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Persuasion and Influence Part 3: Commitment and Consistency Principle
Rick Henkin
As human beings, we are hardwired to behave and act in a consistent manner. This need to behave consistently is further reinforced when we've "taken a stand" or in some way committed ourselves to a stated "point of view". Think of people you might know who constantly change their mind, don't you find it frustrating? We don't attach much value to people whose words and actions don't match. We might see them as dishonest, lacking integrity, confused or even mentally ill. Consistency and commitment principle definedWe are more likely to be influenced when we've already made a commitment or taken a stand because we feel pressure to act in a way that's consistent with our prior choice. In his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)  , Robert Cialdini stated that "It is, quite simply, our nearly obsessive
desire to be (and to appear) consistent with what we have already done.
Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal
and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that
commitment. Those pressures will cause us to respond in ways that
justify our earlier decision."Example of consistency and commitment in actionIn an experiment conducted by psychologist Thomas Moriarty and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1975), the "experimenter" would put a beach blanket down about 5 feet from a random "subject", relax and listen to a portable radio, After a few minutes he would head down the beach leaving his radio on the blanket. A second experimenter, pretending to be a thief, would come by, grab the radio and try to make off with it. In only 4 instances out of 20 did anyone try to stop the "thief." I don't think this took place because people didn't care, but because they were concerned for their own safety. This same scenario was enacted 20 more times, but with a twist. Before the experimenter took off down the beach, he asked the subject to watch his things. All of the subjects agreed. Now, when the "thief" came by to steal the radio, 19 out of 20 people intervened, either running after the thief, trying to physically detain him or wrestle the radio out of his hands. Why did they do this? Why did they put themselves at risk when most of them wouldn't do so in the first scenario? It's because they gave had a need to behave consistently with the commitment they gave to the original experimenter, who asked them to watch his things. They had also created a self-image of being someone who watches out for others and had the need to live up to that image as well. Other studies have shown that this need to be consistent becomes even stronger when the commitment is stated publicly or written down. This is primarily because a public or written declaration can't easily be rescinded, especially if it's in your own handwriting and can easily be made public. Applying this principle to your businessOne of the ways this principle can be applied to your online business is to offer a product or service for a small price, perhaps a trial membership. This isn't done necessarily for profit, but to obtain a commitment from your prospect. Once you have that, it becomes much easier to move them along the pathway to more frequent and larger purchases. They've already made a commitment to your business. Think of the amount of money and time that's spent acquiring a customer. Once you have that customer and he's already bought from you, it's much easier to convince him to buy from you again. This of course assumes he's been treated fairly and ethically and has received real value for his money. There is a very true axiom that states, "Your best source of new business are your current customers." When you have people register for an online event such as a teleseminar or webinar, in addition to asking for their basic information, ask them to write down a few questions they'd like to have answered during the discussion. An even stronger approach is to ask them, "What's the single most important question you'd like answered?" Promise that you'll do your best (and mean it) to have that question asked and answered during the event. In your advertising copy and on your website, get them to say "yes" in little ways while you lead up to the big "Yes." Offering valuable free information such as a report, white paper or ebook is one way to do this. This also utilizes the principle of reciprocity, the subject of another one of our articles. You'll find that all of the principles can be used with one another and often are during the course of an online campaign. ARTICLE DATE: 2009-03-13 REVISED DATE: Share this Article as a Tweet on Twitter
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