Influence, New and Expanded

A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor, we will be more successful if we provide a reason.

There is a principle in human perception, the contrast principle, which affects the way we see the difference between two things that are presented one after another. If the second item is fairly different from the first, we tend to see it as being more different than it actually is.

Perceptual contrast—the tendency to see two things that are different from one another as being more different than they actually are—is

The rule says that we should try to repay what another person has provided us.

Suppose you want me to agree to a certain request. One way to increase the chances I will comply is first to make a larger request of me, one that I will most likely turn down. Then, after I have refused, you make the smaller request that you were really interested in all along. Provided that you structured your requests skillfully, I should view your second request as a concession to me and should feel inclined to respond with a concession of my own—compliance with your second request.

There seems to be a click, run response to attractive individuals. Like all such reactions, it happens automatically, without forethought. The response itself falls into a category that social scientists call halo effects. A halo effect occurs when one positive characteristic of a person dominates the way he or she is viewed in most other respects. The evidence is now clear that physical attractiveness is often such a characteristic.

Several studies have demonstrated that we are more likely to help those who wear clothing akin to ours.

Another way requesters can manipulate similarity to increase liking and compliance is to claim that they have interests similar to ours.

The information that someone fancies us can be a bewitchingly effective means for producing return liking and willing compliance. Therefore, when people flatter or claim affinity for us, they may well want something. If so, they’ll likely get it.

There is a natural human tendency to dislike a person who brings us unpleasant information, even when that person did not cause the bad news.

The linking of celebrities to products is another way advertisers cash in on the association principle.

The important thing for the advertiser is to establish the connection; it doesn’t have to be a logical one, just a positive one.

The strategy I am suggesting borrows much from the jujitsu style favored by compliance professionals themselves. We don’t attempt to restrain the influence of the factors that cause liking. Quite the contrary. We allow those factors to exert their force, and then we use that force in our campaign against those who would profit by them. The stronger the force, the more conspicuous it becomes and the more subject to our alerted defenses.

The principle of social proof. This principle states that we determine what is correct by finding out what other people think is correct.

In general, when we are unsure of ourselves, when the situation is unclear or ambiguous, when uncertainty reigns, we are most likely to accept the actions of others—because those actions reduce our uncertainty about what is correct behavior there.

Following the advice or behaviors of the majority of those around us is often seen as a shortcut to good decision-making. We use the actions of others as a way to locate and validate a correct choice.

If we see a lot of other people doing something, it doesn’t just mean it’s probably a good idea. It also means we could probably do it too.