Have you ever wondered why some people are more easily swayed than others? What makes certain individuals more susceptible to influence?
In his book Pre-Suasion, Robert Cialdini explores the factors that make people more open to persuasion. He identifies key preferences that can be leveraged to steer attention and shape decisions. These include consistency, authority, likability, and unity.
Read on to discover how you can use these insights to become more persuasive in your personal and professional life.
What Makes People Susceptible to Influence
Cialdini identifies instruments for steering people’s attention in the moment before deciding: language, images, and environments. Here, we’ll discuss how to use these instruments. We’ll consider ways you can direct your audience’s attention by aligning with certain preferences that make them susceptible to influence. Three of these (desire for consistency, deference toward authority, and desire for likability) are originally from Cialdini’s previous book, Influence, and one of which (the importance of unity) is new to Pre-Suasion.
(Shortform note: In addition to consistency, authority, and likability, Cialdini highlights three further principles in both Pre-Suasion and Influence: reciprocity, social proof, and scarcity. Reciprocity refers to the notion that we often feel obligated to repay those who have helped us. Social proof refers to the idea that we’re more likely to agree with something if it seems like everyone else agrees with it. Finally, scarcity refers to the fact that we’re more attracted to items that seem to have limited availability. Cialdini contends that by leveraging these additional principles, we can more effectively pre-suade and persuade our audience to act as we desire.)
Preference #1: Consistency
Cialdini first explains that people are naturally inclined to think and act in a way that’s consistent with their pre-existing beliefs and actions. Accordingly, reminding people of this desire for consistency can be a powerful tool for successful pre-suasion.
(Shortform note: In academic works published elsewhere, Cialdini explains that consistency exists on a spectrum, such that some individuals are more concerned with internal consistency than others. Thus, although he writes as if we all desire internal consistency in Pre-Suasion, it’s more accurate to say that we all desire it to varying degrees.)
To demonstrate this desire for consistency, Cialdini points to a study examining how best to increase the participation rate of those who signed up for a blood drive. The researchers found that during a reminder call the day before the blood drive, eliciting verbal confirmation from participants made it significantly more likely that they would show up the next day—the participation rate increased from 70% to 82%.
For this reason, effective pre-suasion often involves making our desire for internal consistency more salient. For example, vegetarianism advocates from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) might appeal to the fact that most individuals think it would be wrong to consume their household pets, even though they regularly consume other animals. In so doing, PETA would try to convince people to become vegetarians by appealing to their desire for internal consistency.
(Shortform note: In Influence, Cialdini goes into further detail about why we crave internal consistency. He writes that consistency allows us to make quick judgments without assessing each situation individually, meaning that it frees us from the burden of deliberating about every single decision. For example, if you’ve signed up for the annual blood drive each of the past five years, the desire for consistency will cause you to automatically do so in the future, rather than deciding whether to participate every single year.)
Preference #2: Authority
Cialdini admits that shifting people’s focus toward their internal desire for consistency isn’t enough if you—the pre-suader—don’t come across as authoritative. According to Cialdini, people naturally defer to those whom they perceive as authoritative, meaning that effective pre-suaders should attempt to underscore their own credibility.
To illustrate the tendency to defer to authority, Cialdini discusses an experiment in which individuals were asked to answer complex questions about economics while undergoing a brain scan. He notes that when the participants were initially evaluating these questions, their brain activity surged in the area responsible for high-level problem-solving. However, when these participants heard proposed answers from professional economists, their brain activity crashed as they mindlessly deferred to the expert.
Cialdini concludes that making our own authority salient can be a winning strategy for pre-suasion. To do so, he recommends that you establish your credibility by admitting a shortcoming early in conversation, since people perceive those who are candid about their weaknesses as more credible. For instance, if you’re a politician on the campaign trail, confessing to previous mistakes—say, support for an unsuccessful bill in years past—could actually make you seem more authoritative in the eyes of your constituents.
Preference #3: Likability
While people place great weight on the views of authoritative experts, they’re less likely to do so if the experts are unlikable. Conversely, Cialdini writes that people are inclined to agree with those whom they find likable, which suggests that drawing attention to your likable traits is an excellent pre-suasive strategy. He recommends two strategies for making yourself more likable: Highlight similarities with your audience and give your audience compliments.
(Shortform note: Much as Cialdini discusses likability in Pre-Suasion, Dale Carnegie discusses a set of likability principles in How to Win Friends and Influence People. However, his recommendations go beyond Cialdini’s advice. For example, he offers straightforward tips like saying the name of the person whom you’re talking to because it makes them feel important and smiling frequently to show that you like them.)
Strategy #1: Highlight Similarities
Cialdini points out that people are predisposed to like those who are similar to them. He relates that there are many examples of this phenomenon: Babies, for instance, are more likely to smile at adults who mimic the babies’ facial expressions.
(Shortform note: According to one study, three-month-old babies not only prefer adults who mimic their own facial expressions, but they also prefer to look at the faces of men who share their caregivers’ ethnicity. The study exposed a group of three-month-old white babies to pictures of white, Middle Eastern, African, and Asian men. Ultimately, the study found that the white babies spent a significantly longer amount of time staring at the pictures of white men than men of other ethnicities, suggesting a preference for white men’s faces.)
In the context of pre-suasion, then, Cialdini implies that we should draw attention to features that we share with our audience. For example, imagine that you’re a door-to-door salesman in Boston, where the majority of your potential customers are fans of the New England Patriots. To effectively pre-suade—and thereby increase your sales—you could choose to wear a Patriots hat that highlights your similarities with your audience.
(Shortform note: In situations where you don’t have much in common with your audience, Carnegie’s advice in How to Win Friends and Influence People may be useful. Carnegie recommends that you focus on your audience’s interests, even if you don’t share them. For example, even if you don’t know anything about Bitcoin, if you’re talking to someone who’s obsessed with it, it could be wise to ask questions to show them that you care about their interests.)
Strategy #2: Give Compliments
In addition to underscoring similarities with your audience, Cialdini also recommends that you give genuine compliments to win people’s affection. To show as much, Cialdini points to a study in which students received fliers from a clothing store that praised them for being “fashionable and stylish.” In response to the fliers, these students reported significantly more positive attitudes toward the store and a higher likelihood of shopping there.
Paying people compliments can make you seem more likable, thus making you more effective at pre-suasion. For example, imagine that you’re a teacher seeking high performance scores from your students to bolster your case for receiving a raise. Just before distributing the questionnaires, you could remind your students that they’ve been a joy to have in class to steer them toward more favorable reviews.
(Shortform note: Although compliments can be an effective tool for winning people’s affection, experts warn that you have to be careful not to overdo it. After all, we often become less affectionate when we believe that someone’s compliments are driven by ulterior motives, since that makes us doubt their sincerity. For example, if the fliers from the above study instead told students they were “the most fashionable person we know,” the students might have found the messaging off-putting and been less likely to shop at the store.)
Preference #4: Unity
Although consistency, authority, and likability are all potent desires, Cialdini clarifies that one more desire is even more powerful: unity. According to Cialdini, individuals are especially susceptible to influence from people with whom they feel connected. Further, he explains that this takes two forms: unity through identity and unity through activity.
Form #1: Unity Through Identity
Cialdini contends that people feel deeply connected with fellow members of a shared identity group, or “in-group,” such as their family, country, or religion. He relates that this unity has an evolutionary origin: Because humans are programmed by natural selection to pass down their genetic material, they automatically favor those who share this genetic material—that is, their families. In fact, Cialdini notes that neuroscientists have even found that people tend to project their own personality traits onto other in-group members, suggesting that they consider those who share their identities as extensions of themselves.
Given the importance of shared identity, Cialdini suggests that we should direct our audience’s attention toward any mutual aspects of identity to pre-suade them. For example, an Italian politician giving a speech on the eve of election day could begin the speech with, “As your fellow Italian,” to underscore the identity that they share with voters. Alternatively, a corporate executive could use language likening the company to a family to foster a sense of unity among employees.
Form #2: Unity Through Activity
What if you want to pre-suade someone but you don’t share an identity with them? Cialdini suggests that we can manufacture a sense of unity through collective action, citing an array of studies to show as much.
For instance, in one study, researchers separated participants into two teams—one that walked in lockstep and one that walked out of sync—before having the teams play a game in which they chose between maximizing self-interest versus maximizing collective success. These researchers found that participants whose teams walked in lockstep were significantly more selfless (and thus more connected) during the subsequent game, whereas participants whose teams walked out of sync played more selfishly.
Of course, Cialdini doesn’t recommend asking people to march in lockstep with you to win them over. But he does note that, in the workplace, you can implement unifying activities by designing projects that require collaboration between team members. He explains that because employees feel a sense of ownership over projects they partake in, allowing employees to jointly participate in projects can instill a sense of mutual ownership and unity. Thus, creating collaborative projects could make employees more influenceable, as we’re more susceptible to influence from those with whom we feel connected.
Exercise: Consider the Effectiveness of Cialdini’s Four Preferences
Cialdini argues that, by exploiting four of our ingrained preferences (for consistency, authority, likability, and unity), communicators can effectively pre-suade their audience. In this exercise, consider the effectiveness of these four preferences—both as a persuader and as one being persuaded.
- Which of Cialdini’s four preferences do you believe you’re most susceptible to? Why?
- In light of your previous answer, describe one situation in which someone appealed to your most susceptible preference to influence you. How effective was it?
- As a persuader, which of Cialdini’s four preferences do you find most effective in pre-suading your audience? Why?
- Describe one recent situation in which you wanted to influence someone’s thinking or behavior. How could you have directed their attention toward one of Cialdini’s preferences to influence them?
