|
If you want to get people to buy into your ideas, just
say them over and over. That’s the conclusion of Stephen
Garcia, PhD, of the University of Michigan, Gerald R.
Ford School of Public Policy.
In a study, Garcia found that when one person expresses
an opinion repeatedly the effect is the same as several
people lobbying the point. Repetition evokes a sense of
familiarity, making it seem that convictions are widely
shared, says Garcia.
“What we think others think greatly influences our own
personal thoughts, feelings and behavior,” Garcia says.
“An opinion is likely to be more widely shared the more
different people express it. But surprisingly, hearing
one person express an opinion repeatedly also leads to
the conclusion that the opinion is more widespread
relative to hearing the same opinion expressed only
once.”
In a study published in
The Journal of Personality & Social Psychology,
Garcia and other researchers at the University of
Michigan, Stanford University, and Virginia Tech had
about 1,000 students read fake opinions on various
subjects.
The study found that an opinion is more likely to be
assumed to be the majority opinion when multiple group
members express their opinion. However, they also showed
that hearing just one person express the same opinion
multiple times had nearly the same effect on a
listener’s perception of the opinion being popular as
hearing multiple people state the same opinion.
So what’s the lesson? If you want people to buy into
your ideas, one key is simply to repeat the idea
multiple times.
At
Speechworks we help our clients learn how to communicate
in a way that connects and persuades. If you’re
interested in becoming a great communicator give us a
call at 404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net. |
