Scarcity is a powerful motivator because people want what they can't have. Loss aversion drives action more than the prospects of gaining something. FOMO, or fear of missing out, is a major part of why scarcity works. Companies can manufacture scarcity to drive action. In addition to scarcity, there are six other principles of persuasion: reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and unity. Unity is the newest principle and it works by showing people that you share their important personal or social identity. This creates a sense of belonging and makes people more likely to say yes to you.
Want to change someone’s mind? First, explains Robert Cialdini, you have to change their framing.
For Cialdini, the Regent's Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, persuasion begins before we even deliver our pitch or presentation. Through what he calls “pre-suasion,” communicators can prime audiences to receive messages in a specific way, simply by drawing their attention in specific directions.
“It involves focusing people on—putting them in mind of—those motivators before they encounter [them] in the communicator’s message,” Cialdini says, “bringing people’s focus of attention onto something that is nested in the message…before that message is delivered, so they have been readied for the concept.”
In this episode, Matt Abrahams and Cialdini talk about the motivating power of FOMO, getting better advice from others, and how your next wine purchase could be influenced by what music is playing in the shop.
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