Psychology + Marketing = 6 Principles of Influence

#Psychology & its linkage to #Marketing is a must-know topic for every marketer. Have read recently #Influence by Robert Cialdini and is a must read.

Here is how these principles work in short -

U walk up to a store for cookies; you see 2 jars - one is full and other is nearly empty; you pickup the last 2 cookies from the second jar! Principle of #Scarcity. That's what is at work when u shop (last 2 items left) or deal last 12 min 30 sec.

U are thinking of purchasing a laptop; you filter known brands & specs & price and then buy the one recommended by your followed Tech Influencer - Principle of #Authority at play. The reason why you see whitecoat wearing actors acting as docs in ads for health products!

U love #IPL and want to try a fantasy league app. U are a level headed guy and worship Dhoni; you download his endorsed app. If you are aggressive & expressive, chances are that you would take Kohli endorsed one. That's principle of #Likability.

In a restaurant u finish ur meal, the waiter brings a complementary dish before your bill. The unexpected gesture leads you to put in higher tip than before. That's principle of #Reciprocity. Principle of #Reciprocity is why you see lot of companies giving you valuable free resources at first to drive the desired behavior of purchase when u r looking for a product/service in that domain.

When purchasing products online or trying a new brand; you look at testimonials and reviews to understand whether it is been tried by large number of people. This is principle of #SocialProof. Brands must build enough traction with early adopters & get their endorsement (rating/reviews on playstore) to get this principle going before gunning for exponential growth.

We buy a certain brand and are happy with it. Market throws another brand of similar attributes. We tend to remain consistent with our earlier behavior and stick with the old brand as we are compelled by this principle of #Consistency. Consumers try to remain consistent with their own commitments. Thus if a brand is being referred by u to another person, chances are that next time u will still continue with same brand remaining consistent with ur own made endorsement.

One must leverage these principles in marketing/sales and even your interactions with humans. Yes, workplace behavior or what we call politics is also influenced by these principles. Here is again these principles at play at work -

Ur boss is a cricket worshipper with such a passion that he wears his IPL team's colors to office. Applying principle of Likability, u start talking about IPL matches at work and suddenly u find a soft-corner in ur boss's heart. Bad, if u love Messi! and the game of soccer. Develop the interest now or else u will be left behind.

Ever realized that in a meeting u said the right thing, but no body noticed? Thats because people don't just listen to what you say, people first assess it basis who is saying it! Thus, you need to apply 2 principles of Consistency and Authority to develop a niche for yourself at work. You can build authority by doing a project over the topic, writing a paper or a doc and then safeguarding/tom-toming the same in multiple forums/meetings consistently. Then, one day people will even listen to meaningless things you say in meetings in that domain.

U build your allies at work with constant comradarie and offering for help anytime. You have to be proactive about the same and take initiative first so that the other person feels obligated later via principle of Reciprocity.

Do you have more such examples?

Book Review - Rich Dad Poor Dad

This is a book which i heard about reading in my first job at infosys. But like many other nerds or other 'worker' people, i neglected the advice thinking i hate finance. At 37, when i just happened to pick this from a footpath and read it recently, i realized what a waste of 15 years had been.

This is a MUST READ book for any human being who makes a living. It should be rather part of school curriculums so that so many lives can be saved. You must be wondering about the hyperbole, but here is what it is about -
"Poor ppl work for money, and rich ppl make thier money work". Now, you must have been intrigued. Yes, the book unveils a thinking around finance principles needed for a healthy life. It talks about assests and liablities, cash flows, income and expense but in a manner that a layman can understand.

I would just mention a few key points from the book that might make you pick it up if you havent -

1. Poor ppl work for money, and rich ppl make thier money work.
2. Poor ppl look at expensive things and say, i cant afford it. Rich ppl look at same things and say, how can i afford it.
3. Poor ppl look at the biggest thing in thier life - house, as an asset, rich understand that its a liability.
4. Poor ppl work day in day out to increase thier active income of salary while rich work on thier passive incomes ( stocks, bonds, real estate etc).
5. Poor ppl first pay thier bills and taxes and then pay themselves. Rich ppl first pay themselves and push themselves to then pay the bills and taxes.
6. Poor ppl understand that the only way to realise thier dreams is through harder education and then job labour giving higher salary, thus perpetual rat race. Rich ppl know that rats race and hence to not to become a rat means financial freedom, and hence dreams.
7. Savers are loosers, Investors are winners. Savers are risk averse, investors are opportunity makers.
8. Winning at financial game is - Its not how much money u make, its about how much u keep.
9. The rich buy assets. The poor only have expnses. The middle class buy liabilities they think are assets.
10. The rich focus on thier asset columns while everyone else focus on thier income statements.
11. The biggest asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth.
12. Failures inspires winners. Failure defeats losers.
13. Find a reason to be rich greater than reality - the power of spirit.
14. Make daily choices.
15. Choose friends carefully, birds of same feather, flock together.
16. Learn new formulas quickly and keep up with the times.
17. Pay yourself first. Focus on cash flow, people and personal time.
18. Be an indian giver - the power of getting sth for nothing.
19. Use assets to buy luxuries. Eg if u want to buy a car, invest into sth which can get u a car rather than create a liability thru a car loan.
20. Power of giving, spread the knowledge, make others rich and you shall recieve in kind.

Amazing book, read it asap, the earlier the better. And a great word of admiration to Mr Robert Kiyosaki for spreading such vast knowledge to people.