Persuasive Communications How little interventions can create wide ranging impact

Aniisu K Verghese www.intraskope.com www.intraskope.wordpress.com

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Let us look at some scenarios?

What can explain the rush for telegrams?

Last-minute rush as India stops telegram service after 162 years

Why are images of Gods used to prevent people from urinating in public?

Why do recruiters look at your Linkedin profile or for endorsements?

Why do we believe such endorsements?

Why is there a Like button on Facebook posts?

Six Universal Principles of Social Influence

• Reciprocation (we feel obligated to return favors performed for us) • Authority (we look to experts to show us the way) • Commitment/Consistency (we want to act consistently with our

commitments and values) • Scarcity (the less available the resources, the more we want it) • Liking (the more we like people, the more we want to say yes to

them) • Social proof (we look to what others do to guide our behavior) Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

The Infomercial: Which one will motivate you to call in?

Operators are waiting. Please call now.

If operators are busy, please call again

The principle of social proof

If you don’t hear from us, don’t despair. - Google Glass

“Thank you so much to everyone who applied to be a Glass Explorer. We have been overwhelmed, entertained and inspired by your responses. #ifihadglass is now closed and we will be notifying successful applicants soon. If you don’t hear from us, don’t despair! There will be more chances to get Glass at a later date. If you would like to stay informed about Glass, you can sign up here.”

Scarcity factor

Hotel towel re-use case: which message got the best response?

• "Help the hotel save energy"

• "Help save the environment"

• "Partner with us to help save the environment"

• "Help save resources for future generations"

• "Join your fellow citizens in helping to save the environment"

• Why?

http://www.apa.org/research/action/shaping.aspx

The principle of social proof

The car wash case

http://theleanthinker.com/2011/09/04/switch-how-to-change-things-when-change-is-hard/

How to help people overcome fear of change

Connect on an individual level for better impact

• Food shortages in Malawi are affecting more than 3 million children

• In Zambia, severe rainfall deficits resulted in a 42% drop in maize production from 2000. As a result, an estimated 3 million Zambians face hunger

• Four million Angolans – 1/3rd of population have been forced to flee their homes

• More than 11 million people in Ethiopia need immediate food assistance

USD 1.14

When primed with statistical data (calculations) people got into an ‘analytical’ frame of mind and less charitable.

Any money that you donate will go to Rokia, a seven-year-old girl from Mali, Africa. Rokia is desperately poor and faces the threat of severe hunger or even starvation.

Her life will be changed for the better as a result of your financial gift. With your support, and the support of other caring sponsors, Save the Children will work with Rokia’s family and other members of the community to help feed and educate her and provide basic medical care and hygiene education.

USD 2.38

When primed to ‘feel’ (words like ‘baby’) they gave more.

Source: Made to Stick. Chip and Dan Heath (2008). Arrow Books

“If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will” – Mother Theresa

The labeling technique

• “There is a lot of good in you”

• “We trust that you will adhere to the policy”

• “We believe your behavior is consistent with our values”

• Election case: assigning a belief, trait, attitude to the person and then making a request that is consistent with that label

• Those labeled and requested were 15% more likely to align to the ask

• Should be used only ethically – ONLY when the label is actually consistent with the person

Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

Repetition can increase trust

• When people were exposed to messages that weren’t qualified as true or false for at least 3 times they tended to believe in them.

• “zip fasteners were invented in Norway”

‘Decisive’ – Chip and Dan Heath (2013)

1 in 7 communication redundant. Those repeated often in different medium

enhanced effectiveness • Study by Tsedal Neeley (Harvard Business School) and Paul Leonard

(Northwestern University) who followed 13 managers in 6 companies for over 2500 hours

• What they discovered: Instead of being wasteful repetition ENHANCED effectiveness of what managers said. It DID NOT increase productivity but DECREASED time to get the job done and REDUCED blow-ups and managers working in CRISIS mode.

• So what: Clarity of communication isn’t the only important thing. To communicate urgency and to stay on top of mind, don’t hesitate to repeat yourself.

Source: ‘As Many Times as it Takes’, The Economic Times on Sunday, March 25-31, 2012. Available at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/et-sunday-magazine/between-the-lines-as-many-times-as-it-takes/articleshow/12394271.cms (downloaded on April 4, 2012)

Make people write it down to commit!

• Case: college students volunteers for an AIDS education project.

• Of those who actively filled their form 49% showed up as compared to those who passively agreed to participate

• People make judgments about themselves based on observations of their own behaviors, and infer more about themselves from their own actions than non-actions

Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

Convincing ‘because’

Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

Foot in the door technique

• Case: large road safety sign in front of homes – Drive Carefully.

• Just before a small request followed for a smaller sign – Be a Safe Driver

• Impact: 76% increase in sign-ups

Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

How a simple checklist reduced infection rate from 11% to zero and saved USD 2

million Case – John Hopkins Hospital – Peter Pronovost tried out a doctor checklist

1. Wash their hands with soap

2. Clean the patient’s skin with chlorohexidine antiseptic

3. Put sterile drapes over the entire patient

4. Wear a mask, hat, sterile gown and gloves

5. Put sterile dressing over the insertion site once line is in

• Got nurses empowered to challenge/call out to doctors if they skipped a step

• Ten day line infection rate went from 11% to zero.

Source: Checklist Manifesto - Getting things done right. Atul Gawande, Penguin (2009).

Use checklists for communications

• Help with memory recall

• Clearly identify the minimum steps necessary in a process

• Establish a higher standard of baseline performance Are used in medicine (safe surgery checklist), aircraft flying, building construction, restaurants, music groups, disaster management

“It is boring stuff” – meant for nurses not for doctors!

Source: Checklist Manifesto - Getting things done right. Atul Gawande, Penguin (2009).

Hold a mirror for compliance!

• People cheated less when they saw themselves in the mirror before doing a task

• A group asked to remember the 10 Commandments were less prone to theft than those who were asked to

Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

The framing effect: How you say

matters as much as what you say. Scenario: You are an executive, and a group of 600 people have become

infected by a deadly disease and will certainly die if you do nothing. Your advisor comes to you and says you have two options, A & B. She tells you:

- option A saves 200 people's lives

- option B has a 33% chance of saving all 600 people and a 66% possibility of saving no one

- What would you do?

• Different language expressions trigger different subconscious emotions reactions that impact decision making.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/theory-knowledge/201112/kahneman-well-being-and-domains-consciousness

Involve and engage: the IKEA effect

• Involve employees in developing solutions and they will buy-in

• Ikea furniture – do it yourself

• Sandra Lee – 70/30 Semi-Homemade Philosophy

Ariely , Dan (2010). The Upside of Irrationality. Harper

How to frame content?

• Is it positive or negative (e.g. the odds of survival example)?

• Is it loss-framed or gain-framed (e.g. the calamity study)?

• Is it action-oriented or passive (e.g. the CityCliq create a web page example)?

• What associations are brought to mind? E.g. “95% fat free” sounds healthy, whereas “only 5% fat” sounds unhealthy.

http://blog.optimizely.com/2012/11/28/testing-your-messages-framing-for-increased-conversions/

Thank You & Stay Connected

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