Archive for 'Persuasion/Selling'


Being a know-it-all is very persuasive

Posted by Rob McKay on December 19, 2008 
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Being a know-it-all Is very persuasive, particularly if you don’t tell people you know it all. Social psychologists have performed many studies that demonstrate that people, especially in business settings, are more persuaded by proposals that come from credible and trustworthy sources.

The power of reciprocity

Posted by Rob McKay on December 4, 2008 
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Will people be just as likely to live up to the rule of reciprocity and return a favour in situations where nobody will ever know if the favour is returned?

The sway of irrational behaviour

Posted by Ricki Sharpe on July 7, 2008 
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Yes, it is yet another book on irrational thinking. There must be money to be made in explaining the science of our faulty thinking in an easy to understand manner. In a new book, Sway: The Irressistible Pull of Irrational Behaviour, the authors Ori and Rom Brafman outline a series of irrational behaviours that remind us just how often decisions are made not on sound reasoning but on emotional impulses that can have critical consequences.

Nudging in the right direction

Posted by Ricki Sharpe on May 12, 2008 
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Every day we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. Nudge is the latest in a series of books that detail the many ways in which our decision making is irrational, and what we can do about it.

It pays to know your opponent

Posted by Ricki Sharpe on April 27, 2008 
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From the war room to the board room, negotiations are a part of everyday life. Successful negotiations demand a clear understanding of your opponent. But what approach should you take to achieve such an understanding of your opponent in everyday negotiations?

Predictably irrational

Posted by Ricki Sharpe on April 14, 2008 
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Irrational behavior is a part of human nature, but as MIT professor Dan Ariely has discovered in 20 years of researching behavioural economics, people tend to behave irrationally in a predictable fashion. Drawing on psychology and economics, he explains why patients get greater relief from a more expensive drug over its cheaper counterpart and why honest people may steal office supplies or communal food, but not money.

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