By Rick Fernandez
To make it easier for us to cope with our busy lives, our brains automate many of the repetitive daily tasks we face. This mental programming is stored in memory and categorized with specific triggers that will activate them when needed. Taking advantage of this can provide a powerful persuasion technique!
This human automatic action is aptly demonstrated in an experiment by Harvard social psychologist, Ellen Langer. A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.
Langer demonstrated this unsurprising fact by asking a small favor of people waiting in line to use a library copying machine: Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copy machine, because I’m in a rush? The effectiveness of this request-plus-reason was 95%. Next she made the request only: Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copy machine? Under these circumstances, only 60% complied. It would appear the crucial difference between the two requests was the additional information provided by the words, “because I’m in a rush.”
But a third type of request showed that this was not the case. It seems it was not the whole series of words, but just the first one, “because,” that made the difference. Langer’s third request used the word “because,” but added no new information, merely restating the obvious: Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copy machine because I have to make some copies? The result was that nearly all (94%) complied, even though no real reason—no new information—was added to justify their compliance. The word “because” triggered an automatic compliance response from Langer’s subjects, even when they were given no subsequent reason to comply!
Although some of Langer’s additional findings show that there are many situations in which human behavior does not work in this mechanical, tape-activated way, what is astonishing is how often it does.
Remember, the next time you need a favorable response when you ask a favor, make the most of your request by including the word “because” in your statement. Here are three examples of how you might consider using this word in a sales situation:
Special Note: Remember to utilize the add-on method of memorization mentioned in our first edition.
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