The Small Big

Question 1

What leads people to make decisions ?

Answer 1

It is not information per se that leads people to make decisions, but the context in which that information is
presented.

Question 2

Why do people need shortcuts to make decisions ?

Answer 2

People just don’t have the capacity to fully consider every piece of information in their
1) time-scarce,
2) attention challenged,
busy lives

Question 3

Name impact

Answer 3

Nudge people to pay attention by using their first name; first name cues our attention (cocktail party phenomenon – from the background din of chatter, you notice when someone uses your name)

Given that a necessary part of any strategy is to get someone’s attention

Question 4

How to build relationships, partnerships and team work

Answer 4

Nudge people towards buying by focusing both on how they have similar traits to other buyers and that they are dissimilar to non-buyers (focus on uncommon commonalities)

when it comes to encouraging cooperation and partnership, focusing on shared identities becomes important

Identifying these uncommon commonalities—especially early in the process of relationship building— potentially fulfills people’s desire both to fit in and, yet, to stand out (in this case, from other competitive
groups) at the same time.

Question 5

How to become wiser with experience ?

Answer 5

Nudge people to spot marketing opportunities by pairing them with a fresh set of eyes (familiarity leads to opportunity-blindness)

one of the major benefits of developing longer-term relationships and arranging regular contact with people is that it seemingly becomes easier to predict their needs and preferences over time (though not always true)

• As time passes, motivation to know each other dwindles
• consider themselves committed by virtue of the extended time invested. Think that they know each other better than is actually the case and consequently become less likely to notice changes in attitudes and preferences, especially those that occur slowly or subtly.

Question 6

How can you persuade people to keep their appointments with you ?

Answer 6

Nudge people to buy by first securing an active (and public) pre-sales commitment (e.g. sign up for information – for instance missed appointments dropped by 25% when patients filled in an appointment card themselves)

Question 7

What can help your influence attempts to win over and over ?

Answer 7

Nudge people indirectly in small steps, by first encouraging them to engage (publicly if possible) in a low-cost activity consistent with buying, and then using further cues to trigger purchase.

Question 8

What can ensure that your influence attempts don’t backfire ?

Answer 8

Nudge people to buy ‘sinful/guilty’ products by providing them with a way to offset the guilt and ‘licence’ the behaviour (e.g. placing recycling bins in a room will encourage wasteful behaviour)

Question 9

What can persuade people to pay their taxes on time ?

Answer 9

Nudge people to buy/pay using social proof by telling them about the large number of people who have already bought/paid (UK tax authority HMRC used this to boost payment from late-payers from 57% to 86%)

Question 10

What can persuade people to go against the crowd ?

Answer 10

Nudge people to adopt a new product (go against the crowd/convention) using negative competitor-user imagery by pairing crowd/convention behaviour with unpopular/undesirable people/groups

Question 11

What change to make to way you frame a message can lead to Big Differences in outcomes ?

Answer 11

Nudge people to buy by talking about the costs or benefits of deviating from the norm (e.g. if buying is the/their norm, then highlight the costs of not buying (deviating from norm), but if buying is not the norm, highlight the benefits of buying (deviating from the norm)

Question 12

What can help to right a wrong ?

Answer 12

Nudge people to buy a new product (and thereby violate a social norm) using active social proof by showing others actively buying (or in the case of pro-social behaviour, if the social norm is to drop litter, show others picking up litter)

Question 13

What should you add to your recipe for employee productivity ?

Answer 13

Nudge people using stories that illustrate the positive ’significance’ of purchase on others – rather than personal benefit.

People feel more appreciated if they learn FIRSTHAND, of the difference they make to ppl’s lives. Significance and meaningfulness of their jobs - why their jobs are important

Question 14

What should you look to add when it comes to successfully making decisions ?

Answer 14

Step the team member , all else being equal, has the fewest connections with the personnel of the department for which you are negotiating. Lessor the connection, more objective the assessment.

$20 prize for $1 incremental bet. Second last player loses his/her bet (Escalation of Commitment) :
# Commitment & Consistency - small initial commitment escalates
# Not so much the desire to win but more potent need to avoid losing (from competition for scarce resource)

Question 15

What is the key to planning persuasion ?

Simply getting yes wont be enough if there is delay between agreeing to take action and point at which action is actually carried out

Answer 15

Nudge people to buy with ‘implementation intentions’ by getting them to predict purchase as likely – and encouraging them to specify the details (when, where etc)

Hearing yes from another person is just the starting point , rather than ending point for persuasion. To optimize likelihood that people will follow their intentions (look above)

Question 16

What can lock people in your persuasion attempts ?

Answer 16

Nudge people to buy with ‘future lock-in’ by inviting them to commit to buying in the future (e.g. subscriptions) [assuming it benefits them and ideally aligns with their personal values]

• Trying to convince people to do something they “should”, but do not necessarily “want” to do.
• People recognize they should change their behavior but they don’t feel like doing it “right now”
• People think about events that occur in “near future” (in concrete terms/costs) and events that occur in “distant future” (in abstract terms) quite differently
• Evaluate distant future in general terms incl how it relates to their values /morals & ideologies. More likely to do what they should rather what they want
• So once they say yes, they follow through on their commitment
• Sooner is always good. But sometimes, a little late is better than never

Question 17

What do you to owe it to yourself to act on ?

Answer 17

Nudge people to buy now because they owe it to their future selves (moral responsibility to one’s future self)

Obligation to future self condition. Show them a photo of what they likely will look in the future.

Any communicator challenged with changing the behaviours of someone who wont experience the benefit of those changes for a considerable time should not only point out the obligation they have to their future self but also illustrate what the future self will look like

Question 18

What can connect people to their goals ?

(People often need to re-engage with a previous goal they have set themselves eg everyday imp goals like saving a bit more, losing weight etc)

Answer 18

Nudge people to buy by framing the benefits of purchase as an “Attainable Challenge”. We are motivated by challenges, but only when we see them as attainable (5 a day fresh produce recommendation would work better if it was framed as a more attainable 4-6)

This ways goal achievement becomes sustained effort which is more imp than few days of high intensity effort

Has two components :
# sufficiently challenging which can lead to feeling of accomplishment
# Realistic possibility that it can be attained

Question 19

What can be used to make defaults (options) more effective ?

Answer 19

Nudge people to buy by first framing their options as a choice between two purchases, and then pointing out what they stand to lose if they don’t choose the option you want them to take (AKA ‘Enhanced Active Choice’)

# Our tendency towards inertia
# Defaults are passive commitments vs active commitment
# Loss Aversion : Strong tendency in people to want to avoid losing or missing out
# Second step is to enhance your preferred choice by pointing out what could be lost if it is not selected

Question 20

What can reduce people’s tendency to procrastinate ? (And yours too ?)

Answer 20

Nudge people with deadlines – an offer of just a few days will yield more purchases than a more flexible offer with a long expiry date

# Need to engage central motivation to act
# Spanish proverb : Tomorrow is always the busiest day
# Compare it with Parkinson's Law

Question 21

What can keep your customers hooked ?

Answer 21

Nudge people to stay waiting in line/on hold rather than quit using distraction techniques – like Disney queues, give them something entertaining to distract their attention and feeling they are wasting/losing time

# Core of Research  - Simple Intuition : Queue worth joining is a queue worth persisting in
# People hang up as result of pure impatience
# When ppl wait, they focus on alternate things they could have accomplished and view waiting time as "loss". Hence like to abandon to avoid further loss
# "Consistency" - pegs them to stay put
# Tension btw above two : People do worst of both - abandon in the middle
# Food for thought to self - stop loss or sunk cost concept ??

Question 22

What could turn your potential into reality ?

Answer 22

Nudge people to buy using ‘preference for potential’ – the way we find future potential to be more compelling and then follow it up with past track record of reality (people preferred a Facebook clip suggesting an artist could become the Next Big Thing, over the same clip suggesting the artist was currently The Next Big Thing’

# Potential captures attention more than reality (as it has happened and is completely certain) as it arouses more interest and hence greater attention
# First focus listener's attention on potential future benefits
# Then, Supporting info of reality (what has been delivered) is provided immediately after attention is focused on potential

Question 23

What could help you lead more productive meetings ?

Answer 23

4 Ways :

• Submit info before meeting (contributions less likely to be influenced by others)
• Person who leads the meeting also speaks last
• Checklist
• Seating Arrangment
• Circular - activates people’s need to belong. Helps focus on collective objectives (collaboration and co-operation)
• Angular (L Shaped) - activates people’s need for uniqueness. (if goal is getting attention on taking responsibility for more individual action )

# People who actually possessed info failed to alert the rest of the group to this new information.
# Goal : what can be done to ensure that information is offered freely and communicated effectively

Question 24

What could ensure you are dressed for success ?

Answer 24

Where and when appropriate, dress in style “similar” to that of person or group you wish to influence - but do so at “one level higher”

come across as

• trust worthy, credible communicator
• Friendly, likeable, approachable & influential

It influences behavior for one simple reason :
“No other information” existed about requester’s expertise. (so dressing up important in first 1-2 meetings)

# Authority is the principle that influences people, especially when they are uncertain, to follow advice and recommendations of those they perceive to have greater knowledge and trustworthiness 
# Similarities - one potential route to effective persuasion is by highlighting genuine commonalities

Question 25

What SMALL BIG when it comes to positioning your team as experts ?

Answer 25

• Make the expertise known early in the process
• Credentialize themselves and their colleagues before influence attempt is made

When someone receives expert advice, areas of brain linked to critical thinking and counter arguing flatlined.

• Consider ways to stimulate readers to talk positively to themselves about all aspects of your message
• How to avoid negative self talk - in form of counter arguments to your stated position

Best indication of how much change a communication will produce lies not in what the communication itself says but rather in what the recipient of the communication will likely say to himself as a result of receiving it
Self talk : internal cognitive responses that people engage in after being exposed to a message

Message clarity, structure, logic imp for comprehension

Question 26

What can empower an uncertain expert ?

Answer 26

Strong arguments by experts along with signalling small uncertainty are most compelling (especially for situations for which no clear answer exists)

Source’s expertise when he signals potential uncertainties ,

• arouses intrigue
• helps in building trust

in information loaded world, need decision making shortcuts provided by expert opinions

Question 27

What can prevent you from become the Weakest Link ?

Answer 27

# Position in array (in the middle)
# Information about its popularity (best selling / most popular)

When speaking or presenting as group, you could arrange for centrally located person to deliver statements you would like your audience to accept

Question 28

What can encourage more creative thinking ?

Answer 28

Ceiling height, influencing ppl to think

• more conceptually and creatively when ceiling is high
• Much more specific and constrained way when ceiling is low (more useful when agenda is not new ides but working on specific plan or action)

# remarkable influence environment and surroundings can have on our behaviour
# Not as result of direct request or appeal
# Feature of environment that primed an automatic and unconscious change in behaviour

Question 29

How can change in venue lead to Big difference in Negotiations ?

Answer 29

Negotiating “at home” increases one’s “confidence” in the negotiation whereas negotiating “away” decreases

Middle ground is neutral venue

Question 30

What can improve both your power and your persuasiveness ? (How to influence your own behaviour)

Answer 30

Small act of writing about feeling powerful

• consider and then write down times when you felt powerful
• To be done shortly before eg interview & not hours / days before

High power physical posture

• expansiveness - amt of space one’s body takes up
• openness - whether limbs tend to be open or closed

Question 31

Why might love be the only SMALL BIG you need ?

Answer 31

Accompany your influence attempt with a single cue that acts as a signal for love

# love has both connecting and healing qualities
# donating = loving, heart shaped plate at diner, heart shaped tags at charity

Question 32

What can help you find the perfect gift ?

Answer 32

Find ways to identify gifts people will truly appreciate

Recipients were clearly much happier and more appreciative when they received something that they had previously said they would like.

eg : taking client to new lunch place they mentioned couple of tiimes

Question 33

What SMALL BIG can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE ?

Answer 33

Peak End effect. Likely influenced by two things :

• Peak moment of intensity you felt during the experience
• Final moments of the experience

# Duration neglect - tend to pay less attention to how long the experience lasted
# Memories of our experience are etched into our minds with extremity and recency
# Focusing attention on way interaction ends can have an incredible influence on outcomes
# eg. amplify the high points (minimise low points) and enrich the very last thing that happens
# Fab memories of next vacation - big chunk of budget on two amazing experiences including one at the end.