Transcript The Anatomy of influence: Using the latest

THE POWER OF
PERSUASION:
Social Psychology in
the Consulting Room
Bill O’Hanlon
billohanlon.com
The Power of Pesuasion
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Bob Cialdini
Three little words can make a
big difference
An informercial copywriter (Colleen Szot) changed the
“call to action” from:
“Operators are standing by; please call now.”; to
“If operators are busy, please call again.”
Sales increased significantly; shattering a 20-year
sales record.
Why? You’ll soon find out and it will be obvious to you.
We have the illusion we make
rational conscious decisions
During any given second, we
consciously process only sixteen of the
eleven million bits of information our
senses pass on to our brains.
Nørretrander, Tor (1999).The User Illusion: Cutting
Consciousness Down to Size. NY: Penguin.
These influence principles are based on
recent research
Persuasion research
Social influence/social psychology research
Non-rational/non-conscious decision-making
research
The new brain science
The 3 Major Principles
Of Influence
SOCIAL FOLLOWING
PRIMING
LOSS AVOIDANCE
AND
How to use these principles in changework to
reduce resistance and increase cooperation and
results
Influence Principle #1:
Social influence factors
Humans are social animals;
we tend to look to others for
cues
Social Comparison, Following and
Norms
Any messages that
show that many (or
most) others are
doing or perceiving
a certain way will
influence one’s
actions, choices
and perceptions
The Hotel Re-Use Studies
When a message was left saying it was good for
the environment to re-use towels, a certain
percentage of people re-used.
When the message was changed to suggest that
most people re-used towels in that hotel, re-use
went up 26%
When it was more specific (most people who
stayed in that particular room re-used) re-use
increased 33%
Goldstein, Noah; Cialdini, R.B.; and Griskevicius, Vladas. (2008). “A room with a viewpoint: using social norms to motivate
conservation in hotels,” Journal of Consumer Research, 13 (2), 214–20.
Petrified Forest Study
•
In an effort to reduce stealing of wood pieces from the
Petrified Forest, officials put up a sign reading:
“Your heritage is being vandalized every day by theft
losses of petrified wood of 14 tons a year, mostly a small
piece at a time.”
The study was suggested when a graduate student
reported that his fiancée, who was usually scrupulously
honest, read this sign and nudged him and whispered,
“We’d better get ours now.”
Petrified forest study
Specially marked wood pieces so they could measure
theft on various trails.
Two new signs:
“Many past visitors have removed petrified wood from the
park, changing the natural state of the Petrified Forest.”
This sign showed people picking up wood.
“Please don’t remove wood from the park, in order to
preserve the natural state of the Petrified Forest.” This one
showed a lone person picking up wood with a red X
superimposed.
Petrified forest study
Results
Compared to a control condition (no sign); 2.92%
stolen:
Social following sign: Increased theft to 7.92 % of pieces
stolen.
Lone wolf sign: Decreased theft to 1.67%.
We all think we aren’t going along
with the crowd
“When people are free to do as they
please, they usually imitate each other.”
-Eric Hoffer
“Why do you have to be a
nonconformist like everybody else?” James Thurber
You are unique; just like everybody
else. -Bumper sticker
Mirror Neurons
The ice cream cone and the monkey
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Gallese, V., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., & Rizzolatti, G. (1996). “Action recognition in
the premotor cortex,” Brain, 119:593-609.
Fogassi, L., & Ferrari, P.F. (2007). “Mirror neurons and the evolution of
embodied language,” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 136–141.
Subtle social mimicry
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A researcher subtly mimicked half the subjects while
asking them survey questions, then “accidentally”
dropped some pens; those who had been mimicked
were 2-3 times more likely to pick up the pens as those
who hadn’t.
Van Baaren, Rick; Holland, Rob; Kawakami, Kerry; and van Knippenberg, Ad. (2004) “Mimicry
and Prosocial Behavior,” Psychological Science, 15, 71-74.
Subtle social mimicry
Duke University study; Vigor a new sports drink
The mimicry involved mirroring a person’s posture and
movements, with a one- to two-second delay. If he
crosses his legs, then wait two seconds and do the same,
with opposite
Those who were mimicked were significantly more likely
than the others to consume the new drink, to say they
would buy it and to predict its success in the market..
Chartrand, T.L., & Bargh. J.A. (1999). “The Chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social
interaction,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 893- 910.
Chartrand, T.L., Maddux, W.W., & Lakin, J.L. (in press). “Beyond the perception-behavior link: The
ubiquitous utility and motivational moderators of non-conscious mimicry.” In R. Hassin, J. Uleman, & J.A.
Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought 2: The new unconscious. New York: Oxford University Press.
Varieties of social mimicry
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Motor mimicry
Facial mimicry
Emotional contagion
Reciprocal altruism
People diagnosed high on the autistic spectrum show less
facial and yawning mimicry than others
Hermans, Erno J. ; van Wingen, Guido ; Bos, Peter A.; Putman, Peter; and van Honk,
Jack. (2009)“Reduced spontaneous facial mimicry in women with autistic traits,”
Biological Psychology, March/80(3): 348-353.
Avikainen, S., Wohlschlager, A., Liuhanen, S., Hanninen, R., and Hari, R. (2003).
“Impaired mirror-image imitation in Asperger and high-functioning autistic subjects,”
Curr. Biol, 73(4), 339-341.
Dapretto, M., Davies, M. S., Pfeifer, J. H., Scott, A. A., Sigman, M., Bookheimer, S. Y., et
al.
(2006). “Understanding emotions in others: Mirror neuron dysfunction in children with
autism spectrum disorders,” Nat. Neurosa., 9(1), 28-30.
Take-Away
You probably already mirror people
naturally, but you might be able to
improve your skill at gaining rapport if you
attend to people more closely. Listen to
and watch them as they speak and
interact with you.
Take care how you use Social
Norm messages
Women’s Voices, during the 2004
presidential campaign, sent out 1 million
postcards with this message: “Four years
ago, 22 million single women did not
vote.”
Oops! Voter turnout for single women was
especially low that year, even lower than
in 2000.
Take Care how you use
Social Norm messages
California households’ energy use were monitored and
then doorknob cards were delivered to each house telling
them how their energy use compared to the norm.
Households who had had above average usage reduced
their consumption by 5.7%;
Those whose usage was below average increased
their consumption by 8.6%
Schultz, P. W.; Nolan, J.M.; Cialdini, R.B; Goldstein, N.J.; and
Griskevicius, V. (2007). “The constructive, destructive, and
reconstructive power of social norms,” Psychological Science, 18:429434.
Modeling
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits
that people learn from one another, via
observation, imitation, and modeling.
Famous for the Bobo Doll studies, which showed
social learning through modeling.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of
Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Social Proof
Indirect evidence of popularity (It sold out last time;
Billions served)
Success stories about others
Statistics that show a majority of people are doing
something desirable:
97% of visitors do not take pieces of wood from
the Petrified Forest
93% of Americans are on time with mortgage
payments in the midst of economic crisis
A SIMPLE USE OF SOCIAL
FOLLOWING/NORMS
“Studies have shown that most
people get and feel better after
they come to therapy.”
Liking
This is another social phenomenon
People are more likely to be influenced by people
they like
People they see as similar to themselves are
usually liked better
Compliments and praise increase liking for the
praiser
Similarity
One experiment showed that people were more likely
to do things (loan some money or sign a petition) for
people who dressed/looked like them
Emswiller, T.; Deaux, K.; and Willits, J.E. (1971). “Similarity, sex, and requests for small
favors,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1:284-291.
Suedfield, P.; Bochner, S; and Matas, C. (1971). “Petitioner’s attire and petition signing by
peace demonstrators: A field experiment,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1:278-283.
Another experiment showed that people were more
likely to buy insurance from a person who was like
them in terms of age, religion, politics, and cigarettesmoking habits
Evans, F.B. (1963). “Selling as a dyadic relationship: A new approach,” American Behavioral
Scientist 6:7:76-79
Take Away
Find as many commonalities as you can
with the people with whom you work
and find a way of letting them know
about those commonalities
Psychotherapy outcome
research
The quality of the therapeutic relationship and
working alliance accounts for 30% of the positive
results in psychotherapy
Hubble, M. A., Duncan, B. L., & Miller, S. D. (Eds.) (1999).
The heart and soul of change: What works in therapy.
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Lambert, M. J. (1992). “Psychotherapy outcome research:
Implications for integrative and eclectic therapists.” In J. C.
Norcross & M. R. Goldfried (Eds.), Handbook of
psychotherapy Integration. (pp. 94-129). New York:
Basic Books.
Compliments
Men in a study were given three kinds of statements by
someone who needed a favor from them
Positive
Negative
Neutral
The person who gave the men pure positive praise
was better liked, even when the men knew the praise
was untrue and the person wanted a favor from them
Drachman, D.; deCarufel, A.; and Insko, C.A. (1978). “The extra
credit effect in interpersonal attraction,” Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology, 14:458-467.
The Kind of Compliment Can
Matter
Carol Dweck and colleagues gave children a fairly simple puzzle
and told half the kids a comment that told them they were smart
and the other half that they must have worked hard to solve the
puzzles.
Then they offered them a choice of simple or challenging puzzles.
90% of the kids who were praised for effort chose the difficult
puzzles;
A majority of the kids who were praised for intelligence chose
the easier ones.
Then all the kids were given some difficult puzzles. Then some
that were about as easy as the initial ones.
The “work hard” kids did 30% better than they had in the initial
scores, while the “intelligence” kids scores declined by 20%.
Cimpian, A. et. al (2007). “Subtle Linguistic Clues Affect Children’s
motivations,” Psychological Science, 18:314-316.
Recency
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Several studies have shown that whatever the most recent or last
part of an experience is tends to color and strongly influence our
overall memory or sense of that experience. A particularly
graphic example involves people who were undergoing
colonoscopy exams. Patients were divided into two groups:
1. Standard colonoscopy exam;
2. The scope was left in but not moved for an extra minute at the
end (sorry for the pun) of the exam.
Those patients who experienced the longer exam were more
willing to undergo the procedure again in the future. Ending on a
good note makes a difference in how the whole (sorry again)
experience is remembered.
Redelmeier, D., and Kahneman, D. (1996). “Patients’ memories of painful medical
treatments: Real-time and retrospective evaluations of two minimally invasive
procedures,” Pain, 116:3-8.
Take Away
End sessions on a neutral or positive
note; people are more likely to
schedule another appointment
Compliment people on their efforts
rather than just praise them generally
Influence Principle #2:
Contextual influences
CONTEXT MATTERS
Walmart
redesigned their
shopping carts to
be 20% bigger
Sales of big
items, such as
microwave ovens,
went up 50% after
the redesign
CONTEXT MATTERS
Research has shown that weight, texture, and
hardness are non-consciously factored into people’s
decisions about things that have nothing to do with
what we are touching.
People who were asked to solve puzzles covered in
sandpaper later described and interaction between
two people are more difficult and awkward than thos
who worked on smooth textured puzzles.
Ackerman, J.; Nocera, C.; and Bargh, J. (201)). “Incidental haptic
sensations influence social judgments and decisions,” Science,
328:1712-1715.
Non-conscious influences and
priming
Exposing people to biased words and phrases
and different contexts influences their
subsequent performance, perceptions and
decisions
Contexts influence people’s perceptions and
decision-making much more than we think
PRIMING
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CONTEXTUAL PRIMING
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PERCEPTUAL PRIMING
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CONCEPTUAL PRIMING
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LINGUISTIC PRIMING
•
NUMERICAL PRIMING
Contextual Influences
• When Williams Sonoma added a high-end
breadmaker to their line of products, sales of their
previous high-end breadmaker nearly doubled (they
had a low-end breadmaker as well).
• Point: People often go for “second best,” or the
compromise choice
Simonson, I. (1993). “Get closer to your customers by understanding how they
make their choices,” California Management Review, 35: 68-84.
TakeAway
When introducing interventions and suggesting
change, give three choices:
A challenging and demanding one that is
ideal but unlikely for all but the most
motivated clients
A slightly less challenging and demanding
one
An easy one that will move them forward a
little
Contextual Influences/
Attribution Theory
•
The Pygmalion/Golem Effect: We often make people
over (even influencing them to be smarter/dumber,
more/less capable, better/worse behaved) when we
expect them to be a certain way
•
The Chameleon Effect: Our environments influence
how we behave, perceive and even how we are
•
The Placebo/Nocebo Effects: The effects of fake
medicines or other interventions can have powerful
positive or negative effects on physiology
Attribution Theory
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College freshmen experiencing difficulties (as reflected by
their poor grades)
They told the experimental group that many students had
difficulties their first year and later did better. They showed
them videos of seniors who related the same message
Only 5% of the experimental group dropped out vs.
25% of the control group
Experimental group members’ grades rose an average
of .34 points while the control group members’ grades
declined by .05 points
Wilson, T. and Linville, P. (1982). “Improving academic
performance of colllege freshmen: Attribution theory revisited,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42: 367-376.
Conceptual priming and
stereotypes
A group of Asian women were given math
tasks.
“Primed” into thinking about themselves as
Asian or as women
Those primed for Asian did significantly better
in the math tasks and those primed as women
did poorly.
Shih, M., Pittinsky, T. and Ambady, N. (1999). “Stereotype susceptibility: Identity salience and
shifts in quantitative performance,” Psychological Science, 12(5): 385-390.
Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY:
Ballatine Books.
Contextual priming and
symptoms of aging
A group of elderly men were taken to a hotel that had
been decorated to look like it was 20 years earlier in the
U.S
Act as if it were 20 years earlier
After one week, the men in the experimental group
(compared with controls of the same age) had more joint
flexibility, increased dexterity and less arthritis in their
hands. Their mental acuity had risen measurably, and
they had improved gait and posture. Outsiders who were
shown the men’s photographs judged them to be
significantly younger than the controls.
Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY:
Ballatine Books.
Conceptual priming
Subjects were asked to solve anagrams. Expermiental subjects were
given more aging-symptom connected anagrams (examples: felorguft-->forgetful; mlpi--->limp). The control group was given neutral, nonage-related words.
Subjects who had been primed with the age-related words walked
significantly more slowly to the elevator on the way out.
In a follow-up study, subjects were asked to sort photos into “old” and
“young” stacks. They also walked more slowly to the elevator after the
task.
But if subjects were told to sort the photos by gender, no such effect
occured.
Bargh, J., Chen, M and Burrows, L. (1996). “Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait
construct and stereotype activation on action,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
71(2):230-244.
Djikic, M., Langer, E. and Stapleton, S. (2008). “Reducing stereotyping through mindfulness:
Decreasing effects of stereotype-activated behavior,” Journal of Adult Development, 15:106111.
Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibilities. NY:
Takeaway
Who you hang with and where you hang out can make
a difference in your behavior and feelings
12-step people know this. They say the only thing you
need to change when you want to challenge your
addiction is:
Your playground (where you spend time)
Your playmates (with whom you spend time); and
Your playthings (your drug of choice)
•
Suggest your clients start changing any or all of those
things to make changes in their lives
For ideas: See O’Hanlon, B. (1999). Do One Thing Different. NY: HarperCollins.
Numerical priming
Advertisers for Alka-Seltzer
suggested that instead of
showing a hand dropping
one tablet of Alka-Seltzer
into a glass of water in the
ad, the hand dropped two
tablets
Sales doubled
Anchoring
Whatever numbers or words are
mentioned before something is asked
will strongly influence the answer or
response to that question or request
Anchoring
The experimenter had students write down the last two
digits of their social security number
Then they were asked whether they would pay that
amount for several items that were to be auctioned
The social security numbers influenced what students
bid; For example, for one item, students with the
highest numbers bid highest (e.g. $56 average for the
highest) and those with the lowest numbers bid the
lowest ($16 average)
Ariely, D.; Loewenstein, G.; and Prelec, Drazen. (2003). “Coherent
arbitrariness: Stable demand curves without stable preferences,”
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1):73-105.
Interspersal
Milton Erickson’s method of non-verbally emphasizing
certain words or phrases
Learn to rephrase problem words or phrases into
solution/longing words or phrases
For example, if someone is dealing with chronic
pain, you might say, “I know you’d really like to find a
way to feel more comfortable.”
Or you could say, “You are not really sure you can
change.”
RESPONSE PRIMING
Milton Erickson’s “YES
SET”
NO SET
REVERSE SET
Your Turn
Practice using the “Yes Set”
Practice using the “No Set”
Practice using interspersed phrases and words
Take Away
•
You might suggest that many people
successfully resolve their issues within 4 to 6
sessions (the research indicates this is true)
•
Or you might just mention some words or
numbers you would like to anchor or prime for
some therapeutic purpose before giving an
intervention
AUTHORITY
•
People give credibility and are more
swayed by people who are perceived
as authorities
HOW TO SHOW
AUTHORITY
Clothing/dress
Degrees
Knowledge/skill displays
Accomplishments/portfolio
Settings/furnishings
Evidence of results
Value Attribution
People make judgments about the value of
things or people based on information
provided by others or by context or
trappings
Value Attribution
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An experiment was done with three groups:
Control group: They were given a 30-minute word jumble puzzle
SoBe expensive: Given a SoBe drink they were told enhanced
their intelligence (and charged $2.89 for the drink), then given the
word jumble puzzle
SoBe discount: Given a SoBe drink and told that it was
discounted to $0.89 because the researchers had gotten a
discount, then given the word jumble puzzle
The “expensive SoBe” subjects did significantly better than
controls on the puzzle; the “discount SoBe” subject did
significantly worse then the controls
Shiv, B.; Carmon, Z.; and Ariely, D. (2005). “Placebo effects of marketing actions: Consumers may
get what they pay for,” Journal of Marketing Research, 42:383-393.
Value Attribution
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Season ticket buyer for Ohio State University Theatre Dept. were
sold at three different prices (the discounted people were told that
it was given as part of a Theatre Dept. promotion. All had equally
good seats:
Full priced ($15)
$2 discount ($13)
$7 discount ($8)
Those who paid full price attended significantly more plays than
did the discounted people. There was no difference in attendance
between the two discounted groups.
Arkes, H. and Blumer, C. (1985). “The psychology of sunk costs,” Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Processes, 35:124-140.
Value Attribution
• Researchers found that being picked every round after the first
round in draft choice in the NBA decreased how much time
players got on the court an average of 23 minutes;
• First round draft picks stayed in the MBA an average of 3.3 years
more than second round picks;
• The players were matched for “quickness,” “toughness,” and
“scoring”;
• The crucial difference was the coaches knew in which draft round
they were chosen by a team.
Staw, B. and Hoang, H. (1995). Administrative Science Quarterly, 40:474-494.
Diagnosis bias
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When primed with a diagnostic label, we often ignore
facts, data and perceptions that don’t fit with this
diagnosis
“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the
rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not
only what they are. They are, in very important
respects, what they seem to be.” - Hubert Humphrey
“The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor;
he takes my measurements anew each time he see me.
The rest go on with their old measurements and expect
me to fit them.” –George Bernard Shaw
The Power of Labels
Researchers interviewed a large number of potential
voters and told 50% of them, based on their survey
responses, that they were “above average citizens
likely to vote and participate in political events.” The
other half were told they were about average.
The ones who were labeled “above average” were
15% more likely to vote in an election held a week later
and also saw themselves as better citizens.
•
Tybout, A.M. and Yalch, R.F. (1980). “The effect of experience:
A matter of salience,” Journal of Consumer Research, 6:406-413.
The Power of Labels
105 trainees began the Israeli army’s rigorous “Commander
Training” program
Their trainers were told (falsely) that, based on psychological
data, sociometric data from previous trainings, and ratings by
previous commanders, various trainees either had a high,
regular or unknown Command Potential (CP).
When trainees were tested on their tactical and practical
knowledge15 weeks later, the ones whom the trainers
thought were high CP scored better (79.98 on average) than
did the “regular” (65.18) or “unknown” (72.43).
When their trainers were told of the ruse, they didn’t believe it,
insisting that the “high” trainees were actually superior leader
from the start.
•
Eden, D. and Shani, A. (1982). “Pygmalion goes to Boot Camp: Expectancy, Leadership, and
Trainee Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 67:194-199.
The Pygmalion Effect
The Memphis
School District
experience
“Those are their
locker
numbers!”
The Pygmalion Effect
The Pygmalion Effect
When teachers expect students to do well and show
intellectual growth, they do; when teachers do not have
such expectations, performance and growth are not so
encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety
of ways." - James Rehm
Rosenthal, Robert & Jacobson, Lenore. (1992). Pygmalion
in the Classroom. New York: Irvington
The Power of Labels
Researchers told some schoolchildren that they
seemed like the kind of students who “care about good
handwriting.”
Those kids subsequently spent more of their free time
practicing handwriting, even when they thought no one
was watching them.
Cialdini, R.; Eisenberg, N.; Green, B.; Rhoads, K.; and Bator, R.
(1998). “Undermining the undermining effect of reward on
sustained interest,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology,
28:249-263.
Revisiting Two Words:
Warm or Cold
Mr. _______ is a graduate
student in the Department of
Economics and Social Science
here at MIT. He has had three
semesters of teaching
experience in psychology at
another college. This is his first
semester teach EC 70. He is
26 years old, a veteran, and
married. People who know him
consider him to be a very
warm/rather cold person,
industrious, critical, practical,
and determined.
Reference: Kelley, H.H. (1950). “The warm-cold
variable in first impressions of persons,” Journal
of Personality, 18, 431-439.
Revisiting Two Words:
Warm or Cold
Those who read he was“very
warm” person rated him as
“good-natured, considerate of
others, informal, sociable,
popular, humorous, and
humane,”
Those who read that he was
“rather cold” rated him as “selfcentered, formal, unsociable,
unpopular, irritable, humorless,
and ruthless.”
Reference: Kelley, H.H. (1950). “The warm-cold
variable in first impressions of persons,” Journal of
Personality, 18, 431-439.
Self-Diagnosis
•
In a recent study, Carol Dweck and colleagues found
that people who believe personality can change were
more likely than others to bring up concerns and deal
with problems in a constructive way. Dweck holds the
view that a fixed mind-set can foster a categorical, allor-nothing view of people’s qualities; this view tends to
lead to ignoring festering problems or, at the other
extreme, giving up on a relationship at the first sign of
trouble.
Blackwell, Lisa S. , Trzesniewski, Kali H., Dweck, Carol Sorich.
(2007). “Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement
Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an
Intervention,” Child Development, 78(1):246–263.
BLINK: WHEN TO AND WHEN NOT TO
TRUST OUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND
INTUITIONS
Trust your first impressions, snap judgments and
intuition; they are usually right
Except: When distorted by social mores and biases
Based on gender stereotypes and biases
Based on racial stereotypes and biases
Based on moral judgments of the era
•
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2007). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without
Thinking. NY: Back Bay Books.
The Serial Position Effect
Certain items are more likely to be remembered
than others
Those in the first part of a list or experience; and
those most recent (or the last part of the list or
experience)
Murdock, B.B., Jr. (1962) “The Serial Position Effect of Free Recall,”
Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 482-488.
The Ziegarnik Effect
Discovered by a social psychologist (Zeigarnik)
when the waiter at a group table remembered the
interrupted order but not the others
An interrupted task will be remembered
more/longer than a completed task
Zeigarnik, B. (1967). On finished and unfinished tasks. In W. D. Ellis
(Ed.), A sourcebook of Gestalt psychology. New York: Humanities
press.
Influence Principle #3:
Loss aversion/avoidance
Loss Aversion/Avoidance
People are very driven to avoid loss
Lost opportunities
Loss of freedom
Loss Aversion/Avoidance
Professor holds an auction among MBA students for a
$20 bill
Bids can start anywhere, but the rules say that the top
bidder wins the $20 bill and the second highest bidder
must also pay the amount he or she bid
The $20 bill has been sold to the highest bidder for
more than $20 every time the auction is held; the
highest bid was for $204
Bazerman, Max. (2002). Judgment in Managerial Decision Making. NY: John Wiley and
Sons.
Shubik, Martin. (1971). “The Dollar Auction Game: A Paradox in noncooperative behavior and
escalation,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, (15): 109-111.
TakeAway
When introducing interventions and suggesting
change, link lack of compliance with possible loss
E.g., “If you walk away from this marriage now
and don’t give everything you’ve got, you may
find yourself regretting it later.”
TakeAway
Drug and alcohol counselor (Bill Bowles) offers class
for military personnel on recognizing and changing their
addictions
He hands out a list at the end of the first class with the
ten things they could lose if they continue their
drug/alcohol problem behavior
Children, spouse, health, friends, money, career
advancement, respect of others
He reports these tough military people are often in tears
by the time they finish going over the list
Permission to use
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Bill O’Hanlon ©2011. You have my permission
to use it for non-commercial purposes (like
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contact me for permission and discussion.
Contact information
Bill O’Hanlon, M.S., LMFT
Possibilities
223 N. Guadalupe #278
Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
[email protected]
www.billohanlon.com
Bill O’Hanlon
223 N. Guadalupe #278
Santa Fe, NM 87501
www.BillOHanlon.com
[email protected]
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