Title Pre-Suasion
Author Robert Cialdini
Year Published 2016
Kind of Book Science/Psychology
How strongly I recommend it 7/10
My Impressions This book didn't come close to matching his first book (Influence), but still contained a lot of interesting Science. It makes a strong case for the power of priming.
Date Read Dec 2021
Practical Takeaways
(sales) establish an aura of trust with the prospect before closing
Get others to trust you by asking to do something that requires some trust and proving yourself (eg. Asking strangers if you can use their restroom)
Be suspicious if a company only ask you if you were satisfied (instead of asking a less leading question like "how was your experience?")
(sales) ask people if they are unsatisfied with an aspect of their life which you hope to sell them a product to fix
Ask people if they are the quality you want them to be. (After saying they are a certain way they will be more likely to be that way to prove themselves right. Eg. "Are you a helpful person?" "yes" [later] "hey can you give me a hand with this?" "sure")
If you want someone to do something adventurous ask them earlier in the interaction if they are adventurous
If you want someone to do something helpful ask them earlier in the interaction if they are helpful
If you sell a premium product/service, Instead of getting caught in a price war with a competitor, frame the 'battle' to be about quality rather than price
(if you are ever questioned by police in the absence of a lawyer) Say "Although I would like to cooperate fully I read a book by Robert Cialdini about how extensive police questioning is unsafe even for innocent individuals, therefore I can't talk without my lawyer"
Only use sex to sell products/services that are associated with sex (eg. Makeup, fitness equipment, clothing etc. not fast food)
Put the part of your video ad or video that you want the viewer to pay the most attention to right after a cut
(for advertisements) write in the personal (you, your, us.) not the impersonal (people)
(for maintaining a writing practice) Always stop writing for the day in the middle of a thought or sentence *even if you know what you are going to say (Zeigarnik effect)
(writing) Begin the chapter with a story that is perplexing. The rest of the chapter slowly explain that phenomenon that will make the story make sense
(Lecturing) End each lecture/class unresolved with a cliffhanger
(Writing) End each chapter or book unresolved with a cliffhanger
Hang pictures of words associated with achievement in your workspace
(Teaching) Hang pictures of words associated with achievement in your classroom
If you want to change the world, change the metaphor you are using (eg. Life is a battle vs. life is a dance)
(Sales) have you prospect hold something warm in your presence (eg. A cup of coffee)
(sales) call it "pre-owned" not "used"
(sales) call it a "Purchase" or "investment" instead of speaking in terms of cost or price
(sales) make your slogan or catch-phrase rhyme (Rhyme as reason effect)
(sales) make sure your product or brand is easy to pronounce
(sales) make sure the font you use for branding is easy to read
Write in the location that matches the tone you are going for or audience you want to write for (eg. write in hippy coffee shop to reach hippies and in college admin office to reach academics)
(test taking) prior to taking any standardized exam, spend systematic time “getting psyched up” for it.
(test taking) spent time before the test reviewing your past academic successes and strengths.
(during time tests) skip questions you are not sure of the answer to right away and come back to them
Make "when then plans" for breaking bad habits (eg. When I feel the urge to eat a cookie I will take ten deep breaths)
If you are going to use product placement make it subtle
(Sales) show the prospect that you genuinely like them
(Sales) Use background music to influence feeling-based products (eg. Snack foods, body scents)
(Sales) don't use background music to sell products you are trying to make a rational argument to buy (eg. Safety equipment)
Ask people for advice (bosses,
friends etc.) (people will feel bonded to you after giving you advice and want to do things for you)
Do not seek dishonest gains; (dishonest gains are losses.) —Hesiod
Include an ethical reputation assessment each year when the company does its yearly performance assessment
Set up cues in places in situations you find yourself in all the time to prompt the behavior you want (eg. pictures of vegetables in kitchen and success poster in office)
Big Ideas
What we see/experience first changes the way we see/experience what comes after
It is easier to notice the presence of something than the absence of something
Salespeople ask prospects 'Are you unhappy about X?' to get them to think of all the things they are unhappy with (so that they can be sold to easier)
People are more likely to exhibit a quality after they have told people that they exhibit that quality (consistency principle_
Things that draw our attention make us overestimate their importance
Nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.
What a platform decides to give air time to influences people more than what is said about the thing
We are more likely to believe the side of the argument that we have been exposed to the most (rather than the most compelling side)
Media isn't always successful telling people WHAT to think—but it is very successful in telling them what to think about
People have a tendency to select the first thing/candidate/person etc. that is 'good enough' to satisfy what they want (rather than to continue searching for the best option)
Counterarguments are typically more powerful than arguments
Because
Whatever we experience last tends to be most salient in our minds
A person coughing often triggers other people to cough
Elderly people tend to have more of an optimism bias than younger adults
Elderly people spend more time recalling positive memories then younger adults
Elderly people spend more time entertaining positive thoughts than younger adults
Elderly people tend to prioritize emotional contentment over achievement
Younger adults tend to prioritize achievement over emotional contentment
People feel bonded to the people they give advice to and want to do more things for them
Surprising Facts
Researchers have found that the amount of money people said they’d be willing to spend on dinner went up when the restaurant was named Studio 97, as opposed to Studio 17
In one study The price individuals would pay for a box of Belgian chocolates grew after they’d been asked to write down a pair of high (versus low) digits from their Social Security numbers
People are more likely to report being unhappy with their lives if you ask if they are unhappy and more like to report being happy with their lives if you ask if they are happy—Members of a sample of Canadians were asked either if they were unhappy or happy with their social lives. Those asked if they were unhappy were far more likely to encounter dissatisfactions as they thought about it and, consequently, were 375 percent more likely to declare themselves unhappy.
In a companion study, the two scientists found that it was similarly possible to increase willingness to try an unfamiliar consumer product by beginning with a comparable but differently customized pre-suasive opener—this time asking people if they considered themselves adventurous. When later asked to give an email
Much more people complied.
In one study, potential shoppers who just envisioned themselves moving toward (rather than away from) a container of snack food came to like it better and were willing to pay over four times more to obtain it.
Results of polygraph examinations are far from infallible, even in the hands of experts. In fact, because of their unreliability, they are banned as evidence in the courts of many states and countries.
Legal scholars have uncovered a distressingly large number of elicited false confessions. Indeed, the confessions have often been shown later to be demonstrably false by evidence such as physical traces (DNA or fingerprint samples), newly obtained information (documentation of the suspect’s presence hundreds of miles away from the crime), and even proof that no crime occurred (when a presumed murder victim is discovered alive and well)
Using sex to sell a product has been shown to only work for items that people frequently buy for sexually related purposes. Eg. Cosmetics (lipstick, hair color), body scents (perfume, cologne), and form-fitting clothing (jeans, swimwear)
The reason we often forget what we came into another room to do is because abrupt change in your physical surroundings redirects your attention to the new setting—and consequently from your purpose, which disrupts your memory of it.
Multiple studies have shown that subtly exposing individuals to words that connote achievement (The signs usually carry a single word in capital letters (OVERCOME, SUCCEED, PERSEVERE, ACHIEVE)) increases their performance on an assigned task and more than doubles their willingness to keep working at it.
Studies have shown that a person holding a cold object makes him or her feel colder towards the person they are interacting with or meeting and holding a warm object around him or her makes them feel warmer and more trusting of them.
People who learn that they have a birthday, birthplace, or first name in common come to like each other more
Studies find that people are more adverse drugs or ingredients that they can't pronounce (which is why many prescription drugs change the name to something easier for the consumer to pronounce eg. Prilosec vs. omeprazol)
Women do worse on math tests after being reminded that they are women before the test
Asians do better on math test after being reminded that they are Asian before the test
Subtle product placement influences peoples purchasing choices more than overt product placement
Infomercials are on late at night because peoples Rational decision making skills are fatigued and they're more likely to make an emotional buying decision
Attorneys who admit to a weakness in their case before the rival attorney points it out are viewed as more credible and win more often
A French study showed that a man asking for women's phone numbers in the street nearly doubled when he had on a guitar case
One study found that people were more likely to eat a restaurant after they gave advice to them
Unethical company practices produce more stress, worse performance, and higher turnover rates amongst employees
One study found that doctors were more likely to wash their hands when shown signs reminding them that germ washing prevents infection in their students, however signs that just reminded them to wash their hands for their own health had no effect.
Unknown Terms
pre-suasion: the process of arranging for recipients to be receptive to a message before they encounter it.
Attentional blink: a mental dead spot which lasts half a second during a shift of focus 2) the ____ serves as a way to help the brain ignore distractions and focus on processing the first target. When an event occurs, the brain needs time to process it before it can move on to the next event. If a second event occurs during this critical processing time, it will simply be missed.
Agenda-setting theory: a theory that suggests that the media rarely produce change directly, by presenting compelling evidence that sweeps an audience to new positions; but rather that they are much more likely to persuade indirectly, by giving selected issues
and facts better coverage than other issues and facts.
Satisficing: The tendency for people to select the first thing/candidate/person etc. that is 'good enough' to satisfy what they want (rather than to continue searching for the best option) 2) a term coined by economist and Nobel laureate
Herbert Simon—to serve as a blend of the words satisfy and suffice. The combination reflects two simultaneous goals of a chooser when facing a decision—to make it good and to make it gone—which, according to Simon, usually means making it good enough.
Localism: the tendency to favor the people who, outside the home, exist in close proximity to us.
Moral stress: Stress which comes from the conflict between an employee’s ethical values and the perceived ethical values of the organization. Ie. Having to do something they are ethically opposed to everyday at work stresses them out and wares them down