So you did go ahead and finally buy that new Android phone which you’ve been eyeing off for some time now. And you sure are jumping with joy with your new ‘device’ and proudly showing it to your friends and family…
Of course you have your justified rationales as to why you went for that particular brand or model. Features such as the 5.5 inch HD display, 6GB RAM, awesome 16Mp camera, or the 128 GB internal memory, which is exactly what you needed to store tons of your favourite music, movies, photos and videos…
You also like the way it feels in your hand, and other features, such as how the colour of the phone compliments the colour of the leather strap on your wrist watch. All in all, a great buy, absolutely based on your ‘personal’ taste, preferences and opinions, right? Wrong!
In fact, whether we like to admit it or not, it seems every action, or every decision we make are largely dependent on the influence of others. Right from the phones or cars we buy, to which cereal to pick for breakfast, to which holiday destination to choose for the upcoming holiday, to which school to send our kids to, or where not to send. All of our ‘individual’ choices and behavioural patterns are largely and ‘invisibly’ influenced by others!
Says who?
Says Jonah Berger, the ‘influencer’ we have chosen today for this BlogSpeaK post.
Jonah Berger is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania. His research and works have been published in top academic journals including; The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.
Jonah is also a best-selling author of books such as; Contagious: Why Things Catch On and the most recent one called Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior.
Today we’ll look into some of the key concepts and ideas that Jonah has put forward in his book Invisible Influence, which are key to understanding how we are invisibly influenced and shaped by other people, and how can we use this intrinsic human nature to our advantage to live better personal and professional lives.
Social Influence: Mimicking Your Way To Success
It must be clear to you by now that social influence, or people in and around your life are constantly shaping the way you think, behave, dress, drive or influence your decisions to purchase, and so forth.
Most of us also tend to believe that such social influence affects everybody else, except for ourselves. Jonah goes on to say that social influence leads you to mimic others and others to mimic you. This is a core behavioural pattern - mimicry - which helps children to learn and grow. And for adults, if they want you to like them, they’ll consciously or unconsciously imitate your postures, gestures, smiles, tone of voice, etc.
People like those people who are like them, be it their style of dress, their genetic or racial traits, their mannerisms and behavioural traits, or the words they use. Jonah says one can use this phenomenon as a negotiating tactic. Jonah also says, negotiators, who mimic their opponents, are five times more likely to get what they want.
So next time you’re in a sales meeting, if your opponent rubs his/her eyes, you rub yours, or if he/she crosses his/her legs, you cross yours too. Mimicry helps to generate ‘rapport’ and convey subtly that both of you are in the same ‘tribe’, thus breeding trust and compliance. However, mimicry has to be done in a subtle manner, or else it will look downright rude and uncomfortable.
Jonah adds you could also mimic the language in emails. For instance, if they write ‘Dear’ or ‘Sincerely’, you do the same, it will make people feel closer to you, even if they don’t realise it consciously.
We Choose To Be ‘Optimally Distinct’
While you emulate and mimic those people you admire, be it their socioeconomic status, their politics, their education, how they view the world, etc., there is also a flip side to mimicry, i.e. some people inspire you to do just the opposite.
Say if someone you don’t quite like, also loves a band you’re fond of, or likes a certain restaurant you'd like to frequent, then you might like that band or the restaurant, a little less. Or if someone you respect and admire, hates the type of car you drive, then you might reconsider your opinion about that car, or that person.
Similarly, even though you initially liked something, you may reject it because too many people are buying or adopting it and you don’t want to be a part of the ‘mimicry’ trend. You want to assure yourself and others you have an ‘independent’ choice and therefore seek to be ‘Optimally Distinct’. You may even go to the extent of saying, “Well, I did get that new BMW (just like everyone in your immediate friends circle), but mine is a different colour”.
An example Jonah cites is that of a Gucci competitor sending a Gucci handbag as a gift in the mail to actor, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, known for playing an “outlandish,” character who wore “trashy” clothes on the reality TV show Jersey Shore.
The competitor knew that if audiences saw her carrying the bag, the perceived value of Gucci bags will substantially drop amongst the more sophisticated buyers of Gucci, who would want to differentiate themselves and be ‘optimally distinct’ from that particular character of the TV show.
Familiarity Breeds Liking
Have you ever come across a song or a jingle on the radio, which you dislike, but after a couple of weeks or so, having listened to it time and again, you begin to tap to its rhythm and start to sing along with it?
That’s another way Jonah says we get influenced in the long run, the more we hear or see something, the more we like it. In other words, ‘familiarity leads to liking’.
So how can you use this principle to increase your influence? Basically you have to ‘be seen’ more, i.e. if you want someone to like you, walk by their office more frequently, or find ways to run into them at the coffee shop, or the water cooler, but not to the point of behaving like a stalker.
An example Jonah cites is that of an experiment conducted by a psychology professor, who had three women join his class. All three women were asked to have a different attendance record for the total of 40 classes.
At the end of the class when he asked other students to grade the women on attractiveness, the one who attended most classes, was said to be more attractive and whom they’d want to be friends with. A clear indication that just the mere frequency in exposure could influence our liking of one person to another.
Finally…
Hope you’ve gained some more perspectives on how the human mind functions to influence oneself and others, and how these principles can be used to your benefit to negotiate a deal with your prospects or be appreciated by your colleagues and team members.
This wraps up our BlogSpeaK post for today. We’ll return with new insights from yet another Influencer soon.
If you'd like further assistance or would like to discuss anything covered today, we'd love to hear from you.
Call Andy Fox (me) on (03) 5249 5570 or email andy@element7digital.com.au
Our Website is element7digital.com.au
