By Eleanor Pierce
When was the last time you succeeded in changing someone’s mind?
It’s hard to think of examples because persuasive communication is just plain difficult.
In political discussions, we tend to walk in armed with our own viewpoints and our favorite biases.
Then we throw stones at one another until someone gets frustrated enough to walk away.
But there are times and places where we really need to change someone’s mind.
Perhaps it’s about a brand preference. About an attitude toward a type of service. It could be about our opinions on a place to take a vacation. The list is really endless.
So how do we do this persuasive communication?
I’ll Sell You a Truck for One Million Dollars
If we are going to persuade, we need to “seek first to understand.”
This is where research comes in. We need to understand people’s motivations and their biases.
And fortunately, there are often themes, especially when it comes to biases.
Take, for instance, the anchoring bias.
Anchoring is the tendency to rely on one piece of information to the exclusion of other info. We anchor on that early bit of information—it’s often the first piece of information we have about a subject.
If you’re in negotiations, you can actually use the anchoring bias to your benefit.
Let’s say you are selling a truck (this is a particularly relevant example to me … we’re downsizing if anyone near Bend, Oregon, is looking!).
Whatever number you throw out first will (within reason) generally serve as the anchor for negotiations about the price of the truck.
If you start with a higher number, you’ll likely sell your truck for more, even if people negotiate you down on the price. They’ll negotiate down from the starting point you set.
Tricks of Persuasion
There are several theories of persuasive communication, and several ways to overcome a variety of biases, including the anchoring bias.
We’ve talked a great deal here at Spin Sucks about one type of persuasion that comes in handy in communications: Social proof.
Social proof relies on the fact that we want to be like others. We assume if a bunch of people are into something, we should probably be into it, too.
There are more methods and tools for persuasive communication, as well, including priming, scarcity, and the sleeper effect.
But to my mind, the best way to avoid getting trapped by the anchoring bias is to get your message out in front of a problem. Don’t wait for misinformation to spread in the first place.
Here’s an example of how to miss that mark.
Sarah Palin Gets Persuasive Communication (Wink)
Back in 2009, when the Obama team rolled out the Affordable Care Act, I believe I’ll make no political enemies by saying that the Obama communications team didn’t do a great job getting out in front of the news.
It was, simply put, not a persuasive communication program.
They just didn’t get their message out effectively. The very big, very complex issue wasn’t effectively communicated. They didn’t simplify.
They didn’t do a good job of making it personal.
So what happened next?
Sarah Palin happened.
She took to Facebook and suggested the government was going to convene death panels.
This is what Palin wrote:
The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.
Obama’s death panels deciding who would live or die! Children with disabilities and the elderly being struck down by faceless bureaucracy!
Was it true?
Not one bit. Was it simple and personal?
You betcha.
And it was an idea that caught fire.
Even now, in 2015, six years after the above-mentioned Facebook post, 26 percent of Republicans and 12 percent of Democrats (the president’s own party!) still believe in death panels.
By the time the death panels myth took hold, it was too late.
I’d argue that’s largely because the idea of death panels was one of the first things people heard about the new law.
The idea anchored in their minds, and once that happens, it’s not easy to knock loose, no matter how good your persuasive communication program is.
Other Cognitive Biases
Now, anchoring bias is just one example. There is a whole list of cognitive biases to consider when you’re putting together a persuasive communication campaign.
There’s the curse of knowledge. Confirmation bias. Negativity bias.
And the tactics for overcoming each type of bias are going to be different.
So tell me: What’s one really good, persuasive communication campaign you can think of that successfully helped people overcome their biases?
I love this topic! I had a fantastic professor in college who taught a class on persuasion and would bring in various pieces of mail to have us analyze the different techniques used. Nerd alert – It’s become a habit for me to dissect my own mail now (nonprofit appeal letters are my favorite).
While I haven’t seen any conclusions drawn for it yet, I would be interested to see the results of the Buick campaign (https://youtu.be/BSAkNP0qs-w). The first time I saw one of the commercials, I was struck by how spot-on it was. Yes, I did think Buick’s were old, bulky sedans. While I still need some more convincing to make me seriously consider buying one, at least it’s on my radar now.
Ugh. I’ll grant you the administration did a poor job communicating, AND I’ll grant that the opposition is much better at the catchy soundbites. But part of the reason “death panels” caught fire is the failure of the Washington media.
Jay Rosen has written about this extensively. The New York Times famously said that it’s not their job to evaluate whether the claims of political partisans are factual, but simply to present “both sides” and let readers decide. I could go on and on, but I won’t. Sigh.
Regarding anchoring, I need to get better at that in negotiating fees!
RobBiesenbach Really interesting point. When it comes to political claims, fact from fiction is often hard to guage (here it isn’t, but it often is).
I’ve thought about the same thing as it relates to things like (not to get too political here, but, come on) climate science. IMHO, you shouldn’t give deniers the same weight/inches as you give the ENTIRE scientific community.
Erin Knothe Oh, that’s a great example!
Agreed, the admin did a poor job of shaping the story. Oh, and they let Sarah Palin, of all people, do it for them. #fail.
The most successful campaign to overcome personal bias might be the marriage equality campaign in California and, just this week, Caitlyn Jenner.
Maybe the 2x electoral triumph of Barak Obama is another example of overcoming subtle, pernicious, and poisonous personal bias. What else?
danielschiller I am still kind of stunned about how well the media—and people I know in general—are treating Caitlyn Jenner. I hope seriously hope she sent flowers to Laverne Cox for paving the way.
And I’ll have to think about the Obama reelection. It seems like there was still so much vitriol, it was only the really wishy-washy who were able to be persuaded. Or maybe that’s just the way the media plays the story?
Eleanor Pierce – Regarding Caitlyn, I’m stunned about the coverage too. She should be sending Laverne Cox flowers, and hopefully donating some of the proceeds of her reality show to helping those transitioning.
RE: Obama reelection, I agree there was a ton of vitriol but it wasn’t really legit. People want to believe things.
Back to Palin for a moment, the Death Panel thing is a rhetorical construct. Well done, but she certainly doesn’t believe insurance companies don’t have death panels.
No.
DO IT
“It’s hard to think of examples because persuasive communication is just plain difficult. So tell me: What’s one really good, persuasive communication campaign you can think of that successfully helped people overcome their biases?”
The last one I can recall was when there was military recruitment on my campus. One half didn’t want them there because of their bias against homosexuals, the other half thought that those who wanted to enlist should have the chance. What was persuasive against the naysayers? Homosexuals enlisted under “don’t tell”, and quietly told the naysayers that they’re happy, so please go home.
Of course it worked. That was a long time ago.
Diana Combs Interesting. So the anti-recruiter camp changed their minds?
Eleanor Pierce Yes, because those they thought they represented ultimately disagreed with them. They were mad at the homosexuals for not “appreciating” their champions, but the homosexuals saw it differently. Their thinking was “well we CAN recruit so your point is moot”. They would not “tell” in any work environment, so even the military policy didn’t bother them as much as the champions thought.
No.
(Shakes fist)
U0001f44b
danielschiller I read an interesting piece by the NPR sports commentator Frank Deford about how Jenner was really astute about the opportunities available to him as an olympian before a lot of people thought about it that way. He campaigned to be on the Wheaties box. He advocated for himself and turned himself into a brand in a really smart way.
So, all of that is to say: I haven’t heard much that suggests Caitlyn is going to be a big philanthropist. 😉
Y U so mean?
I’m a big meany mcmeanerson.
Eleanor Pierce Right. On second thought, maybe we’d have better luck with changing the minds of anti-vaxxers.
meetmikemorgan Thanks for the share Mike 🙂
ginaobrienz Appreciate it Gina!
WaynePorteous1 Thank you Wayne!
midgehand Thanks Midge! (And I love the name Midge! I call my daughter that sometimes—she’s a Maggie/Margaret)
emilybodmanNZ Thank you Emily!