Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior

by Nick Kolenda

if you want people to develop a favorable (or even neutral) attitude toward something that you know they will find unfavorable, you can “desensitize” your message by gradually habituating that message. This technique will be even more effective if: (1) the changes occur in small and gradual increments, (2) your target can’t perform a side-by-side comparison, (3) your target isn’t expecting any changes to occur, or (4) you combine the unfavorable stimulus with a pleasant stimulus

systematic processing, an effortful evaluation that involves critically analyzing information. When we use systematic processing (also known as the central route to persuasion), we’re more influenced by the underlying arguments and content of information.

heuristic processing, a simple-minded evaluation that relies on quick decision rules. When we use heuristic processing (also known as the peripheral route to persuasion), we’re more influenced by simple, irrelevant, and “peripheral” cues,

When your target’s motivation is high, your message will be evaluated using systematic processing; when your target’s motivation is low, your message will be evaluated using heuristic processing.

One aspect of people’s ability to evaluate is their intellectual capacity, which is different than general intelligence.

I don’t know enough about that specific topic. In this situation, you bet that I would rely on peripheral cues (e.g., the speaker’s confidence or presentation style)

If your target is lacking time or if there are many distractions, then she will speed up her evaluation by relying on peripheral cues, such as your likability and attractiveness.

When your target’s motivation and ability are low, your target will rely on peripheral cues to judge your message (e.g., number of arguments, aesthetics, their perception of you). When your target’s motivation and ability are high, your target will effortfully evaluate your message and judge it based on the strength of your arguments.

technique to capture your target’s attention is the pique technique. Rather than plainly state an ordinary request, you can present your request in an odd manner to snap your target out of her autopilot state of mind. To test that claim, research assistants disguised themselves as beggars and asked people on the street for either 17 cents, a quarter, 37 cents, or “any change.”

you can also trigger a more effortful evaluation of your message by enhancing its perceived relevance to your target.

using the word “you” in a message can dramatically increase the persuasiveness

use a lot of rhetorical questions because they spark greater personal relevance.

There are some situations where increasing the complexity of your message can actually help you persuade your target.

When we’re in positive moods, we often develop a sense of naïve optimism.

When people are in negative moods, they subtly assume that something must be wrong with a message, and that uncertainty causes them to analyze messages with a fine-toothed comb.

If you want your message to be evaluated simple-mindedly, or if your request is somewhat risky in nature, you should first brighten your target’s mood so that he develops a greater sense of optimism and a greater likelihood of complying with your request.

When a message contains only positive support, people tend to believe that the message is purposely excluding information, which causes them to be skeptical toward that message. On the other hand, when a message contains a small amount of negative information, people develop stronger attitudes because they believe that the information is more complete. When the situation is suitable, you should include a small amount of negative information in your message (as well as arguments to address and counter that negative information) because people will assume that you’ve considered both sides of the topic,

position your most compelling arguments first and last in your sequence. Those arguments will carry more weight in those positions due to the primacy and recency effect.

also applies in situations where your performance will be judged against other people (e.g., talent show, job interview). You can enhance your perceived performance and become more memorable by choosing the first or last position in the line-up.

you should put your most compelling argument last when your target must decide immediately. Why? Because that argument will be in your target’s working memory when he makes the looming decision (Miller & Campbell, 1959). On the other hand, if your target will be waiting before deciding, then you should put your most compelling argument first because the primacy effect is more powerful in the long run.

Remember how it can be beneficial to include a small amount of negative information in your message? If you follow that advice, you should position that negative information in the middle of your sequence of arguments. Not only will that position still lead to the benefit of giving your message a more comprehensive appearance, but that negative information will then be more likely to fly under your target’s radar.

never position negative information or weak arguments first because of a potentially harmful principle known as the inoculation effect

You can enhance your perceived attractiveness by: (1) being in the general vicinity of someone more often and, (2) revealing any type of similarity that you might share with that person.

Generally, people using heuristic processing will be more persuaded if you include more information in your message because they blindly assume that your message contains more support

Whenever we view aesthetically pleasing stimuli, our brain experiences a rewarding sensation, and we often misattribute that pleasurable feeling to the underlying content of that message. Therefore, you should always spend time enhancing the aesthetics of a message, even if it seems irrelevant.

people use aesthetics as a heuristic for quality;

Whenever you present a message or make a request, you should almost always provide some sort of justification, even if it seems trivial. If people are using heuristic processing, they will mindlessly assume that your reason is valid,

you need to be careful about turning a social relationship into a market relationship.

In order to maintain healthy social relationships, you should refrain from giving your friends cash, and instead, offer them a gift if you want to thank or reward them. As Dan Ariely describes, “while gifts are financially inefficient, they are an important social lubricant [because] they help us make friends and create long-term relationships . . . Sometimes, it turns out, a waste of money can be worth a lot”

allowing your target to choose among multiple incentives will lead to an incentive that is more appealing to your target

allowing your targets to choose will satisfy their need for autonomy, an outcome that will spark more intrinsic motivation and, as a result, higher job satisfaction and performance levels.

their choice becomes a type of behavior that reinforces a congruent attitude that they genuinely want the incentive.

Whenever a freedom becomes limited, we react. Literally. It’s called psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966). When we perceive a particular freedom becoming restricted, we feel a natural tendency to maintain or recapture that freedom.

choice can become a detriment when there are too many options from which to choose.

paradox of choice can lead to two negative outcomes: (1) people are less satisfied with their decision, or (2) people avoid deciding altogether.

Research has even confirmed that adding category labels, even if they’re completely arbitrary, can make a list of options seem more appealing (a principle known as the mere categorization effect;

product contagion

If you present an unconditioned stimulus that elicits some type of affective/emotional state, you are essentially priming people to view a subsequent neutral stimulus through the lens of their new emotional mindset (hence the term “affective priming”). Accordingly, those emotional feelings can influence people’s perception and evaluation of that neutral stimulus.

If two stimuli become associated with each other, we can misattribute the feelings produced from one stimulus as stemming from the other stimulus. When we view humorous advertisements, for instance, we tend to misattribute the positive emotions that we experience from the humor as emerging from the product being advertised

Whenever we’re presented with a new concept, we can’t simply place that concept free-floating in our brain; in order to successfully integrate that new concept into our existing network of knowledge, we need to attach it to an already existing concept via some type of similarity or association.

Because “good” has become associated with people’s schema for “up,” you can enhance the appeal of your message by associating it with something in an up position.