Influence Methods Across Time
The art of persuasion has been around for as long as humans have collaborated in collective cultures. What techniques stand the test of time? How has it evolved?
👋 Hi! I'm Yue. Chief Product Officer turned Career Coach. My mission is to help women and minorities in mid-level roles break through to the C-suite. Each week I tackle topics like building presence and power, navigating conflicts and escalations, and charting your path to promotion.
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(“Influence & Authority From 600m Up”, Teddy the Corgi, Parc del Natural, Montseny, Spain)
In his 1984 book, Influence: The Art of Persuasion, Cialdini outlines 6 Principles of Persuasion that still apply to this day. They are as follows:
Reciprocity: Humans naturally try to repay favors and settle social obligations. If you give someone a personalized and unexpected gift, they will feel obligated to return the favor, even if the gift is small. For example, you could do a small favor for colleagues to build up your calling card over time.
Consistency: People like to act in ways consistent with their self-image and the past. If you can persuade someone to take a small action, they are more likely to take larger actions in the future. This principle is demonstrated through Yard Signs: if you get someone to agree to put up a small yard sign promoting a cause, you can slowly upgrade them to bigger and bigger signs over time. The same concept applies to coffee cup sizes or opinions on social issues. In the workplace, this manifests as getting someone to agree to something small, and then moving on to larger requests in terms of size or difference from their currently held opinion.
Scarcity: People want things more when they are scarce. If you want someone to want something and treasure it, make it a scarce commodity. This is the reasoning behind competing for Company SWAG, limited speaker spots at an event, or “only 5 spots left at this price.” You can also create scarcity for commodities like your time through Office Hours.
Social Proof: Humans are social creatures who conform to group norms. When making decisions, people often look to see what others are doing. This is why language like “people who purchased this item also purchased…” or “90% of guests give this hotel 5 stars” work so well.
Authority: People are more easily persuaded by individuals they see as credible and knowledgeable. Authority can also be conveyed through titles and qualifications.
Liking: People are more likely to be persuaded by people they like. When you have a strong relationship foundation through cooperation, giving compliments, or finding commonalities, they are more likely to be influenced by you.
I was intrigued by the relevance of the techniques from 1984 and as a result, dug into how influence and persuasion have and have not changed over time. The trends were fascinating.
Influence Through Time
I was curious how influence techniques have changed from prehistoric times to the modern era, and so took a deep dive with Chat-GPT and Google. Here’s what I found:
Prehistoric Times: Competence & Physical Strength
In early human history, influence and persuasion were primarily about physical dominance, survival skills, and the ability to gather resources or protect the group. Leaders of tribes were often those who exhibited the most strength or prowess in hunting.
Charisma and perceived competence (strength in modern terms) are still important in leadership. People are persuaded by those they believe can protect or lead them to success. However, physical strength alone as a persuasion tactic is much less important in modern societies. Intellectual or moral strength now holds more sway.
Ancient Civilizations: Divine Authority & Early Rhetoric
In ancient civilizations, rulers evoked divine rights and religious narratives for control and influence. In Egypt, pharaohs were considered gods. In China, emperors had a “mandate from heaven” to rule and had direct access to the gods and spirits through ancestor worship. In ancient India, kings were dharma-rajahs, or kings who upheld dharma (cosmic law and order). In Persia, kings were appointed by the god Ahura Mazda while in Israel, kings had a special divine blessing to legitimize their rule.
Along with rituals and traditions, rhetoric was also critical for maintaining authority and broad influence. Priests and Rulers were trained for many years in the art of communication. Speeches were commonly given in town halls and written down for posterity. It was a symbol of the higher class to memorize important literary works and learn the art of debate.
Today, blind appeals to divine or royal authority are much less effective in secular and democratic societies. Most expect leaders to justify authority through rhetoric and logic rather than divine right. However, collective culture and “us against them” retain a strong hold on influence.
Renaissance and Enlightenment: Ideas & Reason
Through the Renaissance and Enlightenment, discourse became popularized and more accessible to the general population. Early thinkers like Aristotle introduced ethos (credibility), pathos (emotional appeal), and logos (logical argument) in the art of persuasion. Then, Machiavelli in “The Prince,” discussed manipulation as a tool for persuasion. The explicit manipulation turns towards reason and appeals to freedom and human rights in the Enlightenment, with Locke and Rousseau pushing for rational debate and persuasion through reason and intellectual discourse.
Today, the open and explicit manipulation Machiavelli speaks of is heavily critiqued and frowned upon. However, rational debate continues to be influential, with logical arguments and ethical persuasion.
Industrial Revolution to Modern Era: Story-telling
With the rise of print media, newspapers, and eventually radio and film, the ability to influence large populations became centralized again. Advertising and propaganda became sophisticated tools of persuasion. Figures like Edward Bernays (the “father of PR”) demonstrated how emotions, desires, and fears could be manipulated to influence public opinion.
Then, the rise of the internet and social media platforms has democratized influence. Anyone with access to the internet can reach millions. Persuasion now often takes the form of peer influence, virality, and online communities.
Today, mass media still plays a massive role in shaping public opinion. Techniques like targeted messaging, emotional appeals, and repetition are as effective now as they were in the early 20th century. Social proof (e.g., “if many people like this, it must be good”) is prevalent. However, people are more skeptical of top-down, one-way messaging. Instead, they prefer peer reviews, dialogue, and user-generated content.
What is Consistent, New, and Out of Favor
Throughout time, these three aspects of influence have remained consistent:
Storytelling: Throughout history, storytelling has been a powerful vehicle for persuasion, from oral traditions in ancient tribes to evoking rituals and divine rights to viral content on social media.
Appeal to Emotions: Whether through fear, hope, anger, or joy, emotional appeal has always been at the core of persuasion
Credibility: While the source of credibility has evolved, those seen as credible have more influence.
Improving your skillset along these three aspects to gain influence is a no-brainer. They serve you well from middle management into the C-suite and beyond. Some courses I’d recommend checking out: Mastering Executive Presence & Communication, Ultraspeaking and Influence Without Authority
What’s not so hot?
In contrast, top-down authority and overt manipulation have become less effective. Physical strength and explicit manipulation are frowned upon in Western business cultures. The #MeToo movement is a recent example of the trend away from physical strength. Top-down authority is also less effective than in previous times as people demand more logical and human rights-based justifications. While still existent in some places around the world, it is generally viewed as backward and undesirable when lacking in connection to merit or logical reasoning.
In place of top-down authority, social proof and liking have increased in importance in recent times. More authority and credibility have been given to “peers” and “people like me”. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok have shifted influence from traditional top-down sources wielding mass media propaganda (government, institutions, corporations) to individuals who are often perceived as “normal people.” Micro-influencers (individuals with smaller, but highly engaged audiences) often wield more influence than celebrities or large organizations. These influencers are seen as “peers” rather than authority figures, and their recommendations feel more genuine to their followers.
Consumers are more likely to trust reviews from “people like them” than top-down advertising from companies themselves. 93% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, and 84% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, indicating the shift toward peer-based credibility.
Interestingly, while peers and “friends like me” are perceived as sources of influence, social media platforms themselves—through algorithms—have become powerful top-down authorities. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube curate what users see based on engagement and personalization algorithms, often limiting the diversity of information and reinforcing biases.
What influence & persuasion techniques do you see working well? How has this changed over time or across different places? Let me know in the comment below!
See you next week at 3:14 pm!
Yue
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