60% compliance 94% compliance 93% compliance The copier request study “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine?” 60% compliance “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because I’m late to class?” 94% compliance “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make some copies?” 93% compliance

Which Group reported liking the task more? Participants complete Dissonance Tasks Group 1 Paid only $1 Paid $20 Group 2 Question: Which Group reported liking the task more? Participants complete a boring task

Persuasion Strategies: “Foot-in-the-Door” & “Door-in-the-Face” FITD: First request accepted, then target request Start with small favor Responder identifies with first condition & more likely to respond to second self-oriented appeal and performance incentives kill FITD Longer lasting DITF: First request refused, then target request Start with large favor to be rejected Second favor small, likely to compromise & be polite Delay and self-oriented appeal kills DITF Easier to do

The Persuasion Pitch Attention Getting Ad, promo, announcement physical, emotional, cognitive attention-getters Confidence Building (credibility & trust) expertise (authority figures) sincerity (smiles, gestures) benevolence (brand names, associations) Desire (need for change or product) praise the product (quality, efficiency, etc.) promise audience benefits (needs) Urgency (act quickly) elicit emotional response to rush without thinking deadlines, emergencies, sales Action (desired behavior) trigger words (“vote,” “buy,” “now!” etc.) devices: coupons, contests, sweepstakes, 800 #

Persuasion Tactics Reciprocation: Give & Take, gifts & prizes, free, samplers Commitment & consistency: careful decision & justify, bait & switch, FITD, 30-day trial period Comparison & contrast: everyone else does it, canned laughter, salting collection plate, audience ringers, presigned contributors, testimonials, my idea is better because… Likeability: attractiveness, similarity, compliment, nice, Tupperware parties, Mary Kay cosmetics, celebrities Authority: title, office, uniform, expert, degree, “I’m no doctor but I play one on TV…,” doctors agree… Card stacking: one-sided information, list, testimonials Scarcity: limited quantity makes it valuable, limited time only, first come first served Demonstration: See how easy, you can do it too, look how nice

Strongly Hostile Weakly Hostile No Opinion Audience Tactics they care about topic if you fail they will actively work against you scale back goal (won’t convince them) approach indirectly; don’t give away reasoning— make them think along with you Strongly Hostile adversely convinced but not actuated build appeal on logic appear objective Weakly Hostile Uninformed: time to inform, scale back goal Consciously neutral: self-restraint, use logic Apathetic: arouse feelings, provide support No Opinion because they know they may become bored may become insulted with basics persuade to follow specific course of action convince of the practicality of the action Favorable

Providing Argument & Evidence Reasoning Avoid generalizing about what everyone knows have prepared examples, statistics, quotes sequence argument logically use sources that are credible to audience Emotion use language that arouses emotion focus emotional appeals on major points use vivid descriptions & explanations build credibility deliver evidence in a confident, convincing manner