who were first asked “How are you feeling this evening?” and who answered with an affirmative response (e.g., “good” or “fine”), the percentage of people who complied nearly doubled to 32 percent. Residents were more likely to comply because they felt pressure to remain consistent with the positive attitude that they claimed to possess. The takeaway: next time that a police officer pulls you over, make sure to ask him how he’s doing that day.

REAL WORLD APPLICATION: HOW TO DRIVE TRAFFIC FROM YOUTUBE VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS

To see how you could begin applying self-perception theory, cognitive dissonance, and congruent attitudes, consider the description that I use for my YouTube videos about mind reading. The descriptions that I currently use (as of September 2013) resemble the following:

[video above]

Want to learn the secret . . .

I developed a way to subconsciously influence people’s thoughts. Want to learn how? I explain the fascinating method in the first chapter of my book, Methods of Persuasion.

Amazon: [link to my book]

(the eBook is only $4.99)

*************************************************************

My name is Nick Kolenda, and I’m a professional mind reader and psychology researcher. Want to learn more . . .

Blog: www.NickKolenda.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mentalismshow

Twitter (new): www.twitter.com/nickkolenda

[description ends]
 

It might seem like an innocent description, but it contains several psychological principles that add more pressure for viewers to purchase my book.

Did you notice how the first rhetorical question (“Want to learn the secret . . .”) is spaced apart from the rest of the description? When people watch the YouTube video, that sentence is the only thing that’s visible to them in the description. In order to view the rest of the description, people need to physically click on the button that says, “Show More.”

Why is that important? When people mentally answer that first rhetorical question with a “yes,” they start developing a congruent attitude that reflects someone who wants to learn the secret, and they start to feel pressure to act in a manner consistent with that attitude. Once they click “Show More” to see the rest of the description, that action is a behavioral response that reinforces their attitude, and so their desire to learn the secret becomes even stronger. When they reach the next rhetorical question (“Want to learn how?”), most people would mentally answer that question with another affirmative response, which
further
reinforces their congruent attitude.

At this point, they just experienced three instances that instilled an attitude of someone who wants to learn the secret. When they continue reading the description and see the link to purchase my book, they’ll feel pressure to at least click on the link to maintain consistency with their attitude (and clicking that link serves as a fourth instance that reinforces their new attitude). With all of this momentum, people will feel more pressure to maintain that attitude by actually purchasing the book.

STEP 3

Trigger Social Pressure

OVERVIEW: TRIGGER SOCIAL PRESSURE

Now that you’ve molded your target’s perception and elicited a relevant congruent attitude, there’s another step to implement before presenting your actual request.

To maximize the amount of pressure that you place on your target, you should trigger some type of social pressure. Nearly every book about influence and persuasion explains the importance of social pressure. Why? Because it’s incredibly effective at changing behavior.

Whether we realize it or not, we frequently (as in, every day) decide our own behavior by looking to other people. If everyone is displaying a certain type of behavior, we feel a natural urge to engage in that same behavior. This third step in METHODS will teach you how to leverage that innate tendency so that you can exert more pressure on your target. The first chapter within this step teaches you how to use the power of social norms and group behavior, and the second chapter narrows that focus by explaining how you can harness the power of interpersonal pressure and build greater individual rapport.

CHAPTER 6

Emphasize Social Norms

Look at those lines. If you had to guess, which line among the Comparison Lines is equal to the Standard Line? Is it A, B, or C?

It’s B, right? Why would I even bother asking such an obvious question? If the answer is so obvious, then why did 76 percent of people in a research study get that question wrong? Did the researchers receive an unlucky sample of blind people, or were those answers influenced by some psychological force? Since you’re reading this book, you can probably guess that it’s the latter. This chapter will explain that psychological force, why it’s so powerful, and how you can use it to enhance your persuasion.

THE POWER OF SOCIAL PRESSURE

Now, why did so many people get that question wrong? Solomon Asch, a prominent researcher in social psychology, conducted this groundbreaking study in the 1950s. Asch (1951) wanted to examine the extent to which people conform, and what he found sparked a new a sensation in psychology.

In the experiment, seven people were seated in a row, and they were shown the same lines that you were shown at the beginning of the chapter. The setup and seating arrangement resembled the following:

Imagine that you were the person seated in the 6th position. Starting with the person seated in the 1st position, the experimenter asked each of you to verbally answer the “simple” question (i.e., which line among the Comparison Lines is equal to the Standard Line),