People prefer to say yes to individuals they know and like. Recognising this rule, compliance professionals commonly increase their overall effectiveness by emphasizing several factors that increase their overall attractiveness and Likeability.

One feature of a person that influences overall liking is physical attractiveness. Although it has long been suspected that physical beauty provides an advantage in social interaction, research indicates that the advantage may be greater than supposed. Physical attractiveness seems to engender a ‘halo effect’ that extends to favourable impressions of other traits such as talent, kindness, and intelligence. As a result, attractive people are more persuasive both in terms of getting what they request and in changing others’ attitudes.

A second factor that influences both liking and compliance is similarity. We like people who are like us, and we are more willing to say yes to their requests, often in an unthinking manner.

Another factor that produces Liking is praise. Although they can sometimes backfire, when crudely transparent, compliments generally enhance liking and thus compliance.

Increased familiarity through repeated contact with a person or thing is yet another factor that normally facilitates liking. This relationship holds true principally when the contact takes place under positive rather than negative circumstances. One positive circumstance that works especially well is mutual and successful cooperation.

A fifth factor linked to liking is association. By connecting themselves or their products with positive things, advertisers, politicians and merchandisers frequently seek to share in the positivity through the process of association. Other individuals as well (sports fans, for example) appear to recognize the effect of simple connections and try to associate themselves with favourable events and distance themselves from unfavourable ones in the eyes of observers.

A potentially effective strategy for reducing the unwanted influence of liking on compliance decisions requires a special sensitivity to the experience of undue liking for a requester. Upon recognising that we like a requester inordinately well under the circumstances, we should take a step back from the social interaction, mentally separate the requester from his or her offer, and make any compliance decision based solely on merits of the offer.

You might also enjoy reading:-

• Influence: Part 2 – Principle of Commitment & Consistency
• Influence: Part 1 – Principle of Reciprocation
• Influence: Part 3 – Principle of Social Proof
• Influence: Part 6 – Principle of Scarcity
• Advanced psychological pickup theory

Posted by Jonathan in Psychology

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