Persuasion is the art of convincing others of your opinion, view, reason, or perception of the world around you. Each of us actually uses persuasion daily. Examples include parents trying to persuade their children to do something, salespeople, and advertising creators. The use of persuasion is common in many areas of life, in everyday situations, and in interpersonal relations. We have prepared a persuasive test for anyone who would like to find out the level of their persuasion – the gift of convincing.
What Is Persuasion?
Table of Contents
It would not be very wise for you to start a persuasive test without knowing the basic definitions of the concept.
Persuasion is a tool we use every day. Some of us use it almost all the time, while others use it less often. As a rule, people use it in peer discussions, negotiations, manipulations, and arguments.
Generally speaking, persuasion is about convincing others of your point of view. It is worth adding the fact that the effects of persuasion are not intended to be negative. This is one of several differences between persuasion and manipulation.
Only some contact with other people is accompanied by the desire to present reality objectively through linguistic means. More often, however, even if you inform about something, you do it to persuade, through linguistic means, the recipient to adopt a certain attitude and accept certain beliefs, desirable evaluations, and values, often convenient for you.
Persuasion Techniques
We now turn to a discussion of the six principles of persuasion developed by Robert Cialdini, on which many researchers have subsequently relied in their divisions. They have found a permanent place in marketing and psychology, and research on them and work on classification is still ongoing. It is worth noting that these techniques use human automatisms, which is why they have gained such popularity. Cialdini distinguishes the rule of reciprocity, consistency (commitment), social proof, the rule of liking, authority, and inaccessibility.
Know these techniques? Start the persuasive test right away, then.
1. Reciprocity
During his research, Robert Cialdini found his first rule, which most of us could guess from common sense. According to his findings, people treat others the way they think others treat them. This means, for example, that you will be more friendly to people who are friendly to you. So you actually have a lot of power to influence whether you get along well (or not) with someone.
Advertising often uses this idea. The reasons why brands sometimes give away their products for free have to do with reciprocity. They know that consumers will appreciate the gesture and, therefore, be more loyal to that brand. A good example of this is all the fast-food companies that give away free food after a professional sports team wins a game.
2. Social Proof
A rule based on the mechanism of conformity. We assume in advance that a behavior is correct if others do the same. We encounter social proof every day, for example, at a pedestrian crossing.
3. Authority
According to the principle of authority, we are predisposed to be persuaded if we are pressured by someone we consider an authority figure.
This is not related to the abuse of power but rather to the aura of authority’s credibility and the status that authority imposes. We believe that those in positions of authority have more in-depth knowledge, more experience, or more right to express an opinion.
The principle of authority uses two key elements: hierarchy and symbols. Hierarchy is based on the belief that those who have reached higher positions have more knowledge and experience than others.
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4. Liking
Beauty, likeness, intimacy, compliments, and flattery are just some of the factors that cause us to like and entice us. The use of models and celebrities in advertising is based on liking and intimacy.
5. Commitment And Consistency
The impact of the principle of commitment and consistency is based on the desire to be and appear to be a person displaying attitudes and behaviors that are consistent at all times. According to this principle, people will be more likely to accept someone’s terms if they match their commitment.
6. Scarcity
There is a clear tendency to believe that there are enough resources for everyone; however, we believe it is more valuable if a resource is scarce. Time or availability may limit the unavailability of a product or service. In general, the perception of unavailability generates demand.
About This Persuasive Test
The persuasion techniques you learned today are used almost every step of the way in many aspects of our lives. How persuasive do you think you are? Take the persuasive test, and you’ll find out how much you’ve mastered persuasion techniques.
