FRIDAY JUNE 08 2001

Salesmen exploit our ancient instincts

BY MARK HENDERSON, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT

HUMAN tendencies that once gave our ancestors an evolutionary advantage are being exploited by salesmen, lawyers, charities and politicians to persuade the public to buy a product or support a cause.
Research by an American psychologist has revealed six basic inclinations of human behaviour that can easily be manipulated by shrewd operators to ensure maximum public “compliance”.

Each psychological “weapon of influence” relies on deep-seated instincts of trust that follow certain cues that once helped hunter-gatherers to survive. The weapons are now used to sell anything from cars to cheese, to convince a jury, or to raise money for charity. If wielded with sufficient skill, they can make the difference between a business’s success or failure, and victory or defeat at the bar or the ballot box, according to Robert Cialdini, professor of psychology at Arizona State University.

“Persuasion has turned from a dramatic art into a science, and there is now a vast body of research that tells us what the techniques are that tell people to say yes to things,” he said. “These are teachable, learnable techniques, and salesmen, advertisers and politicians have realised this. You no longer need to be a charismatic genius to get a message across — there’s a science to it.”

The first of his six principles of persuasion is reciprocity: the idea that people are more likely to respond positively to a request if they feel obliged to repay a favour.

In the United States, the Disabled Veterans’ Association has used the principle to spectacular effect in fund-raising. They discovered that when they sent out simple letters soliciting donations, about 18 per cent of the recipients agreed to give. When the charity added a free set of personalised address labels, however, the success rate almost doubled, to 35 per cent.

A second powerful principle is that of consistency: the impetus that people feel to remain true to their own beliefs, or their past behaviour. In 1998, Gordon Sinclair, a Chicago restaurateur, was becoming more and more concerned about the problem of customers who booked a table and then failed to turn up.

He solved it by asking his receptionist to behave slightly differently when answering the phone. Instead of simply asking: “Please call if you have to change your plans,” she asked: “Will you please call if you have to change your plans,” then paused, waiting for the customer to answer. Within weeks, the no-show rate for reservations dropped from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.

A further principle is that of social validation. One of the best examples is an experiment in New York in which a man stopped in a busy street and looked upwards, at nothing in particular. Most people ignored him but 4 per cent stopped and looked up as well.

When the experiment was changed, so that five men looked upwards, the results were very different, with 18 per cent of passers-by stopping and joining the group.

Professor Cialdini’s fifth principle is scarcity: the idea that people are more likely to want something that is scarce, or to value not losing something more than they value gaining something else. It explains special offers available for a limited time only, and panic-buying.

The final principle, according to Professor Cialdini, is liking: the simple idea that we are more likely to trust and comply with requests from those we like. It explains the success of Tupperware parties and celebrity advertising.

Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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