Comment A - Z of online persuasion

Introduction

Written by Theo Papadakis of cScape, this informal guide gives you the lowdown on the key ideas in Persuasion, from Aristole to Ziegelmueller, via goodwill, kairos, motivation and reciprocity.

If the ideas below interest you and you are looking to improve how your website persuades new customers or are interested in how persuasion can be used to engage existing customers then please get in touch with us.

A ...is for Aristotle:

The great granddaddy of persuasion, who developed the art of rhetoric. For Aristotle, persuasion was the key to democracy; in the battle of ideas the truth will win out.

B ...is for Behaviour Chain:

Even though everyone who visits a website might have different motivations for doing so, it is possible to establish recognised patterns of behaviour. These patterns can be broken down into stages, or links, in a chain. A simple behaviour chain for a website might be:

Discovery > Superficial involvement > True commitment

Understanding such behaviour chains is the first step towards designing Persuasion Pathways.

C ...is for Captology:

An acronym for “computers as persuasive technologies”. Computers are not just machines, but interactive tools that can change people’s attitudes or behaviours. (See B.J. Fogg.)

D ...is for Persuasion as a Dialogue:

The future of persuasion in the world of Web 2.0, as the act of persuading can also change the persuader. (Check out the Persuasive Solutions podcast for more.)

E ...is for Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM):

There are essentially two routes to making decisions; through a logical process in which we weight up all the factors; or ‘instinctively’ based on assumptions and past experience. Increasingly, in our information saturated and time constrained world, we rely on the ‘instinctive’ route. That is why establishing credibility quickly on a website is essential.

High elaboration (central route)
Requires great deal of thought to make a decision
Low elaboration (peripheral route)
Requires little thought, reliant on decisional heuristics

F ...is for Fogg, B.J.:

Experimental psychologist and director of research and design at Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab, B.J. Fogg has been hailed as the persuasion guru and the Don of Captology. His influential book Persuasive Technology: using computers to change what we think and do, was published in 2003. For a chance to win B.J.’s book, enter our ‘Build your Persuasion Library’ competition in the current edition of cScape’s newsletter. And check out our interview with B.J. in the next edition.

G ...is for Goodwill:

As one of three characteristics of credibility (the others are expertise and trust), goodwill – or perceived caring – is vastly under-rated as a persuasion component. Indeed, recent research has even highlighted the general public’s preferences for caring doctors over those with expertise.

H ...is for Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM):

Along with the more popular Elaboration-Likelihood Model (see above), HSM is an understanding model that stresses the importance of appreciating the underlying processes by which persuasive messages influence attitudes.

I ...is for Intermediary persuaders:

More often than not it is not ‘senders’ that influences us, but the people between them and us. Friends, family and those we trust and respect are our intermediary persuaders. When designing our persuasion strategies, these significant others need to be embraced.

J ...is for Johari Window:

Created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, this is a useful tool for helping develop a deep understanding of the audiences you wish to persuade. A square is divided into 4 sections and a list of 55 adjectives, you pick 5-6 of these and others pick 5-6, all of the adjectives are placed in the four sections according to whether they were known to yourself or to others.
More on how to use the Johari Window can be found on Wikipedia.

K ...is for Kairos:

Ancient Greek for the "right or opportune moment". Timing is everything in online persuasion tactics, so make sure you identify the opportune moment to present your message and calls to action. For more on Kairos check out our article on Persuasion Windows.

L ...is for Liking:

A customer is more likely to engage with someone he or she likes. Psychological cues can lead people to infer, often subconsciously, that a website – and therefore the business – conveys certain emotions and preferences. Research has shown that users prefer computer applications whose “personalities” match their own.

M ...is for Motivation:

Ethical persuasion always recognises the choice not to be persuaded, but attempts to use at least one of six elements of motivation:

Authority
Commitment and consistency
Liking
Reciprocity
Scarcity
Social proof

N ...is for Normative influence:

Research looking at patterns of conformity shows that people tend to change to match the expectations, attitudes and behaviours of their peers.

O ...is for One-sided vs two-sided messaging:

A one-sided message only presents one perspective on an issue. A two-sided communication offers arguments on behalf of both the persuader’s position and the opposition. Research has indicated that admitting a weakness frequently opens up a Persuasion Window encouraging the message receiver to undertake a desired action. So don’t always focus on your own, one-sided, messaging.

P ...is for Persuasion Pathways:

An accurate understanding of your audience makes it possible to anticipate customer need and behaviour. Over time, Persuasion Pathways can be designed to encourage you customers to take a desired action.

Q ...is for Quintilian:

Perhaps the greatest professor of rhetoric of all times. Quintilian’s text books were used
for almost 1,000 years.

R ...is for Reciprocity:

If someone gives you something, you feel obliged to reciprocate. This universal sentiment can be used to persuade customers to engage with you; offer them something and let them know what you expect in return.

S ...is for Scarcity:

One of the power six elements of motivation (see ‘motivation’ above). Time and again research proves that loss is a greater motivator than gain. If what you’re offering customers has genuinely unique elements, tell them what they’ll be missing if they ignore you. If you can provide time-limited offers, the power of scarcity is multiplied manifold.

T ...is for Trust:

The persuader’s perceived trustworthiness is one of three characteristics of credibility, the others being expertise and goodwill.

U ...is for Ubiquity:

Computers can go where humans can’t (e.g. implanted in mobile phones) or aren’t welcome (e.g. bedrooms).

One of the six key advantages that computers have in persuasion.

Anonymity
Persistence
Data handling
Different modalities
Easy scalability
Can be ubiquitous

V ...is for Vance Packard:

American journalist, social critic, and author of best-selling book The Hidden Persuaders. Probably the defining critique of the persuasion tactics of the media. Read more about Vance Packard.

W ...is for Wear-out threshold:

That point at which the receiver of a persuasive message has no more to learn and becomes bored by it. Classic research into television commercials indicates that the magic number is three, which is why adverts will repeat their call to action three times. There used to be a similar focus on websites to provide the user with required information within three clicks.

X ...is for Xerxes:

The tale of the Persian leader, Xerxes’, defeat at the hands of the Greek army in 480BC was traditionally used as the argument for embracing persuasive reasoning and rejecting irrational behaviour. Xerxes was first persuaded not to go to war with the Greeks by his uncle Artabus, but later succumbed to a persistent dream urging the attack.

Y ...is for Yale Attitude Approach:

During the 1940s and 50s, Yale University in the US was the first to conduct systematic, comprehensive research projects on attitude change. They concluded that there were four underlying processes that occurred in a sequence which could help explain how people were persuaded:

Attention: To persuade someone you first need to gain their attention.
Comprehension: For someone to be persuaded they must understand what the message is conveying.
Yielding: To persuade someone, your message needs to be accepted. This might be in the form of raising a question in the receiver’s mind or providing an incentive.
Rentention: You are more likely to persuade receivers if they remember all the claims that a message contains.

Z ...is for George W. Ziegelmueller:

Along with Charles Dause, Ziegelmueller was an advocate of inductive proof in the persuasion process. If you repeatedly observe that doing one thing leads to another then you are more likely to be persuaded that there is a cause and effect relationship there, even though scientifically this is not necessarily the case. Inductive proof is often used on websites when satisfied customer testimonials are presented as the cause and effect relationship. So the more positive the testimonials, the more persuasive the argument.

cScape Newsletter May 2007

This article is part of the cScape newsletter, continue reading the online newsletter or click on any interesting links below:

How can you make your users click? - 10 tips for persuading users
Persuasive solutions for demanding times: podcast and transcript
The A – Z of online persuasion
An engaging cross-examination
Competition - build your persuasion library for free!
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Top 3 free search engine optimisation tools
Date for your diary - 22 May 2007 - Thought leadership event
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