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Media & PsychologyPersuasion & Influence

Priming in PR: The Subtle Art of Pre-Suasion

Move your audience into an actionable state-of-mind.

Jerry Silfwer
by Jerry Silfwer

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

Table of contents

Priming is a pro­act­ive approach to persuasion.

Priming subtly shapes the audi­ence’s per­cep­tions, atti­tudes, and expect­a­tions even before the main mes­sage is delivered by care­fully sequen­cing vari­ous PR actions, such as media releases, social media engage­ment, and pub­lic events. 

Effective prim­ing ensures that the audi­ence is more recept­ive to the core mes­sage and helps build a nar­rat­ive that res­on­ates deeply with the val­ues and beliefs of stake­hold­ers and publics.

Here we go:

Persuasion Through Priming

Priming Wheel - Persuasion - Doctor Spin - The PR Blog
Doctor Spin’s Priming Wheel.

Persuasion Approach: Priming

Priming is a valu­able approach to persuasion:

Priming (in per­sua­sion) = the pro­act­ive pro­cess of mov­ing an audi­ence into an action­able state of mind through mul­tiple PR activ­it­ies in a pre-planned sequence. 

This pro­act­ive approach is cru­cial in today’s inform­a­tion-sat­ur­ated envir­on­ment, where cap­tur­ing and retain­ing audi­ence atten­tion is increas­ingly challenging. 

“Priming can enhance memory recall, facil­it­ate brand pro­cessing, and influ­ence product pref­er­ences through vari­ous media.”
Source: Current opin­ion in psy­cho­logy 1Wänke, M. (2016). Primes as hid­den per­suaders. Current opin­ion in psy­cho­logy, 12, 63 – 66. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​J​.​C​O​P​S​Y​C​.​2​0​1​6​.​0​5​.​004

Inspired by the Priming Wheel, there are many examples of poten­tial prim­ing activ­it­ies in PR.

Here are a few examples:

  • Curiosity trig­ger. Encourage the recip­i­ent to seek inform­a­tion more act­ively. For example, entice them with an inter­act­ive ele­ment like a click­able link to get started.
  • Emotional hook. Connect with the recip­i­ent on a per­son­al level. Share a story that they can emo­tion­ally relate to, fos­ter­ing a deep­er con­nec­tion with your message.
  • Social proof. Alleviate the recipient’s appre­hen­sions by present­ing evid­ence of suc­cess from oth­ers. Utilize testi­mo­ni­als as a reas­sur­ing demon­stra­tion of third-party endorsements.
  • Small ask. Gently nudge the recip­i­ent towards a low-effort com­mit­ment. For instance, request them to briefly describe a chal­lenge they’re facing in exchange for a reward.
  • Value demon­stra­tion. Showcase the bene­fits of your pro­pos­al. Use visu­al or descript­ive meth­ods to high­light the advant­ages, focus­ing more on the bene­fits than the solution.
  • Mutual bene­fits. Build trust by illus­trat­ing how the recip­i­ent’s suc­cess bene­fits you. Clarify the recip­roc­al nature of the bene­fits, rein­for­cing mutu­al interest.
  • Trust test. Gauge the recip­i­ent’s trust in you by ask­ing them to take a small, trust-based action. For example, encour­age them to share your mes­sage with their network.
  • Common enemy. Unite the recip­i­ent against a shared chal­lenge or adversary. Provide a tan­gible depic­tion of this ‘enemy’ to solid­i­fy a sense of joint pur­pose and struggle.
  • Negative rein­force­ment. Illustrate the neg­at­ive out­comes of not tak­ing action. Present a vivid pic­ture of the worst-case scen­ario to under­score the import­ance of compliance.
  • Big ask (“The Sale”). Make a com­pel­ling case for imme­di­ate action. Present your offer with a sense of urgency, like a count­down, to prompt an imme­di­ate decision.
  • Feedback loop. Reinforce the recip­i­ent’s con­fid­ence in their decision or pur­chase. Offer encour­age­ment and express solid­ar­ity, strength­en­ing their con­vic­tion in their choice.
  • Referral ask. Show appre­ci­ation for the recip­i­ent’s opin­ion and net­work. Invite them to refer col­leagues with­in their industry in exchange for a reward, demon­strat­ing respect for their influ­ence and judgment.

“Priming social con­cepts can have mul­tiple effects across psy­cho­lo­gic­al sys­tems, but under­stand­ing how these effects occur and how they are dis­tilled into non­con­scious social actions is cru­cial for under­stand­ing non­con­scious beha­vi­or.”
Source: European Journal of Social Psychology 2Bargh, J. (2006). What have we been prim­ing all these years? On the devel­op­ment, mech­an­isms, and eco­logy of non­con­scious social beha­vi­or. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36 2, … Continue read­ing

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Priming as Pre-Suasion

Pre-Suasion - Robert Cialdini
Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini.
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“Pre-Suasion” by Robert B. Cialdini

In his book “Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade,” Cialdini explains that suc­cess­ful per­suaders change people’s “state of mind” before try­ing to change their “minds.”

Here are some of the core con­cepts and prin­ciples from the book:

  • Frontloading atten­tion. This prin­ciple emphas­izes the import­ance of what people are pay­ing atten­tion to before a per­suas­ive mes­sage is delivered. By dir­ect­ing atten­tion to cer­tain ele­ments before­hand, you can prime your audi­ence to be more recept­ive to your message.
  • Priming. Priming involves subtly influ­en­cing people’s thoughts and beha­viours by expos­ing them to cer­tain stim­uli before­hand. For example, show­ing images of money can make people more likely to act competitively.
  • Channeling the focus. Cialdini dis­cusses how dir­ect­ing an audi­ence’s focus on spe­cif­ic aspects can enhance per­sua­sion. By high­light­ing par­tic­u­lar fea­tures or bene­fits, you can steer their thoughts and per­cep­tions in a desired direction.
  • Anchoring. The concept of anchor­ing involves set­ting a ref­er­ence point (anchor) that will influ­ence how sub­sequent inform­a­tion is per­ceived. For instance, present­ing a high ini­tial price can make a dis­count seem more attractive.
  • Unity. Unity is the sense of shared iden­tity and con­nec­tion. When people feel they are part of the same group, they are more likely to be influ­enced by those they per­ceive as part of their “in-group.”
  • Association. Cialdini explains how asso­ci­at­ing your mes­sage with pos­it­ive con­cepts or exper­i­ences can enhance its effect­ive­ness. This can be achieved by link­ing your product or idea with pos­it­ive emo­tions or desir­able outcomes.
  • Reciprocity. Although this prin­ciple is also dis­cussed in his earli­er work, it is reit­er­ated in “Pre-Suasion.” The idea is that people feel obliged to return favours, so offer­ing some­thing of value upfront can cre­ate a sense of indebtedness.
  • Authority. The prin­ciple of author­ity high­lights the influ­ence of experts or author­it­at­ive fig­ures. Demonstrating expert­ise or cred­ib­il­ity before deliv­er­ing your mes­sage can sig­ni­fic­antly boost persuasion.
  • Consistency. Getting people to com­mit to a small, ini­tial action can increase the like­li­hood that they will agree to lar­ger requests later. This is due to their desire to appear con­sist­ent in their beha­viours and decisions.
  • Liking. People are more eas­ily per­suaded by those they like. Building rap­port and estab­lish­ing a pos­it­ive con­nec­tion can enhance the effect­ive­ness of your message.
  • Social proof. Showing that oth­ers, espe­cially sim­il­ar oth­ers, have already com­plied with a request can sig­ni­fic­antly increase com­pli­ance. This prin­ciple lever­ages the influ­ence of group beha­viour and norms.
  • Scarcity. Highlighting the lim­ited avail­ab­il­ity of a product or oppor­tun­ity can cre­ate a sense of urgency and increase its per­ceived value, mak­ing people more likely to act quickly.
  • Timing. Cialdini dis­cusses how the tim­ing of when inform­a­tion is presen­ted can sig­ni­fic­antly impact its per­suas­ive power. Understanding and lever­aging the right moment can enhance the like­li­hood of a favour­able response.

By under­stand­ing and imple­ment­ing these prin­ciples, indi­vidu­als can effect­ively “pre-suade” their audi­ence, mak­ing them more recept­ive to the sub­sequent per­suas­ive message.

“The best per­suaders become the best through pre-sua­sion — the pro­cess of arran­ging for recip­i­ents to be recept­ive to a mes­sage before they encounter it.”
— Robert Cialdini (author of Pre-Suasion) 3Cialdini, R. (2017, April 20). Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. Amazon​.co​.uk. https://​www​.amazon​.co​.uk/​P​r​e​-​S​u​a​s​i​o​n​-​R​e​v​o​l​u​t​i​o​n​a​r​y​-​W​a​y​-​I​n​f​l​u​e​n​c​e​-​P​e​r​s​u​a​d​e​/​d​p​/​1​8​4​7​9​4​1​4​35/

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ANNOTATIONS
ANNOTATIONS
1 Wänke, M. (2016). Primes as hid­den per­suaders. Current opin­ion in psy­cho­logy, 12, 63 – 66. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​J​.​C​O​P​S​Y​C​.​2​0​1​6​.​0​5​.​004
2 Bargh, J. (2006). What have we been prim­ing all these years? On the devel­op­ment, mech­an­isms, and eco­logy of non­con­scious social beha­vi­or. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36 2, 147 – 168. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​0​2​/​E​J​S​P​.​336
3 Cialdini, R. (2017, April 20). Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. Amazon​.co​.uk. https://​www​.amazon​.co​.uk/​P​r​e​-​S​u​a​s​i​o​n​-​R​e​v​o​l​u​t​i​o​n​a​r​y​-​W​a​y​-​I​n​f​l​u​e​n​c​e​-​P​e​r​s​u​a​d​e​/​d​p​/​1​8​4​7​9​4​1​4​35/
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.
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