HBR Case Study r0109aOff with His Head?David Champion
HBR at Large r0109bThe Leadership Lessons of Mount EverestMichael Useem
Different Voice r0109cGenius at Work:A Conversation with Mark Morris
Harnessing the Science of Persuasion r0109dRobert B. Cialdini
Torment Your Customers (Theyll Love It) r0109eStephen Brown
Radical Change, the Quiet Way r0109fDebra E. Meyerson
Your Next IT Strategy r0109gJohn Hagel III and John Seely Brown
HBR Interview r0109hBernard Arnault of LVMH:The Perfect Paradox of Star BrandsSuzy Wetlaufer
Best Practice r0109jSpeeding Up Team LearningAmy Edmondson, Richard Bohmer, and Gary Pisano
Tool Kit r0109kBoost Your Marketing ROI with Experimental DesignEric Almquist and Gordon Wyner
October 2001
lucky few have it; most of us do not. A handfulof gifted naturals simply know how to cap-ture an audience, sway the undecided, and
convert the opposition. Watching these masters ofpersuasion work their magic is at once impressiveand frustrating. Whats impressive is not just the easyway they use charisma and eloquence to convinceothers to do as they ask. Its also how eager thoseothers are to do whats requested of them, as if thepersuasion itself were a favor they couldnt waitto repay.
The frustrating part of the experience is thatthese born persuaders are often unable to ac-count for their remarkable skill or pass it on toothers. Their way with people is an art, andartists as a rule are far better at doing than atexplaining. Most of them cant offer muchhelp to those of us who possess no morethan the ordinary quotient of charismaand eloquence but who still have to wres-tle with leaderships fundamental chal-lenge: getting things done through oth-ers. That challenge is painfully familiarto corporate executives, who every dayhave to figure out how to motivateand direct a highly individualisticwork force. Playing the Because Imthe boss card is out. Even if itwerent demeaning and demoraliz-ing for all concerned, it would beout of place in a world wherecross-functional teams, joint ven-tures, and intercompany part-nerships have blurred the linesof authority. In such an en-vironment, persuasion skillsexert far greater influenceover others behavior thanformal power structures do.
A
Harnessing the Science of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
72 Copyright 2001 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.
Which brings us back to where we started. Persuasionskills may be more necessary than ever, but how can ex-ecutives acquire them if the most talented practitionerscant pass them along? By looking to science. For the pastfive decades, behavioral scientists have conducted exper-iments that shed considerable light on the way certaininteractions lead people to concede, comply, or change.This research shows that persuasion works by appealingto a limited set of deeply rooted human drives and needs,and it does so in predictable ways. Persuasion, in otherwords, is governed by basic principles that can be taught,learned, and applied. By mastering these principles, exec-utives can bring scientific rigor to the business of securingconsensus, cutting deals, and winning concessions. In thepages that follow, I describe six fundamental principles ofpersuasion and suggest a few ways that executives canapply them in their own organizations.
The retailing phenomenon known as the Tupperwareparty is a vivid illustration of this principle in action.The demonstration party for Tupperware products ishosted by an individual, almost always a woman, who in-vites to her home an array of friends, neighbors, and rel-atives. The guests affection for their hostess predisposesthem to buy from her, a dynamic that was confirmed bya 1990 study of purchase decisions made at demonstra-tion parties. The researchers, Jonathan Frenzen andHarry Davis, writing in the Journal of Consumer Research,found that the guests fondness for their hostess weighedtwice as heavily in their purchase decisions as their re-gard for the products they bought. So when guests at aTupperware party buy something, they arent just buy-ing to please themselves. Theyre buying to please theirhostess as well.
Whats true at Tupperware parties is true for businessin general: If you want to influence people, win friends.How? Controlled research has identified several factorsthat reliably increase liking, but two stand out as espe-
cially compelling similarity and praise. Similarity liter-ally draws people together. In one experiment, reportedin a 1968 article in the Journal of Personality, participantsstood physically closer to one another after learning thatthey shared political beliefs and social values. And in a1963 article in American Behavioral Scientists, researcherF. B. Evans used demographic data from insurance com-pany records to demonstrate that prospects were morewilling to purchase a policy from a salesperson who wasakin to them in age, religion, politics, or even cigarette-smoking habits.
Managers can use similarities to create bonds with a re-cent hire, the head of another department, or even a newboss. Informal conversations during the workday createan ideal opportunity to discover at least one commonarea of enjoyment, be it a hobby, a college basketballteam, or reruns of Seinfeld. The important thing is to es-tablish the bond early because it creates a presumptionof goodwill and trustworthiness in every subsequentencounter. Its much easier to build support for a newproject when the people youre trying to persuade are al-ready inclined in your favor.
Praise, the other reliable generator of affection, bothcharms and disarms. Sometimes the praise doesnt evenhave to be merited. Researchers at the University ofNorth Carolina writing in the Journal of Experimental So-cial Psychology found that men felt the greatest regard foran individual who flattered them unstintingly even if thecomments were untrue. And in their book InterpersonalAttraction (Addison-Wesley, 1978), Ellen Berscheid andElaine Hatfield Walster presented experimental datashowing that positive remarks about another personstraits, attitude, or performance reliably generates liking inreturn, as well as willing compliance with the wishes ofthe person offering the praise.
Along with cultivating a fruitful relationship, adroitmanagers can also use praise to repair one thats damagedor unproductive. Imagine youre the manager of a good-sized unit within your organization. Your work frequentlybrings you into contact with another manager call himDan whom you have come to dislike. No matter howmuch you do for him, its not enough. Worse, he neverseems to believe that youre doing the best you can forhim. Resenting his attitude and his obvious lack of trustin your abilities and in your good faith, you dont spendas much time with him as you know you should; in con-sequence, the performance of both his unit and yours isdeteriorating.
The research on praise points toward a strategy for fix-ing the relationship. It may be hard to find, but there hasto be something about Dan you can sincerely admire,whether its his concern for the people in his department,his devotion to his family, or simply his work ethic. Inyour next encounter with him, make an appreciative comment about that trait. Make it clear that in this case
74 harvard business review
Harnessing the Science of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini is the Regents Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and the author of Influence: Science and Practice (Allyn & Bacon, 2001), now in its fourthedition. Further regularly updated information about the in-fluence process can be found at www.influenceatwork.com.
The Principle of
Liking:People like those who like them.
The Application:
Uncover real similarities and offergenuine praise.
at least, you value what he values. I predict that Dan willrelax his relentless negativity and give you an opening toconvince him of your competence and good intentions.
Praise is likely to have a warming and softening effect onDan because, ornery as he is, he is still human and subjectto the universal human tendency to treat people the waythey treat him. If you have ever caught yourself smiling ata coworker just because he or she smiled first, you knowhow this principle works.
Charities rely on reciprocity to help them raise funds.For years, for instance, the Disabled American Veteransorganization, using only a well-crafted fund-raising letter,garnered a very respectable 18% rate of response to its ap-peals. But when the group started enclosing a small gift inthe envelope, the response rate nearly doubled to 35%.The gift personalized address labels was extremelymodest, but it wasnt what prospective donors receivedthat made the difference. It was that they had gotten any-thing at all.
What works in that letter works at the office, too. Itsmore than an effusion of seasonal spirit, of course, thatimpels suppliers to shower gifts on purchasing depart-ments at holiday time. In 1996, purchasing managers ad-mitted to an interviewer from Inc. magazine that afterhaving accepted a gift from a supplier, they were willingto purchase products and services they would have oth-erwise declined. Gifts also have a startling effect on re-tention. I have encouraged readers of my book to send meexamples of the princi
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