Mock Test 4

A. Our mother may have told you the secret to getting what you ask for was to say please. The reality is rather more surprising. Adam Dudding talks to a psychologist who has made a life's work from the science of persuasion. Some scientists peer at things through high-powered microscopes. Others goad rats through mazes or mix bubbling fluids in glass beakers. Robert Cialdini, for his part, does curious things with towels and believes that by doing so he is discovering important insights into how society works.

B. Cialdini's towel experiments are part of his research into how we persuade others to say yes. He wants to know why some people have a knack for bending the will of others, be it a telephone cold-caller talking to you about timeshares, or a parent whose children are compliant even without threats. For decades the Arizona State University social psychology professor has been creating systems for the principles and methods of persuasion and writing bestsellers about them. Some people seem to be born with the skills; Cialdini claims that by applying a little science, even those of us who are not should be able to get our own way more often.

C. He found that laboratory experiments on the psychology of persuasion were telling only part of the story, so he began to research influence in the real world, enrolling in sales-training programmes. He concluded there were six general principles of influence and has since put them to the test under more scientific conditions. Many hotels leave a card in each bathroom asking guests to reuse towels to conserve water and electricity and reduce pollution. Cialdini and his colleagues tested different words on those cards. When the card stated that the majority of guests had reused their towel at least once, guests were 26% more likely to reuse towels than those given the environmental message. Guests were responding to social proof, the idea that our decisions are strongly influenced by what we believe other people like us are doing.

D. Cialdini has also learnt a lot from confectionery. Behavioural scientist David Strohmetz wanted to see how restaurant patrons would respond to a small favour from their food server, in the form of after-dinner chocolate. When chocolates arrived in a heap with the bill, tips went up 3%. When chocolates were dropped individually in front of each diner, tips went up 14%. The breakthrough came when the waitress gave each diner one chocolate, headed away, then doubled back to give them one more each as if such generosity had just occurred to her. Tips went up 23%. This is reciprocity in action: we want to return favours done to us, often without calculating the relative value of what is received and given.

E. Geeling Ng, operations manager at Auckland's Soul Bar, says New Zealand tipping culture is very different from that of the US. But she understands the principle of reciprocity. The way to a diner's heart is to give them something they are not expecting in service. It might be as small as leaving a mint on their plate, or remembering that last time they wanted water with no ice and no lemon. In America, it would translate into an instant tip. In New Zealand, it translates into a huge smile and thanks, and no doubt return visits.

F. Reciprocity: People want to give back to those who have given to them. The trick is to get in first. That is why charities put a crummy pen inside a mailout, and why smiling women in supermarkets hand out free food. Scarcity: People want more of things they can have less of. Advertisers exploit scarcity with messages such as limit four per customer or sale must end soon.

G. Authority: We trust people who know what they are talking about. So inform people honestly of your credentials before you set out to influence them. In one study, therapists whose patients would not do their exercises were advised to display their qualification certificates prominently. They did and experienced an immediate leap in patient compliance.

H. Commitment and consistency: We want to act in a way that is consistent with commitments we have already made. This can be exploited to get a higher sign-up rate when soliciting charitable donations. First, ask workmates if they think they will sponsor you. Later, return with the sponsorship form to those who said yes and remind them of their earlier commitment.

I. Linking: We say yes more often to people we like. Reasons for linking can be weird. In one study, people were sent survey forms and asked to return them to a named researcher. When the researcher gave a fake name resembling that of the subject, surveys were twice as likely to be completed. We favour people who resemble us, even if the resemblance is as minor as the sound of their name.

J. Social proof: We decide what to do by looking around to see what others just like us are doing. This can be useful for parents. Find groups of children who are behaving in a way that you would like your child to, because the child looks to the side rather than at you. More perniciously, social proof underpins the competitive materialism of keeping up with the Joneses.