The Secret Psychology of Persuasive Content - Nathalie Nahai

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@NATHALIENAHAITHE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST LTD.

THE SECRET PSYCHOLOGY

PERSUASIVE CONTENT

of



WEB PSYCHOLOGY

“ ”The empirical study of how

our online environments influence our attitudes and behaviours



WEB PSYCHOLOGY

HCI

neuro- aesthetics

user experience

social psychology

cognitive psychology

neuroscience

cross-cultural psychology

behavioural economics

persuasive technology

personality psychology

digital humanities

marketing



What is a community?



COMMUNITY

Oxford Dictionaries 2016 http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/community

The condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common“ ”

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/community



To create a thriving community online…



You have to reach the right people, then compete for (and hold) their attention



So how do you do it?



1 DECISION-MAKING



DECISION-MAKING

Brosch, T., Scherer K. R., Grandjean, D., & Sander, D. (2013). The impact of emotion on perception, attention, memory, and decision-making. Swiss Medical Weekly.

Neuropsychological studies - patients with emotional dysfunctions from brain lesions can be highly impaired in everyday decisions



DECISION-MAKING

R. Carter (1999) Mapping the Mind. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Where thought conflicts with emotion, the latter is designed by the neural

circuitry in our brains to win“ ”



To create a positive emotional state, it helps if people trust you



TRUST

Simpson, J. A. (2007). Psychological foundations of trust. Current directions in psychological science, 16(5), 264-268.

The single most important ingredient for the development and maintenance of

happy, well-functioning relationships“ ”



TRUST

Lack of trust is the biggest impediment to successful e-commerce

and interpersonal relationships



One way to establish trust is to anchor yourself in your values & express them business-wide



VALUES

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2014/05/22/millennials-expect-more-than-good-products-services-to-win-their-loyalty/

More than 81% of millennials expect companies to make a public commitment

to good corporate citizenship

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2014/05/22/millennials-expect-more-than-good-products-services-to-win-their-loyalty/



TRUST

• People need to feel safe



TRUST

• People need to feel safe • They need to feel understood



TRUST

• People need to feel safe • They need to feel understood • They need to feel enabled and supported



One of the best ways to help people feel these things, is to show homophily



HOMOPHILY

“Love of the same” The tendency of individuals to associate

and bond with similar others“ ”



HOMOPHILY

Chu, S. C., & Kim, Y. (2011). Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites. International journal of Advertising, 30(1), 47-75.

“ ”A homophilous source is

more likely to be perceived as credible, trustworthy, and reliable…



HOMOPHILY

…The effectiveness of communication from a homophilous

source may be greater

Chu, S. C., & Kim, Y. (2011). Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites. International journal of Advertising, 30(1), 47-75.

“ ”



To leverage homophily, you have to understand and mirror your audience



The stories we relate to the most are the ones that reflect our own experiences



PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE 2



PERSONALITY MATTERS

J. Hirsh, S. Kang and G. Bodenhausen (2012). Personalized Persuasion: Tailoring Persuasive Appeals to Recipients' Personality Traits. Psychological Science published online 30 April 2012

Adapting persuasive messages to the personality traits… can be an effective way of increasing the messages’ impact“ ”



The Big 5 (a quick quiz)



DO YOU HAVE…

A high degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference

for novelty and variety?

Costa, P. T. Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

“ ”



1. Openness

THE BIG 5



ARE YOU…

Organised, dependable, self-disciplined and dutiful? Do you prefer to plan

and aim for achievement?


“ ”



1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness

THE BIG 5



ARE YOU…

Energetic, positive, assertive & sociable? Do you tend to seek stimulation in

the company of others?


“ ”



1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion

THE BIG 5



DO YOU HAVE…

The tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious

and antagonistic towards others?


“ ”



1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion 4. Agreeableness

THE BIG 5



DO YOU HAVE…

The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety,

depression, and vulnerability?


“ ”



1. Openness 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extraversion 4. Agreeableness 5. Neuroticism

THE BIG 5



Who does this appeal to?



EXTRAVERSION


Strong Outgoing

Active Excitement Attention



OPENNESS


Innovation Intelligence

Sophistication Imagination Creative



NEUROTICISM

Safe Reduce the anxiety

Uncertainty Security

Protection




Specific words engage specific traits



PERSONALISE

Know the psychography of your audience and adapt your messages accordingly




TRAIT MOTIVATION




TRAIT MOTIVATION

Open Creativity & intellectual stimulation




TRAIT MOTIVATION

Open Creativity & intellectual stimulation Conscientious Efficiency & goal pursuit




TRAIT MOTIVATION

Open Creativity & intellectual stimulation Conscientious Efficiency & goal pursuit Extravert Excitement & social rewards




TRAIT MOTIVATION

Open Creativity & intellectual stimulation Conscientious Efficiency & goal pursuit Extravert Excitement & social rewards Agreeable Connection with family & community




TRAIT MOTIVATION

Open Creativity & intellectual stimulation Conscientious Efficiency & goal pursuit Extravert Excitement & social rewards Agreeable Connection with family & community Neurotic Safety & security



TOOLS

1. Big 5 (IPIP-NEO) personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP 2. Visual DNA visualdna.com

3. MyPersonality mypersonality.org

http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/

https://www.visualdna.com/

http://mypersonality.org/



There are also other psychological ways to increase engagement…



OPTIMISING HEADLINES 3



What do you notice about the words in these headlines?



They all use trigger words



TRIGGER WORDS

Weird Surprising Secret

Mystery Effortless



TRIGGER WORDS


Mystery Effortless

Painstaking Strange Outrageous

Odd Amazing



TRIGGER WORDS


Mystery Effortless

Painstaking Strange Outrageous

Odd Amazing

Bizarre Essential Incredible

(It’s not what you think)



How to put it together



Number / Trigger word

+




Adjective

+




Adjective

Keyword+




Adjective

Keyword

Promise +




Adjective

Keyword

Promise

KILLER HEADLINE

+



EXAMPLE

Subject:



EXAMPLE

Subject: Frying eggs



EXAMPLE


You could write an article entitled:



EXAMPLE


You could write an article entitled: -“How to fry an egg”



EXAMPLE


You could write an article entitled: -“How to fry an egg” -“Why I love frying eggs”



OR APPLY THE FORMULA:




“13 unbelievable ways you can fry a small egg with a sock”





number





number

trigger word





number

trigger word

adjective





number

trigger word

adjective

keyword





number

trigger word

adjective

keyword

promise



But isn’t this just clickbait?



ONLY IF…

You’re not offering value, or if you’re promising more than you can deliver

“ ”



ASK YOURSELF

What are the tangible benefits my customers will get from this content? “ ”



KEY TAKEAWAYS



KEY TAKEAWAYS

To create persuasive, emotionally engaging content:



KEY TAKEAWAYS


1. Establish trust through shared values & homophilly



KEY TAKEAWAYS



2. Adapt your content to your customers’ personalities



KEY TAKEAWAYS



2. Adapt your content to your customers’ personalities 3. Use trigger words in your headlines



THANK YOU!



@NathalieNahai

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The Secret Psychology of Persuasive Content - Nathalie Nahai

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