Nathalie Nahai - Psychology of persuasive content (Brighton SEO)

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@NATHALIENAHAITHE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST LTD.

THE SECRET PSYCHOLOGY

PERSUASIVE CONTENT

of



The empirical study of how our online environments influence

our attitudes and behaviours

WEB PSYCHOLOGY

“ ”



WEB PSYCHOLOGY

HCI

neuro- aesthetics

user experience

social psychology

cognitive psychology

neuroscience

cross-cultural psychology

behavioural economics

persuasive technology

personality psychology

digital humanities

marketing



Provides a psychological toolkit to

help design more persuasive websites,

marketing and user experiences

WHY IT’S USEFUL

“ ”





What’s the purpose of content?



GOOD CONTENT SHOULD:

1. Grab (and hold) attention from the right people




2. Provoke the desired emotional response(s)





2. Provoke the desired emotional response(s)

3. Convert this into a mutually beneficial action




So how do you do it?



DECISION-MAKING 1



Brosch, T., Scherer K. R., Grandjean, D., & Sander, D. (2013). The impact of emotion on perception, attention, memory, and decision-making. Swiss Medical Weekly.

Neuropsychological studies - patients with emotional dysfunctions from brain lesions can be highly impaired in everyday decisions

DECISION-MAKING



R. Carter (1999) Mapping the Mind. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Where thought conflicts with emotion, the latter is designed by the neural

circuitry in our brains to win

DECISION-MAKING

“ ”



To create a positive emotional state,

it helps if people trust you



Simpson, J. A. (2007). Psychological foundations of trust. Current directions in psychological science, 16(5), 264-268.

Single most important ingredient for the development and maintenance of happy, well-functioning relationships

TRUST

“ ”



Lack of trust is the biggest impediment to successful e-commerce

and interpersonal relationships

TRUST



One way to establish trust is to anchor yourself

in your values & express them business-wide



http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2014/05/22/millennials-expect-more-than-good-products-services-to-win-their-loyalty/

More than 81% of millennials expect companies to make a public commitment

to good corporate citizenship

VALUES

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2014/05/22/millennials-expect-more-than-good-products-services-to-win-their-loyalty/





• People need to feel safe

TRUST



• People need to feel safe • They need to feel understood

TRUST



• People need to feel safe • They need to feel understood • They need to feel enabled and supported

TRUST



One of the best ways to help people feel

these things, is to show homophily



Love of the same The tendency to associate and

bond with similar others“ ”HOMOPHILY



Chu, S. C., & Kim, Y. (2011). Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites. International journal of Advertising, 30(1), 47-75.

A homophilous source is more likely to be perceived as credible,

trustworthy, and reliable…“ ”HOMOPHILY



…The effectiveness of communication from a homophilous

source may be greater

HOMOPHILY

Chu, S. C., & Kim, Y. (2011). Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites. International journal of Advertising, 30(1), 47-75.

“ ”



To leverage homophily, you have to

understand and mirror your audience





The stories we relate to the most are the

ones that reflect our own experiences









PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE 2



J. Hirsh, S. Kang and G. Bodenhausen (2012). Personalized Persuasion: Tailoring Persuasive Appeals to Recipients' Personality Traits. Psychological Science published online 30 April 2012

Adapting persuasive messages to the personality traits… can be an effective way of increasing the messages’ impact

PERSONALITY MATTERS

“ ”



The Big 5 (a quick quiz)



A high degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference

for novelty and variety?

Costa, P. T. Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

DO YOU HAVE…

“ ”



THE BIG 5

1. Openness



Organised, dependable, self-disciplined and dutiful? Do you prefer to plan

and aim for achievement?

ARE YOU…


“ ”



THE BIG 5

1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness



Energetic, positive, assertive & sociable? Do you tend to seek stimulation in

the company of others?

ARE YOU…


“ ”



THE BIG 5

1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion



The tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious

and antagonistic towards others?

DO YOU HAVE…


“ ”



THE BIG 5

1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion 4. Agreeableness



The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety,

depression, and vulnerability?

DO YOU HAVE…


“ ”



THE BIG 5

1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion 4. Agreeableness 5. Neuroticism



Who does this appeal to?






Strong Outgoing

Active Excitement Attention

EXTRAVERSION





The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way

out of its current predicament.

Linzmayer, O. W. (1999). Apple confidential: the real story of Apple Computer. Inc.

INNOVATION

“ ”



Innovation Intelligence

Sophistication Imagination Creative

OPENNESS






Safe Reduce the anxiety

Uncertainty Security

Protection

EMOTIONAL STABILITY




Specific words engage specific traits



Know the psychography of your audience and adapt your messages accordingly

PERSONALISE




TRAIT MOTIVATION




TRAITOpen Creativity & intellectual stimulation

MOTIVATION




TRAITOpen Conscientious

Creativity & intellectual stimulation Efficiency & goal pursuit

MOTIVATION




TRAITOpen Conscientious Extravert

Creativity & intellectual stimulation Efficiency & goal pursuit Excitement & social rewards

MOTIVATION




TRAITOpen Conscientious Extravert Agreeable

Creativity & intellectual stimulation Efficiency & goal pursuit Excitement & social rewards Connection with family & community

MOTIVATION




TRAITOpen Conscientious Extravert Agreeable Emotional Stability

Creativity & intellectual stimulation Efficiency & goal pursuit Excitement & social rewards Connection with family & community Safety & security

MOTIVATION



1. Big 5 (IPIP-NEO): personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP

2. Various personality tests: discovermyprofile.com

3. From Facebook likes: applymagicsauce.com

4. From digital footprint: hogan-x.com

5. Computerised text analysis: liwc.wpengine.com

TOOLS

http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/

http://discovermyprofile.com/

http://applymagicsauce.com/

http://www.hogan-x.com/

http://liwc.wpengine.com/



There are also other psychological

ways to increase engagement…



OPTIMISING HEADLINES 3



What do you notice about the

words in these headlines?











They all use trigger words



Weird

Surprising

Secret

Mystery

Effortless

TRIGGER WORDS



Weird

Surprising

Secret

Mystery

Effortless

Painstaking

Strange

Outrageous

Odd

Amazing

TRIGGER WORDS



Weird

Surprising

Secret

Mystery

Effortless

Painstaking

Strange

Outrageous

Odd

Amazing

Bizarre

Essential

Incredible

(It’s not what

you think)

TRIGGER WORDS





How to put it together



Number / Trigger word

+




Adjective

+




Adjective

Keyword +




Adjective

Keyword

Promise +




Adjective

Keyword

Promise

KILLER HEADLINE

+



Subject:

EXAMPLE



Subject: Frying eggs

EXAMPLE




You could write an article entitled:

EXAMPLE




You could write an article entitled: -“How to fry an egg”

EXAMPLE




You could write an article entitled: -“How to fry an egg” -“Why I love frying eggs”

EXAMPLE



OR APPLY THE FORMULA:



“13 unbelievable ways you can fry a small egg with a sock”




number





number

trigger word





number

trigger word



adjective



number

trigger word keyword



adjective




number

trigger word keyword

promise


adjective



But isn’t this just clickbait?



You’re not offering value, or if you’re promising more than you can deliver

ONLY IF…

“ ”





What are the tangible benefits my customers will get from this content? “ ”

ASK YOURSELF



KEY TAKEAWAYS



To create persuasive, emotionally engaging content:

KEY TAKEAWAYS




1. Establish trust through shared values & homophilly

KEY TAKEAWAYS





2. Adapt your content to your customers’ personalities

KEY TAKEAWAYS





2. Adapt your content to your customers’ personalities

3. Use trigger words in your headlines

KEY TAKEAWAYS



THANK YOU!

@NathalieNahai NathalieNahai.com

Marketing

Nathalie Nahai - Psychology of persuasive content (Brighton SEO)