This document summarizes Robert Cialdini's research on fixed action patterns and how marketers can leverage these hardwired behaviors to influence consumer purchases. It identifies six key fixed action patterns - authority, reciprocity, scarcity, commitment/consistency, social proof, and liking - and provides examples of marketing tactics aligned with each pattern, such as using symbols of authority to build trust or creating a sense of scarcity to drive demand. The overall message is that understanding human fixed action patterns allows marketers to unconsciously influence consumer behavior.

1. social influence
YOU NEED THIS PRODUCT!!!
Observations by Robert Cialdani

2. you probably know that your biology
affects perception

4. FOCUS ON THE DOT IN THE CENTRE AND MOVE YOUR HEAD
BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS.

5. COUNT THE BLACK DOTS

6. for a marketer, perception is
important

7. but behaviour is the holy grail

8. as it turns out, your biology drives
your behaviour too

9. these biologically-driven behaviours
are called fixed action patterns

10. a fixed action pattern is simply a
hard-wired behaviour to a given
circumstance

11. here is what robert cialdani wrote
about a famous fixed action pattern
experiment in his book, influence…

12. “Turkey mothers are good mothers – loving, watchful, and protective. They
spend much of their time tending, warming, cleaning, and huddling their young
beneath them; but there is something odd about their method. Virtually all of
this mothering is triggered by one thing: the “cheep-cheep” sound of young
turkey chicks.
Other identifying features of the chicks, such as smell, touch, or appearance
seem to play minor roles in the mothering process. If a chick makes the cheep-
cheep noise, its mother will care for it. If not, the mother will ignore or
sometimes kill it.
The extreme reliance of maternal turkeys upon this one sound was
dramatically illustrated by behaviouralist M. W. Fox (1974) in his description of
an experiment involving a mother turkey and a stuffed polecat. For a mother
turkey, a polecat is a natural enemy whose approach is to be greeted with
squawking, pecking, clawing rage. Indeed, the experiments found that even a
stuffed model of a polecat, when drawn by a string to a mother turkey, received
an immediate, furious attack.
When, however, the same stuffed replica carried inside it a small recorder that
played the cheep-cheep sound of a baby turkey, the mother not only accepted
the oncoming polecat, but gathered it underneath her.”

13. stupid turkey, right?

14. well as it turns out, all animals, not
just turkeys, rely on built-in fixed
action patterns

15. including you and me

17. and here is the sneaky part

18. savvy marketers can manipulate
fixed action patterns to drive
unconscious buying behaviour

19. cialdani identified 6 usable fixed
action patterns

20. Authority
Reciprocity
Scarcity
Commitment & Consistency
Social Proof
Liking

21. 1. Authority
There is strong pressure (from systematic
socialization) in society for compliance with
the requests of an authority.
In addition it is frequently adaptive to obey
the dictates of genuine authorities as they
usually possess high levels of knowledge,
wisdom, or power.
As a result, we tend to react to symbols of
power as often as actual content.

22. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
TRUST CERTAIN PHYSICAL
ATTRIBUTES

23. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
TRUST PEOPLE IN UNIFORMS

24. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
TRUST TRAPPINGS

25. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
TRUST TITLES

26. 2. Reciprocity
There is a societal distaste for those who
take and do not return.

27. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO
AVOID BEING A MOOCHER

28. GIVE SOMETHING TRIVIAL
AWAY TO CREATE A FEELING
OF INDEBTEDNESS

29. THEN ASK FOR WHAT YOU
REALLY WANT

30. PAY WITH A TWEET’S WHOLE
BUSINESS IS BASED ON THIS

31. THIS VERY DECK IS AN
EXAMPLE WHEN YOU SEE THE
CALL TO ACTION AT THE END!

32. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
RESPOND TO GUILT

33. ALWAYS BE THE FIRST & LAST
TO GIVE, ESPECIALLY IF THE
GIFT HAS LITTLE VALUE TO
YOU

34. 3. Scarcity
That which is rare or is becoming less
available is always more appealing.
Show genuine scarcity in the most tangible
way you can. Point out what will be lost by
not responding. People fear loss, so generate
a feeling of potential loss.

35. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
BUY IF THEY SENSE SCARCITY

36. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
BUY IF THEY SENSE SCARCITY

37. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
BUY IF THEY SENSE SCARCITY

38. 4. Commitment & Consistency
Inconsistency is perceived as confused, two-
faced, or even mentally ill while consistency
is associated with personal & intellectual
strength.
Once you have committed to a purchase, an
action, a belief, or anything like that, it
becomes a piece of your identity and you will
tend to act in a manner that reinforces that
choice, lest you look inconsistent.

39. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
REMAIN CONSISTENT, EVEN
WHEN IT MAKES NO SENSE

40. START WITH A SMALL STEP &
ESCALATE GRADUALLY

41. PEOPLE ARE ALSO PREDISPOSED
TO BUY SOMETHING THEY DON’T
WANT/NEED IF WHAT THEY CAME
FOR IS OUT OF STOCK

42. 5. Social Proof
We decide what to believe or do based on
what others are believing or doing

43. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
RUN WITH THE PACK

45. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
GIVE CREDIT BY ASSOCIATION

46. https://www.flickr.com/photos/davedugdale/
TIP JARS SHOULD ALWAYS
START WITH FAKE TIPS INSIDE

47. ALWAYS HAVE A SMALL
QUEUE, EVEN IF THERE IS
ROOM INSIDE

48. 6. Liking
We prefer to say yes to individuals we know
and like (e.g.: physical attractiveness,
similarity, repetitive contact, association)

49. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
BUY FROM SOMEONE THEY
KNOW

50. PEOPLE ARE PREDISPOSED TO
BUY FROM SOMEONE WHO
LOOKS LIKE THEM

51. REMEMBER: WITH GREAT
INFLUENCING POWER, COMES
GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

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54. CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTIONS & REFERENCES
https://www.flickr.com/photos/marsdd/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarah_c_murray/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/onthemantlephotography/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davedugdale/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andy-howell/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/
http://www.directcreative.com/influence-and-persuasion-the-rule-of-consistency.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/justinwkern/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rayovac/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ssoosay/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/santarosa/
http://hqwide.com/patterns-textures-grid-illusions-grayscale-optical-illusion-wallpaper-30074/
Please note that all content & opinions expressed in this deck are my own and don’t necessarily
represent the position of my current, or any previous, employers