<\/p>\n
No one knows when the art of selling was developed, but it\u2019s a safe bet that people have been trying to persuade others to buy (or trade) products for many millennia. In recent years persuasion is a skill that has been taught in business schools, on the job, and in books and videos. Usually, we think of persuasion as something that people do to each other. We don\u2019t often think of objects persuading people, but it turns out that objects can definitely persuade, at least as much as people can.<\/p>\n
This is known as Persuasive Design, and it\u2019s a new field that combines psychology and design to create objects of daily life that will persuade people to do things.<\/p>\n
Web marketers in particular know that Persuasive Design plays a big role in converting visitors to buyers at a website. The way the site is designed, including the graphics, layout, and text, can influence people to stick around and buy something.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s actually not such a new field, really. Gas stations have been using the principles of Persuasive Design for years now, when they attach a restroom key to a large piece of wood. When a restroom key is \u201cdesigned\u201d like this, you can\u2019t really put it in your pocket and forget to take it back to the manager, can you? The large piece of wood attached to the key sends a message that you can\u2019t ignore.<\/p>\n
That kind of rudimentary Persuasive Design has been happening for years, but nowadays the field has become a lot more sophisticated. It\u2019s because marketers are always trying to find the best way to influence people to buy their products, and they\u2019re becoming increasingly aware that design can influence us, even in unconscious ways.<\/p>\n
Web marketers, in particular, know that Persuasive Design plays a big role in converting visitors to buyers at a website. The way the site is designed, including the graphics, layout, and text, can influence people to stick around and buy something.<\/p>\n
Dr Robert Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, has studied this field for years, and in his book \u201cInfluence: The Psychology of Persuasion,\u201d Cialdini identifies six principles of persuasion:<\/p>\n
\n
- Reciprocation. People are basically good-hearted souls, and if you give them something, they will often return the favour. This is why businesses, especially on the Web, give away free samples, memberships, and trials of their product or service. People are more likely to buy if they get something free first.<\/li>\n
- Commitment & Consistency. Many companies today have realised the value of making a strong commitment to an ideal, whether it\u2019s to helping the environment, donating to people in need, or working for positive change in the world. A website that shares these values will resonate with visitors more than one that\u2019s just selling something.<\/li>\n
- Social proofing. One of Marketing industry\u2019s Big Ideas is that people will buy when they see recommendations from their peers. Web sites with reviews are a big hit, in fields like transportation (Uber), housing (Airbnb) and books (Amazon). Positive reviews act like a social approval, and people are more likely to buy when they see a five-star review of a product or service.<\/li>\n
- Authority. Again, people like to know that they\u2019re not alone in making a buying decision. Web sites that use testimonials, reviews, and comments from customers, and especially those that use authority figures to back up their claims, have more credibility with visitors.<\/li>\n
- Liking. We all respond well to attractive, likeable spokespeople. That\u2019s why so many celebrities are used to endorse products or services. If your advertising features a popular, well-liked movie star it gives a positive glow to your products. Celebrity endorsements are not practical for every product or campaign, but the right endorsement can build trust and credibility for a product, and it resonates with customers.<\/li>\n
- Scarcity. The law of supply and demand is a tried and true marketing tool. If people perceive that a product is scarce, its value increases in their eyes. Successful companies know this and use it to their advantage. Ever do a search on Amazon and find out that the product you found is one of only a few left in stock? It makes you want to buy it right away, doesn\u2019t it? There\u2019s nothing so persuasive as the feeling that the clock is ticking and you need to act now or you\u2019ll lose out on that last trinket in stock.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/p>\n
These are just a few ideas from the new field of Persuasive Design. This field is still growing, and the most important ideas for companies are in the subset of Persuasive Design that involves the way computers can be used to influence the people who interact with them. One of the premier thinkers in this field is Dr B.J. Fogg, director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, and he has written an excellent guide to it in a new book called, \u201cPersuasive Technology: Using Computers To Change What We Think And Do\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Fogg has coined the phrase \u201cCaptology\u201d (an acronym for Computers As Persuasive Technologies) to cover the domain of research, design, and applications of persuasive computers. He has studied how websites, software applications, and mobile devices can be used to change people’s attitudes and behaviour.<\/p>\n
There may still be some scoffers who think that they can\u2019t be influenced by software, websites, computers, or other technological devices, but their ranks are thinning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Dr Fogg\u2019s book is an excellent resource on the link between emotion and technology\u2014particularly in how technology is able to influence us in dealing with habits we would otherwise struggle to control through human contact and monitoring, for example, cigarette smoking.<\/p>\n
There are truly some amazing things happening in this field. When you think of the thousands, perhaps millions, of people who are using computers, phones, and other devices to monitor their food intake, exercise, sleep patterns, plus control habits like smoking, and realize that ten years ago or less none of these methods were available, you can see there is a great change underway.<\/p>\n
There may still be some scoffers who think that they can\u2019t be influenced by software, websites, computers, or other technological devices, but their ranks are thinning.<\/p>\n
Can computers change what you think and do? Can they motivate you to stop smoking, persuade you to buy insurance, or convince you to join the Army?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they can,\u201d says Dr Fogg, and the research seems to prove him right.<\/p>\n
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