Persuasion-Influencing Tactics

Persuasion-Influencing Tactics

The following is Marwell & Schmitt’s Taxonomy of 16 influence or persuasive tactics
that people employ to change beliefs, attitudes or behaviors of people who they interact
with.

1. Reward
a. I’ll reward you if you do it. “I’ll throw in a pair of speakers if you buy it
today.” “Thanks! I’ll make certain your manager knows how helpful you
were.”

2. Punishment
a. I’ll punish you if you don’t do it. “If you don’t buy it today, I won’t be able to
offer you this special incentive price again.” “If I can’t get it at that price
tomorrow, then I’ll take my business elsewhere.”

3. Positive Expertise
a. Speaking as an authority on the subject, I can tell you that rewards will
occur if you do X, because of the nature of reality. “If you start working out
at our gym regularly, you’ll find that people are more attracted to you
physically.”

4. Negative Expertise
a. Speaking as an authority on the subject, “I can tell you that punishments
will occur if you do Y, because of the nature of reality”. “If you don’t buy it
today, you may never get another chance - our stock is almost sold out.”

5. Liking, Ingratiation
a. To get the prospect into a good frame of mind, ”Gosh you look nice today.
I just love that hat you’re wearing! Should we order dessert before we
look over the contracts?”

6. Gifting, Pre-giving
a. It means giving something as a gift, before requesting compliance.
The idea is that the target will feel the need to reciprocate later. “Here’s
a little something we thought you’d like. Now about those contracts . . .”

7. Debt
a. Recalling past favors like, “After all, I’ve done for you! Come on—this
time it’s me who needs the favor.”

8. Aversive Stimulation
a. Continuous punishment and the cessation of punishment are contingent
on compliance. “I’m going to play my classical music at full volume if you
insist on playing your rock music at full volume. When you turn yours down,
I’ll turn mine down.”

9. Moral Appeal
a. This tactic entails finding common moral ground and then using the moral
commitments of a person to obtain compliance. “You believe that women
should get equal pay for equal work, don’t you? You don’t believe that
men are better than women, do you? Then you ought to sign this petition!
It’s the right thing to do.”
10.Positive Self-feeling
a. You’ll feel better if you X. “If you join our club today, you’ll feel better about
yourself because you’ll know that you’re improving every day.”

11. Negative Self-feeling
a. You’ll feel bad if you Y. “If you don’t return it to him and apologize, you’ll
find it hard to live with yourself.”

12.Positive Altercasting
a. Good people do X. “Smart people tend to sign up for the year in advance because that’s how they can get the best weekly rate.”

13.Negative Altercasting
a. Only a bad person would do Y. “You’re not like those bad sports that whine
and complain when they lose a game.”

14.Altruism
a. Do me a favor or “do-me-a-favor”. “I really need this photocopied right
away, can you help me out?” (An extremely common influence tactic and
is in wide use among friends and acquaintances).

15.Positive Esteem of Others
a. Other people will think more highly of you if you X. “People respect a
man who drives a Mercedes.”

16.Negative Esteem of Others
a. Other people will think worse of you if you Y. “You don’t want people
thinking that you’re a drug-head loser, do you?”