“He was slick as a whistle!”, you must have remarked in
hindsight while examining a pair of shorts you bought from Colaba which your
mom immediately dismissed as being overpriced.
And hey, what about those extended warranties that
salespersons try to sell on all electronic devices you purchase these days?
Don’t you privately gush about how it is unnecessary but end up cooing an
agreement to that compliance-seeking executive?
Compliance is the art of getting other people to approve our
requests. It is a form of social influence that involves one making direct
requests to another; such as a politician asking for votes, an NGO asking for
charity or a teacher asking her students to pay attention. These requests, if
made in a particular fashion, can help us effectively achieve our goals.
How can we have people give in to our solicitation? Robert
Cialdini, a renowned social psychologist, held that this end can achieved using
several means. However, all of them are rooted in 6 basic principles.
1. The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship:
The most favorable premise for
achieving compliance is to share friendship
or liking with the subject. Obvious as it may seem, if you had to choose between
giving your money to a friend in need versus a passerby who has lost their
wallet, you are likely to choose the former as the deserving party for your
help. Thus, in order to have others agree to our requests, we must tactfully
use impression management techniques so as to make them like us in the first
place. One could make a moderated use of flattery
(because who doesn’t like some pampering acknowledgment?) or even self-promotion whereby you point out
your strong points to the target audience. Also, the way we groom ourselves plays an important role
in sending out the ‘good vibes’ to people. Doing tiny favors and pointing out
small, incidental similarities (e.g.
your preferred coffee type)that you share with them goes a long way in creating
a comfort zone and ultimately help us obtain compliance. This doesn’t imply
manipulation. These are simple research based tools that have been found to
yield results in the pursuit of persuasion.
2. Consistency is the hallmark of the unimaginative—Oscar
Wilde:
Yet, most of us tend to act
consistently to promote the causes that we commit to. Not saying that
consistency is a liability, but sometimes salespersons manage to use this
tendency of ours to their advantage; mainly using the foot-in-the-door technique and lowball
procedure.
A salesperson placing her foot in
your door essentially is asking you to accept a small and rather attractive
offer-- one which is easy to say yes to and doesn’t entail a high expense or
involvement. However, once you comply with this demand, they place a larger
request which they have desired to achieve all along .Now you often find
yourself say yes irrespective of your true feelings because the public
commitment that you initially made weighs you down. I find the Dove soap
advertisements as being a classic example of this technique in action. Would
you find it easy to say no to Dove after using it for a 7 day challenge?
 |
| An example of the foot-in-the-door technique http://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/jeades/foot-in-door-phenomenon.png?utc=131289937274230000 |
Moving on to the next consistency
based approach, let’s say that you are off on a shopping spree with a cash
crunch when you spot this beautiful Little-Black-Dress for Saturday night at a
50% off! Now you’re at the billing desk when to your horror, you are made aware
that the discount is no longer valid and that due to mall staff negligence, the
discount tag wasn’t removed. At this, it would make perfect sense to walk away.
But, would you? Chances are that you will actually go ahead to pay for it in
whole because your mind is already committed to buy the dress. This is the
lowball technique using which compliance is obtained by making the deal less
desirable after the target has
accepted it.
3. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
This Golden Rule which has found
its way into many world religions stresses on the principle of reciprocity
that social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt has very well upheld as being the
basic currency of social life. We are constantly in a boomerang state, treating
people like they treat us. Thus, if a salesperson is generous enough to throw
you a freebie, you are more likely to repay by buying that microwave. This is
often referred to as the ‘that’s-not-all’
technique— given that the phrase in quotation marks often seals the deal
for most of us. Another tactic, which is the exact opposite of foot-in-the-door
method, is door-in-the face technique. It
works on the premise that once a person rejects a large request, s/he is more
likely to bow down to a smaller one which was actually desired all along. So
the next time you want to watch your favorite TV show in peace, ask your
sibling if they would surrender the remote control for the entire day. Of
course they’ll start jumping up and down in protest. This is when you revise
your previous plea and request them to simply let you watch your one-hour show.
I am pretty sure the guilt of not heeding to your earlier request will make
them give in to your true demand.
4. Hurry! Offer only till stock lasts!
We are wired in such a way that
as humans, we believe what is scarce is more valuable than
what is available in plenty. Thus, it almost seems like the norm when all
school guys want to date that one popular girl or all employers in the town fight
tooth and nail to get that glamorous executive join their firm. This is the ‘playing hard to get’ technique whereby
compliance is ensured by letting the target know that one is too precious to be
obtained without facing solid competition from counterparts. Scarcity as a
principle for creating compliance is also highlighted in the deadline technique used by all
superstores when they announce the most-awaited End of Season sale. The
unspoken message that is sent out tightly attached with the discount pamphlets
is that, “If you don’t get this now, you’ll regret buying it later at a higher
price.” However, if you closely notice, the sale is often extended and prices
keep falling by the day until much later than the prescribed date. So, this
time when you’ll find yourself drifting in the upcoming Monsoon Sale hype on an
online shopping platform, step back to examine if it is consumer psychology at
work!
5. Please “Like” me!
Social validation makes
us comply. If we have a reason to believe that the people who we can relate to
are all acting in a particular way then even we tend to act in the same way. It
gives us a sense of security by making us believe that “Since others are doing
it too, I am correct.” This explains why absence runs in groups, why vote banks
hold strength in politics or why you give your thumbs up on a particular meme
on Facebook that all your friends seem to like but you don’t quite get.
6. It’s not wisdom but authority that makes a law—Thomas Hobbs
If you believe that someone has
legitimate right to be in charge and exert influence onto others, you are
likely to comply and follow this person’s directions. Usually in the
collectivist cultures, children believe that their parents have the authority
to guide their behaviors and so they are likely do as it pleases their parents.
Hence, if your little brother asks you to get him a glass of water, you’ll
probably throw him a dirty look and walk away but if your mother asks for a
glass, you wouldn’t dare act in the same way.
Summing it all, there are many ways to change others’
behavior to elicit that “Yes!” All you really need is to follow some
psychologically based compliance-fostering principles and techniques to master
the art of persuasion.
