Influence 6: Cost of Bonus Gift

When consumers are offered a bonus gift for purchasing a product (target product), the perceived value and desirability of the bonus gift as a standalone product can sharply decline. To ensure that your offer is seen as the valuable proposition it actually is, the customer needs to be shown the true value of your offer.

Example:

Received a RM250 security program at no cost to you. (I/O received a free security program)

Influence 5: Limit Choice

When too many options are made available, consumers often find the decision making process frustrating, due to burden of having to differentiate options from one another to make best decision.

When only two funds were offered, participation rate 75%. But when 95 funds were offered, participation rate 60%.

Influence 4: Appreciation

People who deviate from the average tend to be drawn to the average. They change their actions to be more in line with the norm regardless of whether they were previosly behaving in a socially desirable/ undesirable way. We should convey our approval/ appreciation of those already acting in socially desirable way.

Internal report becomes public and state average late is 5.3%. Those who arrive late will adjust their behaviour. Praised those who come on-time and made clear how puntuality is appreciated.

Persuasion 3: Positive Behaviour

Focusing the audience on people who engage in positive behaviour.


Attendance at your monthly meeting has gone done. You could not only express your disapproval for that behaviour, but also highlight those large number who turn up. Because people tend to follow the most popular course of action

Persuasion 2: Follow Other People Behaviour

People are motivated to follow other people behaviour that most closely matched our own environment, situation/ circumstances.

When at public library, you follow the norms, quietly browsing through the fiction.

The more similar the person giving the testimonial is to the new target audience, the more persuasive the message becomes.

Persuasion 1: Social Proof

When people are uncertain about a course of action, they tend to look outside themselves and to other people around them to guide their decisions/ actions.

A man gazed skyward for 60 seconds but most people simply walked around the main without even flancing to see what he was looking at. However, when 4 men gazed, the number of passerby who joined them more than quadrupled.

Feature testimonials from satisfied customer when presenting to new potential clients who may need assurance about benefits your organization can provide

Technique 23: The Latest News

The last move to make before leaving for the party - even after you've given yourself final approval in the mirror - is to turn on the radio news/ scan your newspaper. Anything that happened today is good material. Knowing the big deal news of the moment is also a defensive move that rescues you from putting your foot in your mouth by asking what everybody's talking about.

In Sidney's company, all her female independent contractors were directed to keep up with the daily n ews so they could be good conversationalist with their clients. Feedback from her employees had revealed that 60% of her girls' work hour was spend in chatting and only 40% in satisfying the customers' needs. Thus, she instructed them to read the daily newspaper/ listen to a radio broadcast before leaving for an appointment. When initiated this rule, her business increased significantly. Reports came back from her clients complimenting her on the fascinating women she had working for her.