Cruise Through When People Suspect Selling

A challenge in persuasion is navigating the suspicions raised in people when they know you’re trying to sell them something. Researchers at European University Viadrina selected 171 sets of data from studies about consumers’ persuasion knowledge. A main finding from their statistical analyses of the data is that when someone knows you’re aiming to persuade them, they’re more likely to develop negative impressions toward the transaction and more likely to decide not to buy at that time than if they didn’t suspect a selling agenda. The effect is substantial. For instance, persuasion knowledge cuts advertising persuadability in half.
     Among other insights from the meta-analysis: 

• When a sales pitch is perceived as personalized, such as with a highly targeted promotional campaign, persuasion knowledge has greater negative effects for the marketer. The researchers recommend that you minimize personalized pitches to shoppers likely to have persuasion knowledge. 
• Persuasion knowledge sabotages influence effectiveness to a greater extent with unfamiliar products and with products the shopper needs experience using in order to evaluate. The implication, in my opinion, is that with such products, you do best to guide the person toward the sale in a sequence of contacts. 
• When a shopper becomes highly involved in deciding whether to make the purchase, the impact of persuasion knowledge on the sale fades. This point leads me to think it profitable to involve the person early with the item. 
• The disruptive effects of persuasion knowledge are greater for U.S. consumers than for those in the other countries studied and are greater for adults than for children or teens. This suggests to me the value of public policies insulating young consumers against exploitive sales techniques.

     Other research hints that mental processes set off by persuasion knowledge could sharpen attention to what you’re selling. If so, interest in learning about the item would grow, enhancing chances of making the sale later.
     Related to all this, University of Minnesota, Florida State University, and University of British Columbia studies find individual differences in sugrophobia. The name is derived from “fear of sucking,” and the meaning is “fear of being a sucker.”
     Low sugraphobes have their guard way down. They probably won’t even realize when they’ve been duped. They deserve protection from gullibility. On the other hand, high sugraphobes approach each influence transaction with vigilance and skepticism. Add in persuasion knowledge and the cruise toward a successful sale could be rocky indeed.

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