Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [59]
This shows the power of authority by looking at extreme—and negative effects. Authority can also, of course, be used in a positive way.
2.6.1. To enhance believability, consider using support from an authority
The authority principle is persuasive, especially for credence goods—that is, goods whose quality or performance is a matter of faith. If customers cannot judge the quality of a product, they often rely on an authority.
Believability is high if a respected person or institution supports the message. For example, selected British merchants have long advertised products that were made for a queen (or king): “By appointment of her Majesty.”
The spokesperson should look, dress, act, and sound authoritative. The writing, font, layout, and illustration should look authoritative.
This principle seems so obvious that we might wonder what research could add. What the research has shown is not so much that authority is persuasive —but that it has such enormous power to persuade.
Evidence on the effects of authority
Follow-up research supported Milgram’s findings on the power of authority (Blass 1991, 1999). In addition, I conducted an extension in which subjects played the roles of seven board members of the Upjohn drug company. They were presented with evidence from a panel of scientists showing that their drug, Panalba, was responsible for the deaths of 20 people per year, deaths that would not have occurred had patients used a substitute drug that provided the same benefits. None of the 57 groups who role-played the situation facing the Upjohn board of directors removed Panalba from the market (Armstrong 1977).
The power of authority was also shown in a field experiment in which 21 of 22 nurses administered a drug to a patient although the medicine was unauthorized and the dosage was twice the maximum dosage stated on the bottle. This happened although the doctor gave the order by phone (a violation of hospital policy), and the nurse did not know the doctor. In another sample of 33 nurses, 31 said they would not follow such an order. They did not realize the extent to which they could be influenced by an authority figure (Hofling et al. 1966).
2.7. Commitment
People generally strive to behave in a way that is consistent with what they say and with how they have acted in the past. Consequently, most people honor commitments they make. This allows them to view themselves as reliable, trustworthy, and rational. Thus, commitment is especially applicable for actions related to the common good.
2.7.1. Ask customers to make explicit promises
Commitments work in many situations, but they are more persuasive for high-involvement products. They can help reduce a customer’s perceived risk by allowing these customers to take a step at a time. They are especially persuasive when the commitment relates to socially desirable behavior. For example, to conserve the use of electricity, an electric bill could include an insert that would ask the customer to set a goal for the next month.
Evidence on explicit promises
When homeowners were asked to make a private commitment to save energy, they used about 4 percent less energy over the next month in comparison with a control group (Pallak and Cummings 1976).
Six experiments asked undergraduates to volunteer for either a university committee or an AIDS awareness project. In some conditions, subjects could volunteer actively by checking the “yes” box (active yes), or skip answering if they did not want to volunteer (passive no). In other conditions, they were asked to check “no” if they did not want to volunteer (active no), and skip this if they did (passive yes). Those who made an active choice were more likely to act on their decision: 47 percent of active volunteers came