Robert Cialdini’s — 6 laws of influence
or laws that can make things happen (for UX)
Before learning about “Robert Cialdini’s — 6 laws of influence” and its impact on Marketing and User Experience, let me remind you of a few things that you might’ve witnessed already but never really given thought about.
“Okay, let me buy all of it”
There are times when you think, you want to order a pack of milk online and end up ordering things you never even thought of. Of course, the pack of milk is included. How did that happen?
“My celebrity crush said so”
Do you remember that celeb who was using this x product and says “this worked like a charm for me, you should try it too”?
And lot of people actually bought it.
I know you might not have done this, but there are a lot of people who tried just because their favourite celeb said so. But why?
“Did you check the reviews?”
You: Hey, look, I’m planning to buy this for my partner, what do you think?
Your friend: Nice, but did you check the reviews?Sounds very recent? must be.
When was the last time you bought something by looking at good reviews on an e-commerce site?
I'm sure you must’ve been in some of these events. But why did people end up doing such things? Is there a science behind it? Maybe.
Influence [ noun] — /ˈɪnflʊəns/
“to affect or change how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks”
Robert Cialdini’s — 6 laws of influence
also called the “6 laws of persuasion”
Persuasion is the ability to influence people’s thoughts and actions through specific strategies. To ace this skill, you must first understand some basic principles, called the Laws of Persuasion.
These six laws by themselves are neither good nor bad but they describe how most people respond to certain circumstances. Psychologist Robert Cialdini wrote the seminal book on the Laws of Persuasion, titled “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” in which he discusses the prevalent methods of marketing.
Even though you may not wish to believe it, a great deal of psychological research indicates that human beings are quite predictable in terms of behaviour in response to certain stimuli, such as ads. This is why marketing and advertising are highly profitable enterprises. A vast majority of people who see advertisements end up purchasing the goods or services being promoted. If you are aware of the rules of persuasion, you can limit the extent to which you are influenced by others and even use them to your advantage in talks.
Here are the 6 laws of Influence highlighted in “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Dr Robert Cialdini.
- Law of Reciprocation
- Commitment & Consistency
- Social Proof
- Liking Principle
- Authority Principle
- Scarcity Principle
1 — Law of Reciprocation ⚖️
The principle of reciprocity states that human beings are wired to return favours and pay back debts, so companies often give out free samples or discounts to get customers to feel obligated to purchase from them.
“No one wants to be in debt, but how do I pay it back?”
2 — Commitment & Consistency 🕰️
Commitment is based on people’s need to be seen as consistent, so companies often get customers to commit to something relatively small to increase the likelihood that they’ll become customers
“I have no clue why I check my phone first thing in the morning”
3 — Social Proof 👥
Social proof is based on people’s tendency to do what they observe others doing, so companies often showcase reviews or testimonials to encourage customers to buy.
“This product is bought by 12,834 people, it must be nice”
4 — Liking Principle ❤️
The principle of liking is based on people’s tendency to be more persuaded by someone they like, so companies often create great “About Us” pages with stories and personal details to humanize their staff and make customers more likely to like them.
“Here, look at the reviews, a lot of people like this product. Let’s buy this”
5— Authority Principle 👮♀️👩⚕️
The principle of authority states that people are more likely to accept what an authority figure says, so companies often bring in celebrity endorsements or use job titles and uniforms to create an air of authority.
“A police officer is asking to pulloverr, let’s do it”
“This basketball player promotes these shoes, they must be so nice”
“My health report came from a trusted source, this can’t go wrong”
6— Scarcity Principle 🥡
The principle of scarcity is based on people’s fear of missing out, so companies often create time-limited deals or advertise that a product is in low supply to encourage customers to act quickly.
“Last few pieces available”
“You get 20% off on your order, if you place it in next 20 minutes”
Is this a dark practice?
Nope.
Not, when it’s done for good.
This is just another way of entering a user’s space by understanding their behavioural patterns and helping them make wise decisions.
Implementing the laws of influence in design should only help users to take informed decisions, but should not lure them into something they shouldn’t be doing otherwise. For example, you don’t want to ask the user to plant a bomb, instead, you can ask them to signup for a newsletter, it’s helpful.
On the other hand, there are scammers, who use these principles and execute phishing attacks on their targets to steal the information. Which is an illegal and punishable offence. So don’t do it, be a good human.
Who should learn this? Design Or Marketing?
Can I say both?
Yes, “designers” need to learn this to make a better design and “marketing” should learn this as part of their persuasion skills.
However, most of us know these principles from experience, and there are zero cons to learning these principles if you don’t know them yet. So please feel free to learn even if you’re not part of design or marketing.
#happylearning #designforall ✌️
