THE SECRETS FROM THE SCIENCE OF PERSUASION-1

Persuasion Power is the most important tool that you need to carry in your business world. Persuasive Power means convincing power, which is needed every now and then in our life. Don't you think so?

If you have it, you can win the world. But if you lack it, you can gain it back. Here I will try to estimate some Shortcuts fro the Science of Persuasion.

1) RECIPROCITY

The 1^st universal principle of influence is RECIPROCITY. Simply put people oblige to give back to other the foremost behavior, gift or service that they have received first.

If a friend invites you to their party, there’s an obligation that you should invite him/her in the future party that you are hosting. If a colleague does you a favor, then you owe that colleague a favor. So in the context of social obligation people are most likely to say yes to them.

Best demonstration of principle of reciprocity is the series of study that was conducted in the restaurants. So the next time you visit a restaurant, there is a good chance that waiter or waitress will be giving you a gift. Probably at the same time they will bring you a bill with a cookie or perhaps a simple mint. So here is the question. Does the giving of the mint have any influence over how much tip you are going to leave them? Most people will say ‘NO’. But that mint can make a surprising difference. In the scientific study it was found that giving customers 1 mint at the end of the meal can typically increase tip by around 3%. Interestingly if the gift is doubled i.e. if 2 mints are provided, gift don’t double; they quadruple. So around 14% increase in tip was found. Perhaps most interesting is the fact that if the waiter provides 1 mint, walks away from the table, pauses, turns back and says ‘For you nice people here’s an extra mint’; tips goes through the roof  and there was 23% increase in tip influence not by what is given but by how it was given.

So the key to the principle of persuasion is to be the first to give and what you give must be personalized and unexpected.

  

2) SCARCITY

The 2^nd universal principle of persuasion is SCARCITY. People want more of those things they can have less of.

British Airways announced in 2003 that they will be no longer operating twice daily London – New-York flight because it had become uneconomical to run. Sales the very next day took off. Nothing had changed about the flight; it certainly didn’t fly any faster, the services suddenly didn’t get better and the air fair didn’t drop. It had simply become a scare resource and a result people wanted it more.

So when it comes to effectively persuading others using the scarcity principle, the science is clear. Its not enough simply to tell people about the benefits they will gain if they choose your product and services, you will also need to point out what’s unique about your product and what they stand to loose if they fail to consider your proposal.

     

Thank you for your time. We will shortly have a look over other shortcuts too.