1. Persuasive Communications
How little interventions can create wide ranging impact
Aniisu K Verghese
www.intraskope.com
www.intraskope.wordpress.com
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2. Let us look at some scenarios?

3. What can explain the rush for telegrams?
Last-minute rush as India stops telegram service after 162 years

4. Why are images of Gods used to prevent
people from urinating in public?

5. Why do recruiters look at your
Linkedin profile or for endorsements?

6. Why do we believe such
endorsements?

7. Why is there a Like button on
Facebook posts?

8. Six Universal Principles of Social Influence
• Reciprocation (we feel obligated to return favors performed for us)
• Authority (we look to experts to show us the way)
• Commitment/Consistency (we want to act consistently with our
commitments and values)
• Scarcity (the less available the resources, the more we want it)
• Liking (the more we like people, the more we want to say yes to
them)
• Social proof (we look to what others do to guide our behavior)
Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J
Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

9. The Infomercial: Which one will motivate
you to call in?
Operators are waiting. Please
call now.
If operators are busy, please call
again
The principle of social proof

10. If you don’t hear from us, don’t despair.
- Google Glass
“Thank you so much to everyone who
applied to be a Glass Explorer. We have
been overwhelmed, entertained and
inspired by your responses.
#ifihadglass is now closed and we will
be notifying successful applicants soon.
If you don’t hear from us, don’t
despair! There will be more chances to
get Glass at a later date.
If you would like to stay informed about
Glass, you can sign up here.”
Scarcity factor

11. Hotel towel re-use case: which message
got the best response?
• "Help the hotel save
energy"
• "Help save the
environment"
• "Partner with us to help
save the environment"
• "Help save resources for
future generations"
• "Join your fellow citizens
in helping to save the
environment"
• Why?
http://www.apa.org/research/action/shaping.aspx
The principle of social proof

12. The car wash case
http://theleanthinker.com/2011/09/04/switch-how-to-change-things-when-change-is-hard/
How to help people overcome fear of change

13. Connect on an individual level for better impact
• Food shortages in Malawi are affecting
more than 3 million children
• In Zambia, severe rainfall deficits
resulted in a 42% drop in maize
production from 2000. As a result, an
estimated 3 million Zambians face
hunger
• Four million Angolans – 1/3rd of
population have been forced to flee
their homes
• More than 11 million people in Ethiopia
need immediate food assistance
USD 1.14
When primed with statistical data (calculations) people
got into an ‘analytical’ frame of mind and less charitable.
Any money that you donate will go to Rokia, a
seven-year-old girl from Mali, Africa. Rokia is
desperately poor and faces the threat of severe
hunger or even starvation.
Her life will be changed for the better as a result of
your financial gift. With your support, and the
support of other caring sponsors, Save the Children
will work with Rokia’s family and other members of
the community to help feed and educate her and
provide basic medical care and hygiene education.
USD 2.38
When primed to ‘feel’ (words like ‘baby’) they gave
more.
Source: Made to Stick. Chip and Dan Heath (2008). Arrow Books
“If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will” – Mother Theresa

14. The labeling technique
• “There is a lot of good in you”
• “We trust that you will adhere to the policy”
• “We believe your behavior is consistent with our values”
• Election case: assigning a belief, trait, attitude to the person
and then making a request that is consistent with that label
• Those labeled and requested were 15% more likely to align to
the ask
• Should be used only ethically – ONLY when the label is
actually consistent with the person
Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin
and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

15. Repetition can increase trust
• When people were exposed to messages that
weren’t qualified as true or false for at least 3 times
they tended to believe in them.
• “zip fasteners were invented in Norway”
‘Decisive’ – Chip and Dan Heath (2013)

16. 1 in 7 communication redundant. Those
repeated often in different medium
enhanced effectiveness
• Study by Tsedal Neeley (Harvard Business School) and Paul Leonard
(Northwestern University) who followed 13 managers in 6 companies for
over 2500 hours
• What they discovered: Instead of being wasteful repetition ENHANCED
effectiveness of what managers said. It DID NOT increase productivity but
DECREASED time to get the job done and REDUCED blow-ups and managers
working in CRISIS mode.
• So what: Clarity of communication isn’t the only important thing. To
communicate urgency and to stay on top of mind, don’t hesitate to repeat
yourself.
Source: ‘As Many Times as it Takes’, The Economic Times on Sunday, March 25-31, 2012. Available at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/et-sunday-magazine/between-the-lines-as-many-times-as-it-
takes/articleshow/12394271.cms (downloaded on April 4, 2012)

17. Make people write it down to commit!
• Case: college students volunteers for an AIDS education project.
• Of those who actively filled their form 49% showed up as compared to
those who passively agreed to participate
• People make judgments about themselves based on observations of
their own behaviors, and infer more about themselves from their own
actions than non-actions
Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of
Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin
and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

18. Convincing ‘because’
Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein,
Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

19. Foot in the door technique
• Case: large road safety sign in front of homes – Drive
Carefully.
• Just before a small request followed for a smaller
sign – Be a Safe Driver
• Impact: 76% increase in sign-ups
Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of
Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin
and Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

20. How a simple checklist reduced infection
rate from 11% to zero and saved USD 2
million
Case – John Hopkins Hospital – Peter Pronovost tried out a doctor checklist
1. Wash their hands with soap
2. Clean the patient’s skin with chlorohexidine antiseptic
3. Put sterile drapes over the entire patient
4. Wear a mask, hat, sterile gown and gloves
5. Put sterile dressing over the insertion site once line is in
• Got nurses empowered to challenge/call out to doctors if they skipped a
step
• Ten day line infection rate went from 11% to zero.
Source: Checklist Manifesto - Getting things done right. Atul Gawande, Penguin (2009).

21. Use checklists for communications
• Help with memory recall
• Clearly identify the minimum steps necessary in a process
• Establish a higher standard of baseline performance
Are used in medicine (safe surgery checklist), aircraft flying, building
construction, restaurants, music groups, disaster management
“It is boring stuff” – meant for nurses not for doctors!
Source: Checklist Manifesto - Getting things done right. Atul Gawande, Penguin
(2009).

22. Hold a mirror for compliance!
• People cheated less when they
saw themselves in the mirror
before doing a task
• A group asked to remember the
10 Commandments were less
prone to theft than those who
were asked to
Cited in Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of
Persuasion, Noah J Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and
Robert B. Cialdini (2007)

23. The framing effect: How you say
matters as much as what you say.
Scenario: You are an executive, and a group of 600 people have become
infected by a deadly disease and will certainly die if you do nothing. Your
advisor comes to you and says you have two options, A & B. She tells you:
- option A saves 200 people's lives
- option B has a 33% chance of saving all 600 people and a 66%
possibility of saving no one
- What would you do?
• Different language expressions trigger different subconscious emotions
reactions that impact decision making.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/theory-knowledge/201112/kahneman-well-being-
and-domains-consciousness

24. Involve and engage: the IKEA effect
• Involve employees in developing solutions and they
will buy-in
• Ikea furniture – do it yourself
• Sandra Lee – 70/30 Semi-Homemade Philosophy
Ariely , Dan (2010). The Upside of Irrationality. Harper

25. How to frame content?
• Is it positive or negative (e.g. the odds of survival
example)?
• Is it loss-framed or gain-framed (e.g. the calamity
study)?
• Is it action-oriented or passive (e.g. the CityCliq
create a web page example)?
• What associations are brought to mind? E.g. “95% fat
free” sounds healthy, whereas “only 5% fat” sounds
unhealthy.
http://blog.optimizely.com/2012/11/28/testing-your-messages-framing-for-
increased-conversions/

26. Thank You & Stay Connected
• Linkedin: http://in.linkedin.com/in/aniisu
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/aniisu
• Visit the book FB page :http://www.facebook.com/ICbook2012
• E-mail: intraskope@yahoo.com
• Visit my blog: www.intraskope.wordpress.com