Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

Free is Great Except When We Don’t Want What’s Being Offered

Normally people go nuts for free stuff. It seems like ads touting “Buy one get one free,” or “25% more for free” cause shoppers to almost salivate. I bet you’ve been places where things were being given away for free and you found yourself taking items (pens, card holders, travel mugs, post it notes, etc.) that ended up in the trashcan within weeks of getting home. And still, we take the goods because they’re free. After all, you can’t loose by taking advantage of free…or can you?Have you ever ordered something on Amazon for less than $25 then found yourself ordering another book or item just to bump you over the threshold in order to take advantage of the free shipping? I bet you have and you probably ended up spending $33-$38 in total. Sure, you convinced yourself you needed that extra book or CD but in reality you would not have purchased it were it not for the enticement of the free shipping. Dan Ariely highlights our obsession with “free” things in his book Predictably Irrationalin a chapter he calls “The Cost of Zero Cost: Why We Often Pay Too Much When We Pay Nothing.” He convincingly shows readers sometimes they end up worse off because of free.The obsession with free has its limits and this came to light recently with Apple’s promotion with the Irish rock band U2. It seemed innocent enough, and generous of Apple and U2, to have the band’s latest album, Songs of Innocence, automatically added to the iTunes library of some 500 million people. Unfortunately for both, many subscribers didn’t appreciate the free album and voiced their opinion rather loudly on social media. In fact, there was an article titled Free U2 album: How the most generous giveaway in music history turned PR disaster. Ouch!I think what was missed by Apple and U2 in their well-intentioned giveaway was this – free isn’t really free if it’s not freely chosen. While there may have been no purchase cost for the album, people lost their freedom to choose whether or not they wanted to add it to their libraries. In other words, forced isn’t free no matter how good the intention.What should they have done instead? In my opinion offering the album for free for a limited time would have enticed many people to take advantage of the giveaway. Think about it; U2 is an iconic band that’s done a lot of good for people across the globe through charitable work that could only have come about because of their fans. They could have positioned the opportunity for the free album as their way of saying thanks. I’m sure each band member is probably set for life financially so they don’t need the money and could have really made a splash.By putting a timeframe on it they would have engaged the principle scarcity, which would have caused many people to want the album even more and act quickly. This is important because when things are free and abundant we usually don’t value them nearly as much as when they are restricted in some way. Think about air and water. Without air we die within minutes and without water we won’t survive for very long either. There may not be two things more necessary for life and yet they are an afterthought for most people…until they’re in short supply. When that happens we’d pay more for either than just about anything else in the world because our lives might be at stake.I don’t think Apple or U2 deserved the intense backlash they got but let it be a lesson to all of us – no matter how beloved we, our company, our products/services, may be, never infringe on people’s freedom to choose. Understanding that and correctly positioning a gift could make all the difference in how it’s received and how we’re perceived. Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.

Bribes, Rewards or Gifts – Which is Best?

One Saturday morning, after a run and workout, I looked forward to a bagel and an egg over easy for breakfast. As I settled in with my meal and flipped through the news channels, something on Fox and Friends caught my eye. It was a story on parenting. One mom talked about “bribing” her kids. She told her teenage daughter she’d take her to Disney World if she got all As on her next report card. Another parent said no way would he bribe his kids to do chores or get good grades. The last parent said she uses both techniques at different times.Obviously none of the parents understood much about what social psychology has to say about influencing behavior. The rewards the parents were offering (there were more examples than just Disney World) work to some degree. That’s why so many businesses use rewards to motivate behavior. However, studies show quite often that engaging the principle of reciprocity can be more effective and cost a lot less.One study I share during my workshops has to do with a health insurance company wanting to see if they could get a better response from owners of construction companies on their health questionnaire. With one group of business owners they offered a $50 reward for completing the questionnaire. With the rest of the business owners they sent a $5 check acknowledging their time was valuable and they appreciated them taking time to complete the questionnaire.And what were the results? You’d think the $50 offer being 10 times more would definitely get a better response but it didn’t. Only 23% of those offered the big reward filled out the questionnaire but 52% who were given the $5 gift up front complied with the request. So the response was more than twice as much in the gift scenario and there was a huge savings depending on exactly how many people cashed the $5 check. If every person, including those who didn’t fill out the questionnaire, cashed the check, the savings would be 57%. If only those who completed the questionnaire cashed the check the health company would have saved 77%! No matter how you look at it, more than doubling the response at a substantial savings is the smart business decision.Sometimes giving something small up front engages reciprocity and the other person feels it’s only right to repay the favor. Here’s a personal example with my daughter, Abigail. When she was about 15 she was a typical teenage girl. She didn’t want to do things that were physically hard and would make her sweat….like cutting the grass. I was going to be traveling and knew I’d need her help with the lawn while I was away. I also knew if I tried to negotiate I’d lose. Had I said, “Abigail, I’ll give you a $10 a week raise in your allowance if you’ll cut the grass when I need it,” she would have said, “No thanks dad, I don’t like money that much.” Then I would have either had to significantly increase my offer or pull the parent card and force her to cut the grass. Neither approach would have been good because she would resent me or make me a lot poorer.What I did instead was give her the $10 raise without asking for anything in return. When she asked why I was giving her the raise I told her reasons I believe she’d legitimately earned it. About a week later I was going on a trip and asked if she would cut the grass. Initially she hesitated and gave me a look but before we got any further I said, “Come on Abigail, I gave you a raise in your allowance and didn’t ask for anything. Can’t you help me out?” She said she’d cut the grass and has ever since – without arguing – whenever I’ve needed her help. And here’s the best part – for Christmas last year one of my gifts was a card with grass cutting coupons…and I don’t even give her an allowance anymore!As noted earlier, rewards do change behavior and that’s why they’re so prevalent in business. However, much of the time we can get the behavior change we want and spend a lot less by ethically and correctly engaging reciprocity.APPLICATION: This week take a look at instances in which you reward people for behavior and see if you can engage reciprocity instead by freely giving up front. Then, next time you need a favor just ask for their help. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how many say “Yes” and that it cost you a lot less.Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.

Make Requests Like a Persuasion Expert

Persuasion is all about moving people to action. Aristotle defined it as “the art of getting someone to do something they would not ordinarily do if you didn’t ask.” The bottom line when it comes to persuasion is getting someone to do something. How we communicate can make all the difference between a “Yes” or “No” response.Most of the time people are directive, telling instead of asking, when they want something. For example:Clean your room.Fax me the authorization form.Get me the sales numbers.Each request is direct and to the point. The communication may be clear but unfortunately people don’t like to be told what to do. And none of the statements above requires a response, which means the recipient of the message might hear what’s being said but think to himself or herself, “No” without ever having to say it.Each of us makes requests of people daily, and the science of influence tells us with certainty there are better ways to structure our communication if we want to hear “Yes” more often. If you want to make a request like a persuasion expert follow this simple formula: R = W + T + B + R + DRequest = What + Timeframe + Because + Reason + DownsideHere’s an example using the formula: Would you get me the authorization form by this afternoon because without it I can’t proceed any further on your claim, which will delay your payment by several more days? A number of persuasive techniques are used in the example above so let’s dissect each part.“Would you” – Adding these two words turns the statement into a question and engages the principle of consistency. A question like this demands a response and once someone says “Yes,” the likelihood they’ll do what you want has gone up significantly.“by this afternoon” – These three words ensure you’ll get what you want within a timeframe that’s acceptable to you instead of being left to chance. If someone says they can’t get it within the allotted time you can engage reciprocity. Immediately upon hearing no, if you put out a new timeframe (i.e., How about by tomorrow afternoon?) your odds of hearing “Yes” have just gone up because most people are willing to meet us part way after we’ve first conceded a little bit.“because” – One study showed a 50% increase in “yes” responses when a request was tagged with “because” and a reason was given. This even worked when the reason was bogus! We’re conditioned from childhood to almost mindlessly do what we’re told when “because” is used. Do you remember your parents ever saying, “Because I said so!” in response to your asking why you had to do something? We’ve all been there and maybe you’ve used that phrase yourself.                 “I can’t proceed any further on your claim, which will delay your payment” – This invokes the principle of scarcity. People are much more motivated by the thought of losing something as opposed to gaining the same thing. In this instance the person knows they won’t be paid until they’ve done what’s being asked. This is much more effective than saying, “As soon as I get it I’ll proceed on the claim and you’ll get paid.”Once more compare the two requests for the same thing:Fax me the authorization form.vs.Would you get me the authorization form by this afternoon because without it I can’t proceed any further on your claim, which will delay your payment?Next time you need something from someone or you need them to do something remember to structure your request by asking instead of telling. Let them know what you want and when you need it by. Tag your request with “because” and a legitimate reason. Finally, let them know what happens if they don’t do what’s asked…the downside. Follow this simple approach and you’re sure to hear “Yes” more often.Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.