Bandwagon Effect: Because Everyone Can’t Be Wrong …. Right?
If everyone else seems to be doing something, people tend to join in without asking whether it’s actually the right thing.
Group Influence
The Testimonial Technique: When the Person’s Credibility is the Proof
The testimonial technique doesn’t only influence us to buy products and services. It also promotes ideas, beliefs, and worldviews.
Name Calling: How to Persuade By Attaching a Label
I don’t like who you are, therefore you’re wrong. When it’s easier to question someone’s character than their reasoning.
Foot in the Door Technique: Free Samples and David Icke
The Foot-in-the-Door technique asks you to agree to something small, knowing it will be far easier to move you on to something big.
Third Party Technique: Get Someone Else To Do Your Persuading
How third party endorsement from your favourite influencer, TV Doctor or celebrity makes it far easier to influence your decisions & opinions.
How Social Identity Influences Our Beliefs
Once we have decided what sort of person we want to be, and what group of people we belong to, it’s easy for external influence to supply our choices, opinions and beliefs.
Authority Bias: When Deferring to Someone in Charge Goes Wrong
We often look to people with seniority or official status for guidance, but what happens when they are wrong?
Informal Authority: From the TV Show to the Bloke at the Pub
Authority bias isn’t just with people in a uniform or with official credentials, there’s another version of informal authority bias for our friends and colleagues.
Conformity and Social Norms
In every crowd, there’s a right way to behave. We learn it instantly — in lifts, pubs, libraries, and work.
Social Proof Definition and Examples
Why do we look to what other people have done to guide our own choices and decisions?
