How can you change someone’s mind? And how are you swayed by others? Persuasion refers to the influence people have on one another—changing someone’s beliefs, decisions, or actions through reasoning or request.
The Principles of Persuasion
The cornerstone of the psychology of persuasion is a set of six principles delineated by pioneering researcher Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus at Arizona State University. People are often faced with an overwhelming amount of information when making a decision, so they end up relying on intuitive concepts. Studies by Cialdini and others have revealed how six principles—reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, and consensus—are surprisingly universal.
The psychologist Robert Cialdini developed six principles of persuasion which have been used in business schools as well as in boardrooms. They are:
• Reciprocity: People feel the need to give back to someone who provided a product, service, or information.
• Scarcity: People want items that they believe are in short supply.
• Authority: People are swayed by a credible expert on a particular topic.
• Consistency: People strive to be consistent in their beliefs and behaviors.
Persuasion in Marketing
Psychology has provided insight into why consumers choose the products they do and how companies try to encourage their purchases. From catchy advertisements and limited-time offers to examining customers’ habits online, marketers leverage a litany of tactics to persuade potential customers.
Companies often leverage the principles of persuasion—reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, and consensus—when communicating with customers. They also focus on the moment before delivering a message, what researcher Robert Cialdini calls pre-suasion. What the person sees, hears, or feels before getting a message about a product or service can influence how they receive it, and companies can aim to make sure their audience is primed correctly.
Companies can now identify precise target audiences with whom to test their ideas. They can test for biases, heuristics , and cultural relevance to gain insights. This can occur early in the process too, before launching an official campaign. Digital products can help turn products or services into habits, such as through a recurring purchase or smart device. Messages that evoke emotion , whether awe , humor , or anger, also make the user experience more salient and persuasive, as is also the case offline.
Marketers need to find a balance between advertising a product’s strengths and overpromising what it can deliver. Some research has found that the optimal number of claims to make about a product is three. For example, an advertisement could claim that a shampoo makes hair cleaner, stronger and fuller—but the advertisement shouldn’t lengthen that list to include softer, shinier, and other attributes as well. Attaching more than three promises to a product may make consumers more skeptical.
Persuasion in Politics
Politics is inherently a process of persuasion. From a candidate’s journey to secure votes from their constituents, to passing new legislation, to public demonstrations for federal action, politics illustrates exactly how influence can lead to change.
Research on how voters respond to political messaging has revealed three basic principles. The first is for politicians to know what brain network they’re activating—the words used should evoke associations to a voter’s values or loved ones (e.g. “People who’ve lost their jobs” instead of “the unemployed”). The second is to speak directly to voters’ emotions. Messages that tap into hope, satisfaction, pride, and enthusiasm, on the one hand, and fear , anxiety , anger, and disgust on the other, move people to vote. The third is to tell a coherent memorable story rather than state a policy platform; the brain is wired to understand, remember, and pass along information presented as narrative.
Whether a foreign operative, marketer, or troll, anyone today can manipulate others into believing and latching onto what they want by disseminating misinformation. But the human mind, scientists contend, is built for belief. When you picture or hear of something, you assume it's true. Our ancestors evolved in an environment too dangerous to question themselves every time they thought they saw a lion or second-guess every story from a tribe member. Credence and impressionability, and the folding of hearsay and conviction into memory networks , are not flaws—they're efficiencies in building a cohesive cosmology. But they leave us vulnerable to predatory rumormongers.
Communities need their members to act in a civic-minded fashion—to obey traffic laws, to donate blood, to recycle or conserve water and energy—but when too few individuals are willing to take such actions on their own, policy makers may try to craft incentives to raise participation. Yet research suggests that economic incentives often fail to achieve community goals.
Successful policies may combine economic and psychological interventions. For example, in 2002 the Irish government imposed a small tax on the use of plastic shopping bags at grocery stores, with all proceeds going to the environmental ministry. The result was a near-complete elimination of plastic grocery bag use in a matter of weeks, as consumers began to carry reusable cloth bags. The success is likely due to the unavoidable tax and the fact that using plastic bags became a social-norm violation; people wanted to maintain a good reputation.
Cultural change has been driven by different forms of protest over the years. Should activists today seek to be as peaceful and moderate as possible in order to win greater support? Or are outbursts of aggression sometimes necessary in order to generate pressure for change? Research suggests that a combination of these approaches may garner the most support. Protests that are both nonviolent and nonnormative (outside the bounds of normal behavior)—such as boycotting, striking, sit-ins, or refusing to pay fines or taxes—create pressure for change while maintaining broad public support.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is persuasion?
How can you change someone’s mind? And how are you swayed by others? Persuasion refers to the influence people have on one another—changing someone’s beliefs, decisions, or actions through reasoning or request.
Is persuasion a serious condition?
Persuasion exists on a spectrum. While mild forms are a normal part of life, persistent or severe persuasion can significantly impact daily functioning and quality of life. It's important to seek professional support if persuasion is interfering with work, relationships, or wellbeing.
Learn More
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