LEcture 2 and 3: Psychology of Sales- Alpha Strategies

Question 1

social influence

Answer 1

Direct, coordinate, and influence others

Question 2

history of social influence and rhetorics

Answer 2

• Cicero and Quintilian followed
Aristoteles
• Rhetoric was taught in nearly
every university, but focused on
style and beauty of speech
• Focus on art of persuasion was revived in 1900’s but was
unstructured and observational
• Propaganda studies

Question 3

What are Cialdini’s 6 principles

Answer 3

1. Reciprocity
2. Scarcity
3. Authority
4. Consistency
5. Liking
6. Consensus (Social Proof)

Question 4

Reciprocity

Answer 4

people feel obliged to give back to someone who has given them something first

Question 5

scarcity

Answer 5

want what we can’t have/think is rare

Question 6

authority

Answer 6

trust people who are credible in that field (experts)

ex. dentist on toothpaste

Question 7

consistency

Answer 7

people like to do things that are consistent with what they have previously said or done
*want to persuade people to make a commitment, then will be more likely to buy it

Question 8

liking

Answer 8

people will be more likely to say yes to people they like

*sales people try to make you like them

Question 9

consensus

Answer 9

look to action/behaviour of others to decide for themselves

*especially in unfamiliar situations

Question 10

what are alpha strategies of persuasion

Answer 10

try to increase the attractive features of an alternative

most common

Question 11

what are omega strategies of persuasion

Answer 11

attempt to decrease negative features of an alternative

–> focus on reducing customer reactance

Question 12

landscaping tactics

Answer 12

pre-persuasion

Structuring the situation in
such a way that the target is receptive and responds in a desired manner

Question 13

valence framing (L)

Answer 13

• People seek to avoid losses
• Losses are more painful than gains are pleasurable.
• Framing issues in terms of losses (vs. gains)
generates motivation to avoid the loss.
• Sub-forms:
• Attribute framing
• Goal framing

Question 14

decoys (L)

Answer 14

• Inferior option that no-one would choose

* Makes other products in a choice-set appear more superior

Question 15

storytelling (L)

Answer 15

• Story = narrative that provides causal structure to facts and evidence
• Narrative transportation (being engaged in the story)
• Increases persuasion efficacy

Question 16

phantoms (L)

Answer 16

–> WANT TO AVOID
• Choice option that looks real but is for some
reason unavailable at the time a decision is made.
• Decreases evaluation of other products
• Alters relative importance of decision criteria
• Reference point for decision making

Question 17

agenda setting (L)

Answer 17

• placing issues on an agenda
• -> makes them appear important/true
• -> limits information on other issues
  ex. Donald Trump tweet about mail-in ballots being fraudulent

Question 18

Source credibility

Answer 18

• authority and trustworthiness

- we learn from a young age that we should listen to authorities

Question 19

question to consider about sources

Answer 19

how can we achieve that others perceive us as credible source?

Question 20

what is the first thing we evaluate when meeting someone new?

Answer 20

whether they are trustworthy

Question 21

fleeting attraction

Answer 21

• Feelings of similarity between a messenger and their target increases compliance

Liking someone is the #1 predictor for complying with another’s request
• Liking heuristic
• Fundamental human rule

Question 22

social consensus

Answer 22

“social proof”

• bandwagon effects
• if many people think it’s good, I’ll think it’s good too

Question 23

altercasting

Answer 23

Casting people into a social
role makes them behave in
ways expected by this role

Question 24

what are the two types of altercasting

Answer 24

1. manded

2. tact

Question 25

manded altercasting

Answer 25

person is placed in a social role position orally or textually.

Question 26

Tact altercasting:

Answer 26

often created with suggestive imagery to have someone take on a role spontaneously and voluntarily

Question 27

anthropomorphism

Answer 27

• When a brand or product is seen as human-like, people will like it more and feel closer to it • Natural human tendency to anthropomorphise.

Question 28

astroturfing

Answer 28

* Fake social proof (consensus) is used to create an impression of popular support. * Don’t do this! Ever!

Question 29

effective message tactics

Answer 29

• Tactics in which an influence agent organises, provides, and/or induces the target to generate arguments and reasons for a given course of action. * Message characteristics. * Aim to increase effectiveness of a message

Question 30

Self (Generated) Persuasion

Answer 30

- letting people persuade themselves - often via open-ended questions - particularly effective for highly involved consumers - results in persistence of attitude change

Question 31

fluency

Answer 31

``` • A message should always be experienced fluently and with ease • Human brains don’t like complexity • Smooth and automatic processing leads to experiencing positive feelings ```

Question 32

rhetorical questions

Answer 32

* Question to provoke thought * Not meant to be answered * Motivate more intensive processing of message * Increase in persuasion when message is strong * Decrease in persuasion when message is weak

Question 33

pique technique (disrupt-then-reframe)

Answer 33

• Disrupting attention gives advertisers an opportunity to reframe and resell and already dismissed proposal --> disrupting momentarily disables critical thinking • Introduction of an unexpected element to attract attention

Question 34

negativity effect

Answer 34

* Humans have a negativity bias | * Negative information receives more attention and weight

Question 35

legitimising paltry contributions

Answer 35

• “Even a penny will help” -->Legitimising a minimal level of compliance • Removing objections to comply • Eliminates reasons to not comply • Make target look “cheap” if they don’t comply

Question 36

primacy and recency effects

Answer 36

• Placing a message at the start or end of a block of information increases: • Memory retention • Persuadability of the message • Information presented first only competes with the information that follows (retroactive inhibition) • Information presented last only competes with the information presented before it (proactive inhibition) • Information in the middle competes with both in order to be retained. • Reason why the first and last ad in a TV commercial block are often most expensive *if people will pay attention, primacy is more effective, if not, recency more effective

Question 37

what are some effective message tactics

Answer 37

- Self (Generated) Persuasion - fluency - rhetorical questions - pique technique (disrupt-then-reframe) - negativity effect - legitimising paltry contributions - primacy and recency effects

Question 38

emotional tactics

Answer 38

``` • Make use of the target’s subjective feelings, affect, arousal, emotions, and tension states • Tactics are designed to control emotions ```

Question 39

what is the simple rule of emotional tactics

Answer 39

• Simple rule: 1. Arouse emotion 2.Offer the target a way of responding to that emotion

Question 40

fear appeals

Answer 40

• Tactic that links undesired action with negative consequences or a desired action with the avoidance of a negative outcome • Successful behaviour change requires high fear/arousal, high threat, and high efficacy. • Perceived threat: the issue needs to be presented in a way that makes people think it is a real and serious threat to them or their loved ones – the “that could be me” response • Perceived efficacy: the ad needs to provide an action plan or solution to motivate people into action rather than paralysis – the “I can do something about it” response

Question 41

guilt sells

Answer 41

* Inducing feeling responsible for some wrongdoing * Increased guilt leads to compliance Why? • Guilt induces desire to make restitution and to repair the selfimage

Question 42

flattery

Answer 42

* We like those that flatter us | * People are more likely to comply with a request by someone that flatters them

Question 43

door-in-the-face

Answer 43

• A large request followed by a small one increases the chance of compliant behaviour • Efficacy depends on first rejection of unreasonably large request • Target must feel that their “no” is a real rejection • Second request is seen as a compromise offered by requester

Question 44

Foot-in-the-Door

Answer 44

``` • Beginning with a small request paves the way for compliance to a bigger request • Second request needs to be in line with first request • Case of commitment and consistency ```

Question 45

That’s-Not-All Technique

Answer 45

• Spontaneously offering a discount or offering free extras before the sales pitch is even over • Feels like seller makes a concession for you --> Principle of reciprocity **People have to believe that the initial deal would sell for that sum

Question 46

commitment trap

Answer 46

• Making use of the principle of Commitment & Consistency ``` Commitments are strongest when behaviour is: • Visible • Irreversible • Perceived to be freely chosen ```

Question 47

low-balling

Answer 47

``` • Pitching and attractive offer and consequently increasing the price • Targets makes commitment to initial (better) offer • Earlier commitment increases chance of compliance with new offer • Related to foot-in-the-door ```

Question 48

self-efficacy

Answer 48

* “the judgement of how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations” * Increasing self-efficacy increases compliance for behaviour change --> theory of planned behaviour

Question 49

self-threat

Answer 49

• When many members of a society (are made to) feel threatened: = ``` • Fertile ground for persuasion (propaganda) • Self-threat induces state of social dependency • Desire to re-establish positive aspects of the self ```

Question 50

emotional see-saw

Answer 50

* Eliciting a high arousal emotion and then withdrawing it rapidly * Results in higher likelihood of compliance • Emotions evoke specific plans of action • Plan not operative anymore if emotion withdrawn --> Request can fill that void

Question 51

what are some emotional appeals

Answer 51

1. fear appeals 2. guilt sells 3. flattery 4. door-in-the-face 5. foot-in-the-door 6, that's-not-all technique 7. commitment trap 8. low-balling 9. self-efficacy 10. self-threat 11. emotional see-saw