Using Commitments In Persuasion

• Commit Once, And Your likely to commit again.
• People can commit to brands, products, thoughts and actions.
• Not all commitments are good for you.

Researchers have found that by getting someone to make a small commitment first, you vastly increase their chances of making similar but larger commitments later on. This technique is often used by shops, especially online stores.

They know that if they can get a person to buy something once from them, they are much more likely to buy from them again rather than a competitor.

This occurs because people have a natural tendency to act consistently. So when we do something once, we tend to do the same thing or something similar in the future. We feel some degree of commitment to it.

Maybe you can see this in yourself?

Brand Loyality 

People often become committed to certain brands of clothes or electronic equipment. For example, some people claim the xBox360 is the best games console. Others claim it is the Playstation 3. Whilst others claim the best console is the Nintendo Wii.

In the majority of these cases, the people who claim their respective console is the best, most likely owned the previous generation of that console made by the same company.

In other words, they have developed a brand loyalty, and feel some degree of commitment to purchase that companies product again.

In the case of the Playstation 3, many “Sony fans” waited until the release of the Playstation 3 before buying a new games console.

This was despite the fact that the xBox360 was already available at a much cheaper price.

The xBox360 already had a large library of games (including many of those available on the Playstation) and with equally good, or in some cases, better graphics.

Another example could include the websites people visit. Despite their being millions of websites on the Internet, people tend to visit only a select few on a repeated basis.

Here are some of the key ways in which you can get someone to act consistently through commitments.

Buy Once, Buy Again

Get someone to buy from you no matter how small, and they are likely to buy from you again and buy more. People become comfortable shopping in the same places and buying the same things.

Commit To Paper

Written commitments are much more powerful than verbal commitments. If you get someone to commit to a certain action on paper, it will hold much more weight than a simple verbal agreement. Written commitments provide evidence, and so are less likely to be backed out of.

Commit In Public

Public commitments are much stronger than private commitments. A commitment made in public is much more likely to be honored than one made in private.

This is because our reputation with a large number of people is at risk, should we not follow through on what we promised. Breaking a commitment to just one person, may be perceived as an acceptable loss.

Make The Effort!

The greater the effort, the greater the commitment. The more effort you put into something, the more likely you are to support and believe it in. This effort can take the form of physical effort, money or time.

For example, people who have spent their whole lives with a certain belief, are much less likely to change that belief even if evidence proves they are wrong.

It is important to note here that effort must be voluntary. Forced efforts do not result in lasting commitments.

Watch Out For The Commitment Trap!

Because of our natural tendency to act consistently, you must be very careful not to blindly follow the wrong course of action after committing yourself to something.

This means that you should become aware of the things you repeatedly do, and ask yourself if there is a better alternative.

For example, many people will purchase brand named shampoos and continue to use products by that brand over and over again.

This is despite the fact that these brand named shampoos cost 2-3 times more than the stores own brand, and often contain exactly the same ingredients.

This same principle applies to human behavior. Often people will keep doing the same things day after day, and then wonder why their life doesn’t change or improve.

They become commited to following a set course of action, despite the fact that it is doing them no good and there are better alternatives.

So always make sure the thoughts and actions you are commited to, really are the best option. If not, break that commitment and move onto something else.