So your firm finally understands the importance of usability. They’ve hired a team of designers and spent a fortune on advertisements. There’s a small glitch though… customers aren’t doing what they are supposed to do i.e. buying the product that the firm has so sincerely promoted.
So how do you persuade people to actually purchase your product?
Social proof: If all those people are doing it… there must be something to it
Social proof is the phenomenon of people imitating what other people are doing, especially when the situation is ambiguous. We tend to look to others to validate a product. If people have recommended a hotel more than others, there is a greater chance that the hotel will be booked more often.
Susan Weinschenk, Phd., an expert in the science of persuasion, emphasizes the need to display peer reviews. People are more likely to imitate the behaviour of folks like themselves. The number of reviews help too, the more the reviews the more likely, people are to invest in the product/ service.
Reciprocity: Do a good deed and the favour will be returned
People are more likely return a gift when they are given one, as they feel obliged to do so. As human beings, we have a natural urge to repay debts and return favours, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you’. In the online space, this could be seen as offering a trial to a product, offering compelling content or a service free of cost. More often than not, people will be obliged to sign up for the product or service in question.
I hope this post on the principles of persuasion was helpful. In my next post, I will be sharing a few more principles of persuasion.
Concession: Comparison helps with decision making
To promote the decision making process, it is always good to present people with comparisons in price and features. It is more likely that people will buy when presented with a choice, especially when one of the options are considerably lower than the other.
One great example of this principle are the price displays in supermarkets.