Levers of Influence Notes

Levers of Influence (Power) Tools of the Trades

Civilization advances by increasing the number of operations performable without conscious thought, as stated by Alfred North Whitehead. Leonardo da Vinci noted simplicity as the ultimate sophistication. Many research results are explained by understanding human tendencies.

Fixed-Action Patterns

Ethologists have identified fixed-action patterns across various species, involving intricate behavioral sequences like courtship rituals. These patterns occur in the same fashion and order every time, acting like pre-installed programs. Activation depends on specific trigger features, often tiny aspects of an approaching intruder, such as a shade of color, as demonstrated by male robins attacking redbreast feathers.

Human Automaticity

Humans also have preset programs, though these can be exploited at the wrong times. The word "because" acted as a trigger for automatic compliance, even without a real reason.

The Expensive = Good Stereotype

Jewelry store customers bought turquoise pieces only after they were mistakenly priced at double their original cost. These customers, unfamiliar with turquoise, used a simplifying principle: expensive = good. Research supports that people use this stereotype when unsure of quality. In this case, price became a trigger feature for quality, leading to increased sales.

Simplifying by Betting the Shortcut Odds

Tourists in the jewelry store relied on the rule "You get what you pay for," translating to expensive = good. They used cost as a shortcut to determine the jewelry's merits. By reacting to price alone, they simplified decision-making, betting price would reveal quality. Though this shortcut can fail, it is generally a rational approach, saving time, energy, and capacity.

The Need for Simplifying Shortcuts

Automatic, stereotyped behavior is efficient and necessary given our complicated world. We classify things using a few key features and respond automatically when trigger features are present. While not always appropriate, simplifying features are essential due to time, energy, and capacity limitations.

Judgmental Heuristics

Psychologists have identified judgmental heuristics, or mental shortcuts. These heuristics, like expensive = good, simplify thinking but can lead to occasional mistakes. One relevant rule is "If an expert said so, it must be true," leading to unthinking acceptance of authority, rather than analyzing arguments.

Automatic vs. Controlled Responding

Automatic (click, run) responding contrasts with controlled responding (thorough analysis). Research indicates a tendency to use controlled responding when individuals have both the desire and the ability to carefully analyze information; they are likely to switch back to easier click, run processes if they lack that desire or ability.

The Profiteers

Automatic behavior patterns make us vulnerable. Animal behaviorists study how trigger features activate behavior programs. Mimics trick animals into mistakenly running programs at the wrong times for their own benefit. An example is the killer females of one genus of firefly (Photuris) which mimic the flashing mating signals of another firefly genus (Photinus) to attract and eat the males.

The Principle of Social Proof

The principle of social proof asserts people believe or do what they see others believing or doing, influencing actions like checking product reviews. Online review sites however face their own brand of mimics individuals who counterfeit genuine reviews and insert their phony ones.

Human Profiteers and Levers of Influence

There are people who know where the levers of automatic influence lie and use them to get what they want. Principles like social proof (inclination to believe or do what others do) are detectable and ready levers. Profiteers use these levers by structuring requests and engaging psychological principles, sometimes through one correctly chosen word.

Jujitsu

Jujitsu minimizes personal strength, exploiting gravity, leverage, momentum, and inertia. Similarly, profiteers use automatic influence levers for their own benefit, manipulating without appearing to do so. Victims see their compliance as natural, not manipulated.

The Contrast Principle

The contrast principle affects how we perceive the difference between two things presented sequentially. Retail clothiers use this to sell expensive suits first, then sweaters, because sweater prices seem lower in comparison.

Perceptual Contrast

The letter from Sharon in Figure 1.3 used Sharon may be failing chemistry, but she gets an A in psychology. Assuredly, perceptual contrast influence is used. Its advantage is that it works virtually undetectable. Retail clothiers and real state agents offer effective examples. A flight desk agent may start with a jokey offer to create contrast.

Summary of Chapter 1

Ethologists study animal behavior, identifying fixed-action patterns triggered by single features. This also applies to humans with simplification allowing efficiency and economy, they must avoid mistakes by those seeking to profit by trigger features to stimulate a desired behaviour at inappropriate times. Compliance involves trigger features acting as levers, like perceptual contrast, but are used without recognition.

Chapter 2 Reciprocation The Old Give and Take

The rule of reciprocation states that we should try to repay what another person has provided us. If a woman does us a favor, we should do her one in return. Reciprocated greeting cards, birthday gifts, and party invitations may seem like weak evidence of the rule’s force. Don’t be fooled; it can prompt change in sizable behaviors. Researchers working with charity fundraisers in the United Kingdom approached investment bankers as they came to work and asked for a large charitable donation—a full day’s salary, amounting to over a thousand dollars in some cases.

Obligation

By virtue of the reciprocity rule, we are obligated to the future repayment of favors, gifts, invitations, friendly actions, and the like. So typical is it for indebtedness to accompany the receipt of such things that a phrase such as “much obliged” has become a synonym for “thank you” not only in the English language but in other languages as well (such as with the Portuguese term obrigado). The future reach of the obligation is nicely connoted in a Japanese word for thank you, sumimasen, which, in its literal form, means “this will not end."

The Reciprocity Rule and Social Evolution

An impressive aspect of reciprocation is its pervasiveness in human culture. all human societies subscribe to the rule, permeating exchanges of every kind. A widely shared and strongly held feeling of future obligation made an enormous difference in human social evolution. The result was the lowering of the natural inhibitions against transactions that must be begun by one person’s providing personal resources to another. Sophisticated and coordinated systems of aid, gift giving, defense, and trade became possible, bringing immense benefits to the societies that possessed them.

Long-Lived Obligations: Mexico and Ethiopia

Obligations do fade with time; however, relatively small favors demonstrate the exception of notable long-lived gifts. A strong reciprocal obligation reached long and powerfully into the future when Mexico and Ethiopia exchanged $5000$ of relief aid. In 1985, Ethiopia gave to Mexico because Mexico helped Ethiopia in 1935 when it was invaded by Italy. Ethiopian solution triumphed over cultural differenced, distances, acute famine, and self interest.

Lord Arthur George Weidenfeld

Lord Arthur George Weidenfeld rescued endangered christian families from ISIS. As a German Jew to England on a Kindertransport, organized by Christian societies to rescue Jewish children from Nazi persecution in Europe, he said “I can’t save the world, but . . . on the Jewish and Christian side . . . I had a debt to repay.” Clearly, the pull of reciprocity can be both lifesaving and lifelong.

Exploiting Reciprocity

Human societies train members to comply with the reciprocity rule to gain a significant competitive advantage. People avoid being seen as a freeloader, but in the process, they are taken by individuals who stand to gain for their indebtedness.

Gift-Giving in Politics and Other Arenas

Elected officials exchange favors at a level that puts politics as the place of strange bedfellows, in deed. Judicial and Legislative Officials also receive gifts and favors and the series of legal restrictions against such gifts and favors creates stockpiling obligations. Medical Scientists and scientists found results in favor of drugs after receiving compensation and other support from Pharmaceutical industries. Therefor one should expect the same kind of thing from politicians as well with groups getting the wins and large contributions lead to reduction in tax rates.

Discount Pet Supplies and the Not-So-Free Sample

Two brothers own a large discount pet-supply company in Canada. Each has to find negotiate for warehouse space and the key as illustrated through the free sample that a candy shop shows a 42% increased of a store and it is also shown with research conducted on children received a balloon and the increase of the purchase of the food it is clearly stated now that a gift to a child is a gift to a parent.

Amway's BUG

Amway uses a free sample through the use of leaving bottles of product for 24-72 hours leading to customer trap the cycle of reciprocity leading most to order a number of products after receiving so many gifts from so many businesses.

Diane Louie and Ms. Louie

Diane Louie save her life by rejecting Jim Jones the cult leader a special force when she was I know to that privilege she says he knew that once he get her she would have her she didn’t want to Oh

Personalization via Customization

A consultant friend now employs speed payment by submitting a bill to a client. The most recent action by the state in a form with an art piece leading to invoices get paid almost immediately. It also has been proven to tailor the impact from research done and it has also shown that the higher satisfaction can have paradoxical gaffe.

The Rule Enforces Uninvited Debts

Disabled veterans also recognize this concept and put with simple mail appeal donations and has a high response rate an increase amount when they add a gift of unsolicited gift. Therefore the influential French anthropologist Marcel Mauss explains an obligation to give an obligation to receive and an oblation to repay.

The Rule Triggers Unequal Exchanges

A university student has to explain how you lend a student that later totaled its and an intelligent young woman would turn to her car because of a small favor. It it is often common that large favors stimulates will often stand in the distance that a little with psychological birth and this reason along with Japanese poem is why there is nothing more expensive than that which comes for free.

Reciprocal Concessions

The tendency to reciprocate with a concession occurs in my compliance request. It has not matter that I did not liking children bars and also the general request the people would only receive it because after other larger pre liminary refusal it was something planned but something effective and the procedure more affects than large. The initial request also makes room available due to a series of concessions

The Rejection-Then-Retreat Technique

It would appear, then, that the procedure would be more effective the larger the initial request. In such cases, the party who has made the extreme first request is not seen to be bargaining in good faith and is not reciprocated.

Why the Rejection-Then-Retreat Techniques work

A rejection then retreat tack also incorporates in action with the contact principal and it has become a useful aspect during the election and that strategy does not stop but also can be used with a bad taste because if the first requests are large by comparison. Damned if you do damned if you don’t the strategy for the requester might not resent because there is a verbal agreement

What can be done for a potential enemy

ejecting The Rule. Invariably you can decline an offer of a favor or a sacrifice well it is best better in theory than the practice The major difficulty is when it is first present that isn’t that such an off is honestly if it is the initial step to any type of explanation. In addition, to reject this initial offers but one thing to understand is to receive them but accept it for what they are and not for what they are Represented

Smoking Out of the Enemy

If a person is to offer his favorite a favor and one might well accept, recognizing but never less see its a compliance practice as you see fit.

SUMMARY Acording to sociologists and anthropologists it is embedded in the rules of culture one person is required to to try to repay the former what's it that the person has given with acts, a gift, or an exchange. That creates benefits to society. It is important to note that a give or more effective by having the gift provide be customized or even be service to the person. These gifts can not reduce the ability and the rule can spurt unequal exchanges

Chapter 3 Liking The Friendly Thief

As shown, people are influenced by people whom they like, either their friends of others. This can help science communicators convince atheists to believe Darwin s Evolution. As survey shows the public don t believed Natural Evolutionary Processes or don t stemming emotionally with people based references the theory of evolution. An effective thing is to show attitude to evolution show wide liking that can go against their theory. A team of Canadians thought they’re elevate attitude to the science to a widely known supporter of Darwin. What came into the champions for principles of it were men by the name of George Clooney & Even Female actress name Emma Watson, the Harry

The Liking Rule in Medical Malpractice

An Alice Burkin stated every doctor may make a mistake by the most of those mistakes don’t turn into potential clients like them they go to the ones they believe.

Strategic Friendship: Making Friends to Influence People

Compliance professionals exploit the liking bond even when friendships don't already exist. Scientists find that physical attractiveness, similarity, compliments, contact, and cooperation play reliably cause such a situation

Physical Attractiveness and the Halo Effect

Good-looking people receive higher advantages in votes, salary, etc. Social scientists call “halo effects” as they can be perceived as kind, good and well mannered. It also happens that they are often more talented and trustworthy, as well. Research indicates that voters even deny favoritism and will use appearance of employment.

Similarity

We like people who are like us, from infants of nine months to those in intimate relationships. That is more liked to the things we have that make them get into actions we see. Dress, interests and small commonalities are how marketers manipulate someone and help them increase liking for themselves.

Complements

We love those who like us as we are highly susceptible and can produce an automatic attractive. The information that someone fancies is a bewitchingly effective way for returning liking and willing compliance and helps us increase power.

Relationship with Contact and Cooperation

We tend to react more favourably to individuals with whom we’ve come into contact and been used and we give things more so often then what that what happened but those who have been in cooperative setting make great improvements and helps to produce. For social engineers and experts it'd also make more sense if you can come across more familiar and have repeated exposure.

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