Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

240 Understanding Intuitive Decision Making

A study of the persuasive impact of single versus multiple options examined the responses of

57,000 potential borrowers to a lender’s mailing that offered them large, short-term loans. The offer

letter gave either an example of one possible loan—its size, term, and monthly payments—or exam-

ples of four different loans. Borrowers were more likely to apply for a loan when they were presented

with only one example. The one-example description had the same positive effect on loan acceptance

as dropping the monthly interest rate by two percentage points.^390

The First Good Option Bias: The Appeal of a Quick Fix

People often prefer the fi rst option with favorable attributes that is presented to them. In one study,

audience members were given information about six attributes of two alternatives. Positive informa-

tion that favored one of two alternatives was presented either as the fi rst or fourth attribute out of

the six. In 70% of their choices, audience members chose the alternative whose positive attribute was

presented as the fi rst attribute despite the fact that the totality of the information was net neutral.^391

Similar effects have been identifi ed outside the laboratory. For example, in the poll booth, the order

of candidates’ names on a ballot is suffi cient to determine the outcomes of many elections.^392

The Status Quo Bias: The Appeal of Past Decisions

The status quo bias circumvents the need to search for schema slot values and to integrate that new

information. In this bias keeping things the way they are, doing things the way they have always

been done, is the favorite option.^393 Marketing professors refer to this bias as brand loyalty.^394 In

many purchase situations, brand loyalty is the best predictor of consumers’ future purchases.^395

The status quo option is often chosen even when the audience is given clear reasons to deviate

from it.^396 Under time pressure, audiences may even decide against their own explicitly formed

intentions to choose something other than the status quo.^397 Of course, audience members may

have good reasons for maintaining the status quo. For example, untried alternatives necessarily

involve more risk, the costs can be high to switch to a different alternative (e.g., switching from a

Mac to a PC), and the audience may have based previous choices on good reasons they can no lon-

ger remember. Not choosing but maintaining the status quo also minimizes the negative emotions

that the decision-making process sometimes creates.^398

HEURISTICS AND BIASES IN AUDIENCE DECISION MAKING:

IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATORS

• The main takeaway for communicators in Chapter 5 is that audiences are unconsciously
  biased by techniques that make each of the decision-making processes easy for them to
  complete. Audiences do not base their decisions exclusively on facts and reason.


• Use the information presented in the chapter to identify techniques that make processing
  easy. Do not expect the facts you present to speak for themselves.


• Why use the information? To enhance the intuitive appeal of your communications. To
  compete successfully with other skilled communicators.


• To apply a technique that makes processing easy, refer to the section describing the
  appropriate process. Also, refer to the techniques described in Chapter 4 for additional
  ways to make the audience’s decision-making process easy.