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Former Member

Remember the “but you are free” technique?

When you ask someone to do something, be sure to include the statement that they are free to choose to do it or not. Adding this phrase doubles the likelihood they will do it.

Davis and Knowles demonstrated another simple persuasion method, which they dubbed the disrupt-then-reframe technique. In an experiment, two groups of participants were asked to purchase holiday cards supporting a local charity. When one group was told the box of cards cost $3, 40 percent of the participants purchased them. The other group was told the box of cards was 300 pennies, followed by the reframing “which is a bargain.”  In this second case, 80 percent of the participants purchased the holiday cards.

Disrupt-then-reframe works by interrupting people’s normal thought process by presenting a distraction (the price in pennies instead of dollars). The reframe follows quickly (the price is a bargain) while the distraction is being processed. When thought processes return to normal, people are likely to believe the reframe is true.

While this technique might seem too simplistic to work in a wide range of situations, disrupt-then-reframe has been verified on hundreds of participants in 14 different studies. Importantly the reframe does not need to be as obvious as the case above. In another experiment, researchers demonstrated the disruption by asking for donations using the phrase “money some” instead of “some money.” The key is to be slightly confusing, which taxes the brain.

So, the next time a salesperson says something confusing to you during negotiations, ask yourself whether they are trying to distract your thinking. An odd slip of the tongue like “this car has mileage low” followed by “it’s the best deal on the lot” might not be an accident after all. The salesperson might be practicing the scientific art of persuasion.

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This blog was originally posted on Manage By Walking Around on Dec. 15, 2013.

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