Pre-suasion - Book Excerpts & Review

Pre-suasion

Robert Cialdini

In the wonderful book ‘Pre-suasion, Robert Cialdini reveals that the best persuaders succeed not only because of what they say or how they say it, but because of what they do in the moment before they speak. Based on a series of compelling case studies and a profound understanding of human psychology Cialdini offers a ground-breaking work that is both fascinating and brilliantly practical.

Learn the secret of how to influence others.

Marketers are often able to make us want a product when we’re unhappy, by linking a pleasurable feeling with it. The ability of marketers to influence our mood for their own benefit is known as pre-suasion – but this technique can be used by anyone.

By taking advantage of human tendency, certain questions can elicit desired answers and influence decisions. Questions like, whether you feel unhappy or happy, are often part of the positive test strategy. They’re designed to take advantage of our natural tendency to focus on what is present, rather than what is missing.

We look for hits, not misses. The question, “Are you unhappy?” prompts us to search for the presence of unhappiness, not the lack of unhappiness. Cult recruiters, telemarketers, pollsters and salespeople often take advantage of this human tendency.

When a question like this is asked, it’s to influence how someone pictures themselves before asking them to make a decision. This is why they’re called “pre-suasive” questions. These questions are a good tool for marketers, as they can subtly influence whether or not potential customers will make a purchase.

We give relevance to what catches our attention, so be cautious of intentionally appealing things.

We give relevance to the things that catch our attention – it means our response will differ depending on what’s going on around us when we’re asked something. The difference is often the increased media attention in the days before the event, which can affect our responses before or after certain events.

To be fully aware, it’s important to ask why our attention is being drawn to something. A successful pre-suader will try to divert our attention, to make their product, service, or concept seem more appealing and beneficial to us.

We overestimate the influence of things that are apparent while ignoring less obvious influencers. What causes people to do the things they do? Any competent pre-suader could tell you, the real motivations behind our actions are often less obvious than we think.

Classical economics tells us that the primary motivation for human behavior is financial self-interest. But human beings aren’t that simple. There are less obvious factors we must consider when we look at our behaviour and motivations. Money is easy to point to because it is tangible, but it’s not the most important aspect. Likewise, just because something is less apparent, doesn't mean its influence on our motivations is less important.

Our sense of moral and social obligation can easily be overshadowed by money, since, unlike cash, these feelings aren’t tangible. Anyone can take advantage of this human tendency to privilege the apparent over the less apparent.

CEOs, whether intentionally or not, do it all the time. They are the visible face of the company, and thus get the credit for the business’ success, even though the less visible workers are doing the more hard work.

Our decisions are influenced by word choice – a fact that certain people exploit.

You should never underestimate the power of carefully chosen words; they can get you to do things. A successful pre-suader is keenly aware of each word they use and the mental associations those words will trigger in their interlocutor.

Most of us think of language as being a way to convey an idea. But the another important use is; influencing people. A study by psycholinguist GünSemin concludes that the primary purpose of speech is to direct the attention of listeners to certain aspects of reality. To influence the reactions of others, we have to carefully consider what words we use and how they’ll connect with the listener. Mere exposure to certain words can severely affect people’s decisions.

When it comes to pre-suasion, both our external and internal geographies play a part. Our environment or external geography prompts associations in our mind, meaning it can also be used to pre-suade yourself or your employees.

For example, incentive programs that reward employees for reaching certain goals, evokes a constant association that keep the employees’ minds focused on the business at hand.

Along with our external geography, there’s also internal geography that can be used to influence performance. Our internal geography includes our attitude, expectations, prejudices and memories, all of which have both happy and sad components. And just as we can direct our own attention to a happy or sad memory, we can direct the attention of others toward or away from them as well.

There are many ways to manipulate the environment and a person’s thoughts in order to get a desired result, but we need to ask the big question before trying.

Ruchika Verma

Reviews

"A fascinating, fluent and original book from one of the giants of behavioural science."

Tim Harford

"It's a book that is guaranteed to be a bestseller among marketeers, but it should also be a must-read for any professional or consumer - in other words, all of us."

David Halpern

"The great social psychologist Robert Cialdini has written another timeless and indispensable book about the psychology of influence. I'll be recommending it for years and years."

Amy Cuddy

"An utterly fascinating read on how the most important drivers of persuasion aren't the words we choose in the moment, but how we set the stage beforehand. Robert Cialdini is the world's foremost expert on influence, and you will never look at it the same way again."

Adam Grant

"No social psychologist's research has been used more often or successfully than that of Robert Cialdini, who literally "wrote the book" on influence. Now, he's done it again, showing us the power of the moment before an attempt to persuade. This is classic Cialdini - authoritative, original, and immediately practical."

Richard H. Thaler

You can purchase this awesome book from Amazon