8 Persuasive Techniques That Work

Persuasive techniques are strategies that can help you to convince people to see things your way. Marketers often use these tactics to get people to buy their products or sign up for their services.

At a Glance

• Persuasive techniques are a vital part of our lives, both professionally and personally.
• Learning about these techniques can help you to become more aware of outside influence.
• You can become more influential by utilizing these techniques in your own life.

Key Persuasive Techniques

1. Create a Need: Appeal to fundamental needs like safety, belonging, love, self-esteem, or self-actualization.
2. Appeal to Social Needs: Leverage the desire to be accepted, admired, or similar to others.
3. Use Loaded Words and Images: Create emotional responses that go beyond literal meanings.
4. Get Your Foot in the Door: Start with a small request to increase the likelihood of success with a larger request.
5. Go Big and Then Small: Lead with an unrealistic request, then follow with a smaller, more reasonable offer.
6. Utilize the Power of Reciprocation: Make people feel inclined to return a favor by doing them a kindness.
7. Create an Anchor Point: Be the first to suggest a number or price in negotiations to influence future negotiations.
8. Limit Your Availability: Make things appear more valuable by limiting their availability (scarcity principle).

Identifying Persuasive Techniques

• Look for examples of these techniques in daily life, especially in advertising.

How People Resist Persuasive Techniques

• Disconfirmation: Challenge the message or discredit the source of information.
• Resistance: Avoid the message, install ad blockers, or use self-discipline to avoid being persuaded.
• Bias: Existing biases, like the optimism bias, can lead to resistance to certain messages.