On Thursday night I listened to a show called Radio Lab<\/strong> on National Public Radio<\/strong>. Anyone interested in trying to close the gap between intention and action, whether in yourself or others; anyone who seeks to be persuasive and gain influence\u00a0over themselves or others,should go to the website and download the broadcast<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a strong reminder that one way to be persuasive–to get yourself or other people to do things\u2014one way to be an effective i<\/a>nfluencer–is to create in your own mind, or theirs, the thing called \u00a0FUD<\/a> (fear<\/a>, uncertainty<\/a>, and doubt.)<\/p>\n

In one segment, a woman who had been trying to quit smoking for years met an old friend who said, “I see you’re still smoking.” The smoker took it defensively, and said, “Alright. That’s it. If I ever smoke again, I’m going to give a $5000 donation to the Ku Klux Klan.” Since the Ku Klux Klan was, in fact, the political organization she hated most, she had created for herself a powerful incentive to never smoke again. She drew a red line between herself and a cigarette–a red line made of FUD.<\/p>\n

I am not sure of the outcome of the story (my dinner was on the table), but I believe the two friends shook hands to seal the deal. So in this case, by establishing unpleasant consequences for smoking, she had created an effective incentive for herself: to close the gap \u00a0between her intention and her action.<\/p>\n

However, in order keep this Sword of Damocles hanging over her head, she also needed \u00a0something else. \u00a0She needed the desire to be consistent with her promise. \u00a0In other words, she needed to feel obliged to do what she said she would do. \u00a0She needed to be consistent in front of her friend, and she needed to feel consistent within herself. And guess what? \u00a0Most of us need the same thing: \u00a0we need respect from others, and we need self-respect.<\/p>\n

The fear of loss is a powerful incentive for action. \u00a0Whether it’s the loss of respect from others, the loss of self-esteem, or a material<\/em> loss, much of our behavior is driven by loss-avoidance.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s remember this when we\u2019re trying to influence an audience. \u00a0 We need to remind them of the benefits of our products and services, AND we must mention what price the audience might pay should they choose not to do what we suggest.<\/p>\n

As long as our fear-based arguments are true, they are ethical, and are proven to be persuasive\u00a0in certain situations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday night I listened to a show called Radio Lab on National Public Radio. Anyone interested in trying to close the gap between intention and action, whether in yourself or others; anyone who seeks to be persuasive and gain influence\u00a0over themselves or others,should go to the website and download the broadcast.\u00a0 It\u2019s a strong… Read More »Persuasion, Influence and the Fear of Loss<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[336,149,1],"tags":[18,297,117,904],"yoast_head":"\n