Social Influence
Lecture 1 – Introduc.on & Heuris.cs
® Social influence: when one’s emo+ons, opinions or behaviors are affected by others.
® (Pure) persuasion: inten-onal, focused on other people and compliance
gaining: reques+ng (non-coercive).
® A handgun, two-million-euro, or a set of great arguments will mo+vate
people to engage in certain behaviors, but we focus on situa+ons in which
you have none of these.
Two important ques.ons:
1. How much control do people have over the informa6on-processing steps?
Not so much.
Automa-c processing: lack of awareness, unintended,
uncontrollable, efficient (what color is this?) ® heuris-cs
Controlled processing: awareness, intended, controllable,
efforFul (321 x 123 = ?)
2. Are people aware of the actual causes of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
Not so much.
A8ribu-on heuris-c: we want to know why something is happening. The perceived
cause is oHen more posi+ve than the actual cause.
Heuris.cs and how we use them
® Heuris-cs are strategies that use accessible informa+on to decide, such
as rules of thumb or common sense.
® Fixed-ac-on pa8ern: behaviors that occur in virtually the same fashion
and order every +me, even when the outcome is different
Examples of common heuris.cs
® Because …
People like reasons for what they do. Therefore, people are more likely to do us a favor when
we provide them a reason to do so.
Study Langer and collages
Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine …
… no reason
… because I am in a rush.
… because I have to make some copies (does not add anything)
These two ‘reasons’ did not make a difference in the percentage of people who let the person before them.
Excuse me, I have twenty pages, may I use the Xerox machine …
This does make a difference: the stakes (Hme investments) are higher,
people start to think more criHcally about the argument that is presented.
, ® Expensive = good
‘Expensive’ beers taste beMer than ‘inexpensive’ ones (if quality and style
are similar). This is true even when prices and brands are switched.
Price: how much you are willing to pay for it, not the value of the materials.
‘Because you’re worth it’ ® not only use a valuable product: if you are buying
cheap, you are a cheap person, what you buy is what you are.
Evaluate the value of bracelet ® Therefore, inexpensive = bad
o As such
o As a free present Discounts: discount coupons result in higher
People are willing to pay 35% less when they sales, even when no savings are offered (now
know it is a free present. prohibited in the Netherlands).
If you offer free products, indicate the price.
® Effort heuris-cs
The effort, +me involved in You find 80 euros, what would you spend it on?
producing is an indicator on You worked for 80 euros, what would you spend it
value (more efforted = more on?
ra+onal choice)
If you download an app, put in all your data, invited your friends etc.,
and then you must pay, you are more likely to do it than right at the
beginning.
Hard-to-get: the effort spend on someone gives an indica+on on the value of the person.
® However: effort and arguments (the opposite)
When an argument is easy to process, it is more likely to be true: slogans in
rhyme.
The easier it is to think of posi+ve aspects of a product, the more posi+vely
that product is evaluated.
Name ten reasons why a BMW is a good car
Self persuasion
® Recogni-on heuris-c
When making a choice among a set of alterna+ves, recognized objects are perceived to have
higher value. In many cases this is a valid assump+on.
Which stocks are more
Social proof: the greater the number of people who find any idea expensive?
correct, the more an individual will perceive the idea to be correct. A. Coca Cola
B. Seaboard CorporaHon
® Simula-on heuris-c
The likelihood of an event happening is based on how easy it is to picture (risk percep-ons)
Lecture 1 – Introduc.on & Heuris.cs
® Social influence: when one’s emo+ons, opinions or behaviors are affected by others.
® (Pure) persuasion: inten-onal, focused on other people and compliance
gaining: reques+ng (non-coercive).
® A handgun, two-million-euro, or a set of great arguments will mo+vate
people to engage in certain behaviors, but we focus on situa+ons in which
you have none of these.
Two important ques.ons:
1. How much control do people have over the informa6on-processing steps?
Not so much.
Automa-c processing: lack of awareness, unintended,
uncontrollable, efficient (what color is this?) ® heuris-cs
Controlled processing: awareness, intended, controllable,
efforFul (321 x 123 = ?)
2. Are people aware of the actual causes of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
Not so much.
A8ribu-on heuris-c: we want to know why something is happening. The perceived
cause is oHen more posi+ve than the actual cause.
Heuris.cs and how we use them
® Heuris-cs are strategies that use accessible informa+on to decide, such
as rules of thumb or common sense.
® Fixed-ac-on pa8ern: behaviors that occur in virtually the same fashion
and order every +me, even when the outcome is different
Examples of common heuris.cs
® Because …
People like reasons for what they do. Therefore, people are more likely to do us a favor when
we provide them a reason to do so.
Study Langer and collages
Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine …
… no reason
… because I am in a rush.
… because I have to make some copies (does not add anything)
These two ‘reasons’ did not make a difference in the percentage of people who let the person before them.
Excuse me, I have twenty pages, may I use the Xerox machine …
This does make a difference: the stakes (Hme investments) are higher,
people start to think more criHcally about the argument that is presented.
, ® Expensive = good
‘Expensive’ beers taste beMer than ‘inexpensive’ ones (if quality and style
are similar). This is true even when prices and brands are switched.
Price: how much you are willing to pay for it, not the value of the materials.
‘Because you’re worth it’ ® not only use a valuable product: if you are buying
cheap, you are a cheap person, what you buy is what you are.
Evaluate the value of bracelet ® Therefore, inexpensive = bad
o As such
o As a free present Discounts: discount coupons result in higher
People are willing to pay 35% less when they sales, even when no savings are offered (now
know it is a free present. prohibited in the Netherlands).
If you offer free products, indicate the price.
® Effort heuris-cs
The effort, +me involved in You find 80 euros, what would you spend it on?
producing is an indicator on You worked for 80 euros, what would you spend it
value (more efforted = more on?
ra+onal choice)
If you download an app, put in all your data, invited your friends etc.,
and then you must pay, you are more likely to do it than right at the
beginning.
Hard-to-get: the effort spend on someone gives an indica+on on the value of the person.
® However: effort and arguments (the opposite)
When an argument is easy to process, it is more likely to be true: slogans in
rhyme.
The easier it is to think of posi+ve aspects of a product, the more posi+vely
that product is evaluated.
Name ten reasons why a BMW is a good car
Self persuasion
® Recogni-on heuris-c
When making a choice among a set of alterna+ves, recognized objects are perceived to have
higher value. In many cases this is a valid assump+on.
Which stocks are more
Social proof: the greater the number of people who find any idea expensive?
correct, the more an individual will perceive the idea to be correct. A. Coca Cola
B. Seaboard CorporaHon
® Simula-on heuris-c
The likelihood of an event happening is based on how easy it is to picture (risk percep-ons)
