Keywords:: PermanentNote makePublic
Tags: persuasion
Reference: R: Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini
Your mind is a survival machine. And in terms of survival, energy is the ultimate currency. Therefore, your mind will do everything it can to preserve energy (more here: PN: To persuade help the mind save energy).
Ideas exist within networks of relatives connected through associations (called semantic trees). For example, if you hear the word "car" you will immediately think of related concepts like your personal car, different brands of cars, your favorite car, different parts of the car like tires, engine, etc. (more here: PN: To persuade think in networks of associations)
Bringing attention to a particular concept highlights related concepts—they become more accessible. The brain, due to its energy-saving preference, will more readily choose highlighted ideas. It's similar to water—it will more likely fall into ditches than flow randomly (more here: P: Previous stimuli influence our decisions (priming)).
What your brain chooses depends on the intensity of attention and strength of association.
That said, if you want to persuade you must start by priming your recipient with concepts that highlight ideas that are associated with your end goal. For example, if you want them to buy an Italian wine, play Italian music in the background; if you want them to pay a high sum of money, show them an higher number before your request; if you want them to feel warmer towards you, give them a cup of hot tea; if you want them to succeed, show them pictures of runners winning the marathon; if you want them to like you more, tell them compliments; and so on.
Relevant notes:
PN: How to use all principles of persuasion: Principles of persuasion that you can use as an additional layer to persuade.
P: To persuade prime networks associated with your goal: seeing the minds in the perspective described in this note can help understand why persuasion works.
P: To persuade prime networks associated with your goal: If people remember things it means that they are in their attention. If they are in their attention, it means that they're treated as important. If they are treated as important, they'll be more likely to be persuaded on this topic
PN: How to use all principles of persuasion and P: To persuade prime networks associated with your goal: to navigate the social world, knowing psychology of persuasion is quite useful.