Influence
Adapted from J. Scott Armstrong
Updated July 2014
Influence R41
Learning Diary
The lectures follow an experiential learning experience.
To make this work properly:
1. Obtain a learning diary (paper). A 10 x 13 bound
diary is suggested.
2. Keep it up to date.
3. Take the learning diary with you to all class sessions.
4. For self-learners, use the diary to track your
learning progress for all of your learning activities.
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Objectives of this session
To understand and apply these principles and
techniques (not to convince you). Ask for clarification as
needed.
Set a goal for yourself on how many principles and
techniques you plan to use by the end of this session.
Even a goal of one will help you. Put this in your learning
diary now.
Note: We will discuss only some of the slides. When you go
through the lecture on your own, view it in “Slide Show” and
follow the experiential procedures.
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Procedure
Focus on understanding.
Record questions in your learning diary that will help
you to apply the techniques or principles, then,
after you decide which ones you want to apply, try
to answer these from the readings. If not clear, ask
others for help.
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Waste Management TV Campaign
Waste Management, an actual international waste
hauler company, has asked you for a brief proposal for
a national TV campaign.
Apply the influence principles (and any of the
information principles) to develop a pitch for this
campaign.
1.Propose ideas for ads in this campaign
2.Do not look up information about Waste
Management.
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Waste Management conditions
Objectives
– Profits
– Fair treatment of stakeholder groups
Product
- High-involvement: Collect and dispose of household &
commercial waste.
- Comparative advantage: Most experienced, high technical
competence, proven effectiveness
Target markets
– City government officials
– People in the city: Prior knowledge -- Image problem
(environmentalists; Mafia?)
– Employees
– Investors
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Provide a reason (2.1.1)
In 1904 Albert Lasker, head of the Lord and Thomas Agency, received a
message passed from John E. Kennedy, a copywriter:
– “I am in the saloon downstairs and I can tell you what real
advertising is. I know that you don’t know… If you wish to know
what advertising is, send the word ‘Yes’ down by messenger.”
Lasker said, “Yes.” Kennedy said that advertising centered on using
“reason why” copy.
Example: The Bose Wave radio has a “patented acoustic waveguide
speaker technology.”
Of 474 full-page print ads by leading US firms, 72% provided a
reason (Which Ad Pulled Best).
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2.1.1 - Provide a reason – Perdue – Complies
In general, reasons provided should be relevant and logical.
- Discussed in Persuasive Advertising, p. 64
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Would you like a good bargain?
Subjects were given a choice between a TV at $229 & a
comparable “bargain” TV at $129.
When no reason was given, 24% said they would
choose the cheaper set- Simonson, Carmon and O’Curry 1994).
What percentage said they would purchase the
cheaper set given the same choice along with the
reason, “You immediately notice that there is a long
scratch on the side of the (decorative) panel.”
Write your answer in your learning diary and explain
53%
_________
Note that the reason reduces uncertainty.
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“Reason-why ad”
used by Bernbach
suggested that
business travellers
should fly first class
for the good of their
company
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May I Use the Xerox Machine?
Predict the percentage of people who would let someone in line ahead of them
for each of the following reasons in versions 2 and 3. Write the answers in
your diary:
60%
(1) “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox
machine?”
94%
______ (2) “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use
93%
the Xerox machine because I am in a rush?”
______ (3) “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use
the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?”
Then click here for the answers.
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Print ads with a “reason why” had higher recall
Using Which Ad Pulled Best, we found 37 pairs of print
ads where one ad offered a relevant reason to buy
the product while the other ad did not.
On average, recall for ads with reasons was 1.3 times
higher.
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May I use the Xerox machine - Part 2
Predict the percentage of people who would let someone in line ahead of them
for treatments #2 and #3 and write your reasons in your diary:
24% (1) “Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use
the Xerox machine?”
______
(2) “Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use
42%
the Xerox machine because I am in a rush?”
24%
______
(3) “Excuse me, I have 20 pages. May I use
the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?”
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For high-involvement products,
the reasons should be strong (2.1.2)
Of 321 full-page high-involvement print ads, 71% provided strong
reasons (Which Ad Pulled Best).
Recall for ads with strong reasons was 1.5 times higher than for the other ads
with reasons (25 pairs of high-involvement print ads from Which Ad Pulled
Best).
Example: An Isuzu ad stated, “The new Isuzu comes in many attractive
colors….a powerful new 24-valve, V6 engine and a price tag you can
actually afford," had a recall score four times more than that for
another Isuzu ad that did not offer strong reasons.
In combination with principle 2.1.1., this implies that an ad with strong
reasons is twice as effective as an ad with no reasons.
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Provide reasons for the Waste Management
campaign
Write two reasons favoring Waste Management as a
provider in your learning diary. (Later, you will be able
to compare your reasons with those used in the actual
campaign).
___________________________
Then continue.
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Show that the product is widely used (2.2.1).
McDonalds’ ad in 1963, “Over 1 billion sold.”
This argument is sensible. How could all those
people be wrong?
Of course, sometimes the market is wrong as in
the tulip bulb mania.
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Experiments show the power of the group on
behavior
Demonstration of the conformity experiment by Asch
(2:00)
See a discussion of the conformity experiments (6:00)
Elevator demonstration from Candid Camera (2:13)
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Focus on individuals similar
to the target market (2.2.2)
“Their intrinsic worth is not sufficient … most go with the
crowd, and go because they see others go.”
Balthazar Gracian, 1637
In other words show that lots of people who are similar to
the target market use this product.
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Show that the product is widely used
by people like you
Reebok UBU: 1:00 Violates
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Mrs. Jones uses this product
Yankee peddlers in the 1800s would sell to Mrs. Smith by telling her that Mrs.
Jones in her neighborhood had bought one.
This approach became popular in the early 1900s. When people see those
similar to them doing certain things, they mimic the behavior with little
conscious thought.
Levine described the mating process of the sage grouse. Males puff their
chests and strut. Over 90 percent of the mating is done by 10 percent of
the males. How do the females choose? They choose the male who is
surrounded by the most females. In experiments, males surrounded by
fake female decoys were more likely to mate.
Social proof is used to show the target market that the product is liked by
people who are similar to them on some key dimension – such as age,
or political viewpoint. This association is stronger if the product is new to the
target market.
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Focus on similar people
Whose is this? (1:17) Complies
How can you apply this to Waste Management? To
your organization?
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Evidence for social proof & similarity
In Goethe's 1774 novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, many
readers dressed, acted, . . . and committed suicide like Werther.
Because of copycat deaths, the novel was banned in some
European countries. Studies of the “Werther effect” began in
1841. (Schmidtke & Hafner, 1988, listed 90 studies.)
A field experiment on curbside recycling showed that people were
more likely to recycle when given information about recycling in
their neighborhood. (Schultz 1998)
An analysis of 26 pairs of WAPB print ads found that those showing
use by similar people had 1.2 times more recall.(PA , p.71)
An analysis of 716 thirty-second TV commercials found that ads
rated above the median on being, “for people like you,”
generated 16% higher recall and 21% higher persuasion than
those below the median (Ipsos-ASI).
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Pink Jeep Example: Complies
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An Application of Social Proof
We examined web sites for the US News and World
Report ’ s 120 top-ranked universities in July 2006.
Pictures of typical students were shown on the
homepage for 56% of the sites.
Comment on this as an example of social proof in your
learning diary. How effective is it, in your opinion?
It failed because the association is not distinctive or new to
the target market.
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Fisher Island: Complies
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How would you respond?
You are walking on a well-travelled city street.
Someone is lying on the ground calling for help.
How likely would you be to respond? Write your
answer in your diary.
What would lead you to respond? Write your answer
in your diary.
Here is the situation and the evidence (3:36)
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Another application of social proof
The U.S. National Park service posted signs to reduce the
theft of petrified wood: “Your heritage is being vandalized
everyday by theft losses of petrified wood of 14 tons a year
mostly a small piece at a time.”
They then did an experiment on the extent to which the
sign reduced theft.
Write your prediction: ___ no change; ___small reduction;
___ large reduction and write your reason in your diary.
Answer: Theft increased 2.7 times. Why?
It made the activity seem common (Cialdini 2003)
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Will you donate to save lives?
Should you focus on a ___Group or___ individual?
Write your answer and say why. Then click here.
Avoid group shots, said Ogilvy and research supports his
advice.
What type of people should you use in the ads?
Write your answer and say why. Then click here.
Donations are higher (with social proof than with a simple
appeal) only for similar people, and this effect is greater
when showing an individual.(Kogut & Ritov 2007)
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ICBINB Problem
When the butter substitute “I Can’t Believe It’s Not
Butter” was introduced to the U.K. in October
1991, the Butter Council threatened legal
action against ICBINB because of their use of
the word “butter.” Was this a good idea for the
Butter Council? Write your answer in your diary
and say why. Then click here.
____NO ____YES
ICBINB ran ads showing the storyboard for the “banned” TV
commercial along and said that the butter interests were trying
to remove ICBINB from the market. (Scarcity)
Within a month their brand awareness was 38% and they had
trouble meeting demand. The ad campaign won an IPA award for
effectiveness.
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Restrict sales of the product (2.3.2)
Limit by type of customer:
LADIES AND CHILDREN NOT ADMITTED.
“There,” says he, “if that line don’t fetch them, I don't know Arkansaw!”
(Mark Twain)
Limited purchase time (“offer expires on March 1!”)
Limit on number of items that can be purchased (“Limit of four
per customer!”)
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Restrictions: Cookie Jar experiment
___Version A: Subjects were in a room with a jar containing
either two or ten cookies. A second experimenter entered to
say his subjects had eaten more than expected. He asked for
the jar with the ten cookies and replaced it with one that had
two cookies.
___Version B: The 2nd experimenter also changed jars but said
he had accidentally taken the first experimenter’s jar.
In which case were the cookies more desirable? Write your
answer in your diary and state the reason. Then click for the
answer.
Version A: Subjects who were told that the cookies were scarce
because of demand thought of them as more desirable than
when the cookie supply was accidentally diminished.
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Laundry detergent case
In 1972, due to environmental concerns, Miami, Florida, prohibited
the sale, possession, and use of laundry detergent that contained
phosphates.
Mazis (1975) conducted interviews with housewives in Miami and
Tampa (which had no such law).
The 76 Miami respondents rated phosphates more highly than the 45
Tampa respondents did for each of seven characteristics. Why?
State that an attractive product is scarce when it is true (2.3.1)
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The Car Accident Case
When jurors were not told that the defendant had accident
insurance, they awarded a damage claim of $33,000. When
told that:
$37,000
A) he did have insurance, the award was ______
B) he had insurance followed by the judge instructing them to
$46,000
ignore that information, the award was _______
Scarcity again.
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Provide “inside” information about product
scarcity
a) Some customers for a beef importing company were given
a standard sales presentation.
b) A second group was told that the supply of beef was likely
to be scarce in the coming months.
c) A third group was given the same information about beef
scarcity, but was also told that this information was not
generally available.
“b’s” sales were twice “a’s” sales
“c’s” sales were six times “a’s” sales
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Seyval grapes grow only in the Chateau Pierre
vineyards and regularly win the “French National
Gold Medal for Exquisite Wines.”
Brochure treatments
1.Scarce or abundant
2. “This wine can be purchased at an attractive price,” or,
“This wine can be purchased at the attractive price of $20 per
bottle.”
Product more desirable when scarce and price was not
mentioned. Mention of price eliminated the scarcity appeal.
Do not mention price or utility when using scarcity.
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How to reduce littering
Which approach had the highest percentage of
litter that was properly disposed of in a
classroom building? Three randomly assigned
groups
Control Group: no treatment: 32%
85%
Treatment A: told they were neat and tidy:
Treatment B: told that they should be neat and
31%
tidy:
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Attribute favorable behavior or traits to
the target market (2.4.1)
A 1950 print ad by Bell Telephone read, “Your cooperation is
always a big help in maintaining good telephone service and we
want you to know how much we appreciate it.”
In the early 1990s, The Economist magazine ran a campaign
praising their readers. One ad said:
“A poster should contain no more than eight words, which is
the maximum the average reader can take in at a single glance.
This, however, is a poster for Economist readers.”
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Successful application of attribution
“1984” by Apple (8:14)
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Another successful application of attribution
Stereotypes – Stossel in the Classroom – (6:00)
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Associate products with things that are
favorable and relevant to the product (2.5.1)
Mixed evidence: Analysis of 1,059 TV commercials from leading
advertisers found that “scenic beauty” was associated with
lower persuasiveness (Stewart & Furse 1986).
Probably a negative if the ad has strong arguments.
Note: Remember that liking can be a strategy in certain
situations, but it is not an objective.
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Favorable associations:
Good applications
St. Patrick’s Day (Guinness)
Nescafe coffee commercials (0:30)
Note the power of a creative application
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Molson Beer Case
Molson beer ads showed a young man with two
adorable puppies on the 1st page. The 2nd
page explained that the 1st page was being
published in women ’ s magazines to
condition them to like men who drink
Molson beer. Readers were told that there
are “hundreds of thousands of women preprogrammed for your convenience.”
Is this a good application of positive
associations?
Would you approve this ad if you were a
Molson executive?
How would you test this ad?
While it was a clever application of the liking
principle, the ad led to protests by watchdog
groups. It could have been copy-tested in the
concept phase.
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Violation of positive associations
Coke and the 101-year-old grandma: (0:29)
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The Car Salesman
Should you buy a car because you like the salesman?
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Balance theory
Multiply the signs. If
negative, one feels
dissonance and tries to
resolve it.
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Common enemy: Good application
Norway Tram: 0:44
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An unsuccessful application of balance theory:
too complex and too negative for a lowinvolvement product
Herb the Nerd
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To enhance believability, consider using
support from an authority (2.6.1)
More persuasive for advertising “credence goods.”
Believability higher if message is supported by an
institution/person respected as an authority by the target
market.
– spokesperson should look and sound authoritative.
– writing, font, layout, illustration, etc. should look
authoritative.
Authority is powerful. Use it truthfully to develop good longterm relationships.
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Evidence for the effects of authority
Experimenters told subjects in the role of “teachers” to
apply electric shocks to people who missed questions
on a test. Some of the teachers thought that their
subject, the “learner,” died during the experiment.
Primary evidence due to the Milgram experiments
obedience to authority. (6:00)
The experiments were extended by others – with
similar findings.
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An extension of the Milgram study
21 of 22 nurses administered a drug even though the
medicine was unauthorized and the dosage was twice
the maximum dosage stated on the bottle. This
happened even though the
– doctor gave the order by phone (a violation of
hospital policy), and
– the doctor was unknown to the nurse.
The obedience findings are surprising. Another sample
of 33 nurses was asked if they would follow such an
order and 31 of them said they would not. (Hofling et
al 1966)
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Example using an
authority to
influence
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Ask customers to make an explicit
promise (2.7.1.)
When homeowners were asked to make a
private pledge to save money, their energy
use decreased by 4% relative to a control
group (Pallak & Cummings 1976)
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Heart Association Fund Drive
You are walking down a street when someone asks if you would
complete a short survey on what you think of the Heart
Association. Then, whether you complete the survey or
refuse, the person asks you to make a donation to the Heart
Association. Would the fact that you were asked to complete
a survey make you more likely to donate? ____ No _____
Yes
Almost twice as many of the subjects asked to complete the
survey donated (most had filled out the survey).
Source: Reingen 1978
But consider ethics and legal issues: You are not allowed to use a
survey as an advertising tool.
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Commitment
“Foot in the door” (FITD) -- people are more likely to commit if
they have previously made a related smaller commitment. The
initial step should be freely chosen.
Foot in the door: Ask customers to take a relevant small step,
then follow up quickly with a directly related second request.
(2.7.2)
43 studies found this principle to be especially effective for social
causes (Dillard’s 1991 meta-analyses).
The effects for commercial products are weak.
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Why Give Things Away?
In the late 1800s, Pear’s Soap Company sent a bar of soap & baby
care leaflets to babies whose birth was announced in The Times
in England.
In the 1880s, Quaker Oats gave out calendars, cookbooks, blotters,
church fans, and cereal.
How should you give products away?
Give something to specific individuals when they can
reciprocate easily (2.8.1) There should be no strings
attached to the gift.
“There is no duty more indispensable than that of returning a kindness.” Cicero,
53B.C.
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Field experiment: Address labels
Donations for the American
Disabled Veterans received
a 18% response rate for a
mail solicitation. What
percent response did they
get when free address
labels were included?
35%
Source: Smolowe 1990
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Field experiment:
Mail survey response rates
A mail survey promised a $50 payment upon receipt
of the completed survey. Predict the percentage of
respondents.
23%
The same survey was mailed with $5.00
included. Predict the percentage of
respondents.
49%
Note that promises do not work well.
Source: James & Bolstein 1992
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Waste Management Campaign
Meet in your group
Apply the Influence principles to the development
of the Waste Management TV campaign. Suggest
concepts for 30-second commercials.
Also use the principles checklists up to this point.
Also apply techniques from “nurturing creativity” by
using those checklists.
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Conditions for Waste Management
TV Campaign
• Objectives:
– Profits
– Fair treatment of stakeholder groups
• Product: Collect and dispose of household & commercial
waste. (High involvement)
- Benefits: Most experienced; high technical competence;
proven effectiveness
- Image problem (environmentalists; Mafia?)
• Target markets
– City government officials
– People in the city
– Employees
– Investors
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Applications of influence principles
Apply the principles from this session to Waste
Management.
Do not look at any information or TV commercials for
Waste Management.
Prepare a ten-minute PPT for Waste Management
showing commercials that you would recommend.
Present this in the next class session as indicated on the
schedule. Act as you would act as if you were in this
situation.
DON’T CONTINUE WITH SLIDES UNTIL AFTER YOUR PRESENTATION.
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Techniques
In your diary, describe the techniques that you were
able to use for the Waste Management campaign, and
rate your success (e.g., creativity, objective setting)
In your diary, write how you would use experimentation
to test your Waste Management ads.
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Advice on learning techniques
One study found that fewer than 10% of students were
successful in applying new knowledge.
• This went to 20% if they actively applied what they
were taught during a class session.
• It went to 90% when they worked with a learning
partner and coached each other.
Select techniques to apply
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Follow-up: Complete prior to next session
1. ___ Go through this lecture on your own (It is on
the Educational Materials page)
2. ___Study Persuasive Advertising pages 63-84 and record
your reading time in your learning diary. Highlight
techniques that you want to apply in yellow.
3. ___ Complete the End of Chapter Questions for
“Influence” and check your answers against PA.
4. __ When you have completed all steps, check your
approach against Waste Management’s award winning
campaign.
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Waste Management Campaign
Compare your ideas with those used in
their award winning campaign. See next
slide. How many of their principles did you
use?
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Waste Management Applications of Influence Principles
Ad
Target
Market
Suit to
Protect
Local
community
Buenos Aires
Local
community
Recycling &
energy
Local
community
Anais
Greenbay
Employees
Butterfly
Local
community
Energy
source
Reciprocity
Commitment
Social
Proof
Liking
Authority
Scarcity
Reasoned
Action
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Local
community
X
X
Pollution
control
Local
community
X
X
Olympics
Local
community
X
X
San Jose
Recycling
Local
community
X
X
X
X
Australia
Local
community
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Note: Local government implies not only the officials, but also the voters
X
X