Principles of Persuasion
Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 1984 seminal book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion discussed six universal principles used to influence and persuade people. His ideas touch on core human values: Cooperation, consensus, reciprocity, how society views authority, and one of economics’ central principles, the influence of sacristy (Schenker, 2017). This paper explores what has become known as Cialdini’s principles and describes a past experience where this author drew upon them.
Principles
Cialdini’s research “brought science to the art of persuasion” (Dooley, 2016, para. 2) by considering peoples’ conscious and subconscious responses and the behaviors they exhibit, given the context, players, and stakes (Dooley, 2017). Research …show more content…
Consensus, follows the adages, safety in numbers, go with the flow, follow the herd (Birkett, 2017; Dooley, 2017).
Principles in Action
Cialdini’s principles are well known and used by sales/marketing organizations to close deals, public relations groups managing strategic communications, and data aggregators finetuning conversation optimization (Birkett, 2017). This author’s example is not nearly as glamorous, but it demonstrates the use of Cialdini’s principles and is based on actual past events. As a recollection, it is presented in the first person.
My endeavor, spanning ten years, was to persuade a former colleague, Tom (a pseudonym) to join the event technology firm I had gone to work for. After getting the lay of the land in the first year, I called Tom and asked if he was interested in joining, telling him I felt he could excel in the field and at the firm. He was not interested. Four years later I had moved up the corporate food chain and reached out with a better opportunity, but again Tom showed no interest. Four more years were to pass before he accepted my third offer that included paid training, travel, and a higher rate of pay. That was in 2015; Tom has since excelled! …show more content…
Commitment/Consistency: After Tom’s employer went out of business, he was no longer committed working for the firm’s owner. This made it easy to persuade Tom into considering a new employment commitment.
3. Authority: I’ve known Tom since 2001 and have been his advocate and mentor. Without a doubt, this played into his acceptance of the position, but not until the prior commitment was removed.
4. Scarcity: Tom’s resilient. After losing his job he became an uber, Uber driver, maximizing the firm’s bonuses by driving full time and generating wages that in some ways were hard to compete against. While this diminished the persuasiveness of leveraging job scarcity as a reason to come onboard, the position’s health benefits, retirement savings plan, and paid vacation helped convince Tom. More so compared to Uber’s benefits, i.e., zero, should Tom become injured and unable to drive.
5. Liking: I’d like to think that this principle was in play! “People we like more easily persuade us” (Dooley, 2017, para. 16). Tom would not have accepted the position if he did not identify with the organization or felt he would not complement the
Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 1984 seminal book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion discussed six universal principles used to influence and persuade people. His ideas touch on core human values: Cooperation, consensus, reciprocity, how society views authority, and one of economics’ central principles, the influence of sacristy (Schenker, 2017). This paper explores what has become known as Cialdini’s principles and describes a past experience where this author drew upon them.
Principles
Cialdini’s research “brought science to the art of persuasion” (Dooley, 2016, para. 2) by considering peoples’ conscious and subconscious responses and the behaviors they exhibit, given the context, players, and stakes (Dooley, 2017). Research …show more content…
Consensus, follows the adages, safety in numbers, go with the flow, follow the herd (Birkett, 2017; Dooley, 2017).
Principles in Action
Cialdini’s principles are well known and used by sales/marketing organizations to close deals, public relations groups managing strategic communications, and data aggregators finetuning conversation optimization (Birkett, 2017). This author’s example is not nearly as glamorous, but it demonstrates the use of Cialdini’s principles and is based on actual past events. As a recollection, it is presented in the first person.
My endeavor, spanning ten years, was to persuade a former colleague, Tom (a pseudonym) to join the event technology firm I had gone to work for. After getting the lay of the land in the first year, I called Tom and asked if he was interested in joining, telling him I felt he could excel in the field and at the firm. He was not interested. Four years later I had moved up the corporate food chain and reached out with a better opportunity, but again Tom showed no interest. Four more years were to pass before he accepted my third offer that included paid training, travel, and a higher rate of pay. That was in 2015; Tom has since excelled! …show more content…
Commitment/Consistency: After Tom’s employer went out of business, he was no longer committed working for the firm’s owner. This made it easy to persuade Tom into considering a new employment commitment.
3. Authority: I’ve known Tom since 2001 and have been his advocate and mentor. Without a doubt, this played into his acceptance of the position, but not until the prior commitment was removed.
4. Scarcity: Tom’s resilient. After losing his job he became an uber, Uber driver, maximizing the firm’s bonuses by driving full time and generating wages that in some ways were hard to compete against. While this diminished the persuasiveness of leveraging job scarcity as a reason to come onboard, the position’s health benefits, retirement savings plan, and paid vacation helped convince Tom. More so compared to Uber’s benefits, i.e., zero, should Tom become injured and unable to drive.
5. Liking: I’d like to think that this principle was in play! “People we like more easily persuade us” (Dooley, 2017, para. 16). Tom would not have accepted the position if he did not identify with the organization or felt he would not complement the