Persuasion Triggers - Commitment and Consistency, Authority and Scarcity

Commitment and Consistency. People are more likely to embrace a proposal if they've made a voluntary, public, and written commitment to doing so. For example, 92 percent of residents of an apartment complex who signed a petition supporting a new recreation center later donated money to the cause.

To activate the commitment and consistency trigger, make others' commitments voluntary, public, and documented. Suppose for instance, that you want to persuade an employee to submit reports on time. To inspire this behavior, make a link between the commitment and the person's values (mention its benefits for team spirit). Get that understanding in writing (a memo). And make the commitment public (mention your colleagues agreement with the memo).

Authority. Many people are trained form childhood to automatically obey the requests of authority figures such as parent, doctors, and police. Authority comes from a combination of a position and its associated credentials. For example, your authority as a manager in a drug company will be enhanced if you possess medical as well as business qualifications.

Appropriate clothes or other trappings of authority can also increase the chances of successful persuasion. A businessperson who "power dresses" for an important presentation improves the odds that the pitch will be successful.

To activate the authority trigger, make sure that the people you want to persuade are aware of the source of your authority. Also leverage appropriate clothing and other trappings of authority.

Scarcity. When something is in scarce supply--such as information, opportunities, and resources--people value it more. For instance, in one experiment, wholesale beef buyers were told that they were the only ones who had received information on a possible beef shortage. The orders jumped 600 percent.

To activate the scarcity trigger, use exclusive information to persuade. For example, capture key decision makers' attention by saying something like, "I just got this information today. It won't be distributed until next week."

Be sure that the information is truly exclusive; otherwise it could hinder your credibility.

ACTION POINT: Recognize when to use commitment, authority or scarcity to assist in persuading others.