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Discussion on: Hidden persuaders of business speaking and writing

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Angel Paudel

Business speaking and writing form business communication is a medium to share information. One must be able to choose right words to get the message across to the mass clearly to be a good communicator. In any language, a same word can have multiple meaning like in English, when we speak ‘peace’ and ‘piece’, ‘principal’ and ‘principle’, ‘see’ and ‘sea’, they sound very similar but hold a completely different meaning. So, wise choice of words are necessary while speaking and writing in business.

Hidden persuaders in business speaking and writing is a subconscious message which influences the listener or reader’s behavior without they being aware about it. Many company believe that people have to consume more and more regardless of them wanting it or not and is good for the economy. Thus hidden persuaders are important as it create that want among the people (Brown, 2006).

Reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking and consensus are major hidden persuaders in business communication (Cialdini, 2016). Each of these are described in detail below:

Reciprocity is something which makes you obliged to give back to the business something more. An example of this in personal linkage can be when someone invites us to his/her birthday but that’s someone who we personally doesn’t consider to be close; even then when it’s our turn (i.e. birthday), the person is certainly called as well. If the business thus gives and makes it personalized and unexpected like Zappos does to its customer by surpassing customer service, it persuades the customer to use more and more of company product and services.

Scarcity creates a sense of want in people as the general people want what they can have less of. An example of this can be when in 2003, British Airlines declaring that they won’t operate two flights per day using Concorde flight connecting London and New York due to the route being in significant loss. The announcement, cased a huge spike in the bookings and people started using more of it even though nothing as in term of service, speed or anything in general changed.

Authority is something which mentions that people are more likely to follow those who are knowledgeable and credible experts. Like when someone is having skin burn and need to see a doctor, the person looks for the expert in that particular field. The person won’t go to a gastroenterologist but rather to the one who knows about the subject matter and do accordingly.

Consistency says that if a person has said or done it previously, they’re more likely to follow. The statement is widely controversial. An example of it can be that if in a hospital, when you’re asked to write the time yourself for the next appointment from the provide dates and time, you’re more likely to follow through.

Liking states that people are more inclined to say yes to those they like. An example of this can be that, if you talk with people here in Kathmandu while commuting and you realize that they’re studying the same subject, working in the similar field or come from same home town, you might have a sudden affiliation. Similarly in the business context, this is used by companies like Deerwalk, Leapfrog and several other IT companies working in Nepal for international projects have their sales representatives connect with the business owners using the similar technology to get close to them and to get the project.

Consensus is something which states that people look at the behaviors of someone else when they’re uncertain how they’re to act. Like in a restaurant, a notice was posted stated that 75% of the people staying in this re-use their towels. That notice will prompt the customers to re-use their towels more often.

Hidden persuaders in business speaking and writing function by establishing credibility, framing goals on common ground, reinforcing the position vividly and by connecting emotionally. Taking consideration of all those in a single scenario, if an organization is sending out an advertisement, and if it shows that the organization is credible while it thinks about the customer and stress that fact along with the product and the no compromise on the quality while also connecting with the customer at an emotional level forms a effectively communicated advertisement. It also persuades the customer to use more of the company’s products (HBR’s 10 must reads on communication, 2013).

References

Brown, R. (2006). Understanding the Hidden Persuaders. Psyccritiques , 51 (26).

Cialdini, R. (2016). Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade . London: Random House.

Harvard Business Review Press. (2013). HBR’s 10 must reads on communication (pp. 76-77). Boston, Mass.