I changed one sentence and got 20% more views

Summary

Podcast Summary: Nudge – "I Changed One Sentence and Got 20% More Views"

Title: I Changed One Sentence and Got 20% More Views
Host: Phil Agnew
Guest: Bas Wauters, Co-founder and CEO of the Cialdini Institute
Release Date: December 23, 2024

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Introduction to the Unity Principle

In the episode titled "I Changed One Sentence and Got 20% More Views," host Phil Agnew delves into the seventh principle of persuasion, Unity, as introduced by renowned behavioral scientist Robert Cialdini. Agnew sets the stage by highlighting Unity’s profound impact across various sectors:

"This principle made Indian loan officers more likely to approve loan applications. It made US financial investment firms twice as likely to conduct fiscal misconduct, and it made Hong Kong restaurant diners less likely to complain."
— Phil Agnew [00:00]

Understanding Unity with Bas Wauters

Phil Agnew is joined by Bas Wauters, the co-founder and CEO of the Cialdini Institute, who provides an in-depth exploration of Unity:

"It [the Unity principle] is about expanding the life work of Dr. Cialdini to make professionals more successful... and people happier as a person by applying the science of ethical persuasion."
— Bas Wauters [02:31]

Wauters elucidates that Unity transcends simple similarities, encapsulating shared identities like race, ethnicity, nationality, family, and affiliations. He emphasizes the ethical application of Unity to foster win-win situations, thereby enhancing personal happiness and professional success.

Real-World Applications of Unity

Warren Buffett’s Shareholder Letter

One of the standout examples discussed is Warren Buffett’s strategic use of Unity in his shareholder communication:

"He addressed 'I will tell you exactly what I tell my family...'"
— Phil Agnew [06:26]

Buffett’s framing transformed shareholders into a familial group, fostering a sense of unity and trust, which Cialdini noted made stockholders like him more convincing and loyal.

Research with Toddlers

Wauters shares a compelling study that demonstrates Unity’s deep-rooted influence:

"Toddlers were three times more likely to help the clumsy researcher if the image on the wall showed two people shoulder to shoulder rather than two people standing apart."
— Phil Agnew [09:06]

This experiment underscores that Unity is ingrained in our psyche from a very young age, influencing behaviors such as helpfulness and cooperation.

WWII Japanese Jews Persuasion

A historical example showcases Unity’s persuasive power under extreme circumstances:

"We are all Asian, just like you,"
— Japanese Rabbi [10:41]

This statement shifted the military officers’ group identity from a wartime alliance with Nazis to a regional mutuality, compelling them to protect the Jewish individuals.

University Donation Study

A study conducted by Bas and his team on a university campus demonstrated Unity’s effectiveness in fundraising:

"When people heard 'we are all students here,' 24 out of 51 students donated, almost four times more than the control condition."
— Phil Agnew [12:10]

Students were more inclined to donate when reminded of their shared identity as fellow students, highlighting the principle’s applicability in organizational settings.

Application of Unity in Marketing and Advertising

Television Advertisements

Bas Wauters explains how Unity is subtly yet effectively employed in TV advertising:

"We are Belgium. We are Belgium."
— Phil Agnew [19:00]

Using national identity slogans, such as Belgium’s beer campaign "We are Belgium," brands foster a collective identity that resonates deeply with consumers, enhancing brand loyalty and engagement.

Additional examples include slogans like:

• Jif: "Choosey mums choose Jif."
• TWA: "Dad's favorite chair."
• Heinz: "Heinz Seriously good mayonnaise made for serious mayo lovers."

These slogans create a sense of belonging and shared identity between the brand and the consumer.

Phil’s Experiment with Nudge Fans

To test Unity’s efficacy, Phil Agnew conducted an experiment with his loyal listeners, referred to as the “Nudgers”:

• Control Email:
  Subject: "Can you answer this quick question?"
  "Hello, I value your opinion. Can you help me by answering this quick question?"
  — Result: 16 out of 48 viewed the video.

• Unity Email:
  Subject: "Nudgers, can you answer this quick question?"
  "Hello Nudgers. As a nudger, I value your opinion more than any other Nudge listener. So can you help by answering this quick question?"
  — Result: 20 out of 48 viewed the video.

This modification led to a 20% increase in engagement, demonstrating Unity’s tangible impact.

"20 out of the 48 who received the UNITY email had watched the video, while only 16 out of the 48 who received the control had watched the video."
— Phil Agnew [18:04]

Practical Tips for Applying Unity

Bas Wauters provides actionable strategies to harness Unity effectively:

1. Co-Creation:
   Engage clients and stakeholders in the creation process to foster a sense of belonging and partnership.

   "When you co create, people are 50% more favorable to what is created."
   — Bas Wauters [13:44]

2. Asking for Advice Instead of Opinions:
   Reframe requests to position recipients as partners rather than critics.

   "Can I get your advice?" versus "Can you give me your opinion?"
   — Bas Wauters [14:48]

3. Shared Identity Messaging:
   Highlight common identities or shared goals to strengthen connection and influence.

Common Mistakes in Applying Unity

Bas cautions against misconstruing Unity with other persuasion principles like Liking and Social Proof:

"The common mistake is confusing it with liking and social proof... Instead of raising to awareness that people belong to the group and then telling yes, they use what might be another effective principle."
— Bas Wauters [22:13]

Ensuring that Unity is applied genuinely by emphasizing shared identities rather than merely pointing out similarities is crucial for its success.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Throughout the episode, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the Unity principle and its versatile applications. Key insights include:

• Unity Enhances Persuasion: Shared identities significantly boost the effectiveness of requests and influence.
• Deep-Rooted Influence: Unity impacts behavior from early childhood, indicating its fundamental role in human interaction.
• Marketing Applications: Brands successfully leverage Unity to build strong, loyal customer bases through targeted messaging.
• Practical Implementation: Simple changes, such as altering phrasing in communications, can lead to notable increases in engagement and support.
• Ethical Considerations: Applying Unity ethically fosters genuine connections and positive outcomes for all parties involved.

Phil Agnew wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to explore Cialdini’s updated works and consider joining the “Nudgers” community for deeper engagement and future experiments.

"If we have no peace, it's because we've forgotten that we belong to one another."
— Mother Teresa
— Phil Agnew [22:48]

This poignant quote encapsulates the essence of Unity, reinforcing its significance in fostering collective harmony and effective persuasion.

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Recommended Reading:

• Robert Cialdini's "Influence": An essential read for understanding the foundational principles of persuasion, including Unity.
• Bas Wauters' "Online Influence": Combines Cialdini’s theories with Wauters’ expertise in behavioral science for enhanced online strategies.

Join the Nudgers: Become part of the Nudge community to engage in experiments, provide feedback, and gain exclusive insights into behavioral science applications.

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Subscribe and Engage: If you found this summary insightful, subscribe to Nudge for more evidence-backed tips and behavioral science strategies. Leave a review or connect with Phil Agnew on LinkedIn and X to share your thoughts and experiences.

Transcript

[Phil Agnew]

There is a principle of persuasion that you probably haven't heard of. This principle made Indian loan officers more likely to approve loan applications. It made US financial investment firms twice as likely to conduct fiscal misconduct, and it made Hong Kong restaurant diners less likely to complain. The principle is unity. It's Cialdini's seventh principle of persuasion. This principle of unity suggests that individuals who share an identity will feel more connected. That feels feeling of connectedness makes the requests they make more persuasive. Those Indian loan officers approved more loan applications and gave more favourable terms to applicants from the same region. Inside US financial investment firms, fiscal misconduct by an advisor is twice as likely to be copied by another advisor if the two share an ethnicity. And after a service failure in a Hong Kong restaurant, customers were less willing to blame a server who shared their last name. Unity isn't about simple similarities like your place of work or your favourite car brand. It's about shared identities such as race, ethnicity, nationality, family and political and religious affiliations. But can marketers use this principle? Do TV ads use it? And will my UNITY experiment work on my loyal Nudge listeners? Find out in today's episode of Nudge. Coming up after this.

[Natalie Gingrich]

The Ops Authority, hosted by Natalie Gingrich, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Every week on the Ops Authority you'll hear transformational stories of powerhouse business owners who value business operations. You can't ignore the back end pieces that have to work together and flow smoothly to build a brand, grow a community or disrupt an industry. If the operations side of your business is a mess, putting putting out fires will always take priority, leaving no room for the behavioural science improvements that I think every business needs to make. So listen to the Ops Authority wherever you get your podcasts.

[Phil Agnew]

Today I had the privilege of chatting to probably the only person other than Robert Cialdini himself who knows the unity principle inside out.

[Bas Wauters]

Hello everybody, my name is Bas Wautas.

[Phil Agnew]

Bas is the co founder and CEO of the Cialidini Institute which he partners with the godfather of influence, Robert Cialdini. Here's what the Cialdini Institute does Institute.

[Bas Wauters]

Is about expanding the life work of Dr. Cialdini to make professionals more successful, even more successful than they already are, and people happier as a person by applying the science of ethical persuasion. As a matter of fact, Daniel Ping did a research on this and he found that 41% of our time spent at work, even if you are a non salesperson, you're spending on persuading and Influencing others. We need to get others on board to get things done. Why happier as a person, you might wonder, is always make a bit of a joke. If you're single and you ask somebody on a date, it's nice they say yes. Or if you have little children, it's nice if they listen. So that also is a lot of getting things done from other people. So if you do it in an ethical way, which you are strong advocates for and you create win win situations, that definitely will lead to being happier as a person.

[Phil Agnew]

So let's get into it. What is Cialdini's seventh principle of persuasion?

[Bas Wauters]

Yes, it's the principle of unity. So of course in 1984 he published his book four times. He updated it, released several revisions recently, the latest one where he also focused on more recent examples. But he also introduced there the principle of unity. What he saw that was a very powerful effect that he first categorized maybe on the liking or social proof, but it wasn't really that effect. So he felt this is a seven principle and what it is is blurring the boundaries between self and others race to awareness. We are from the same group. So liking says I like you because you are similar to me. Social proof says I do this because a lot of similar others are doing it. I say yes because you belong to me.

[Phil Agnew]

Let's look at an example. Friends often share multiple identities. The closer the friendship, the stronger the accompanying sense of unity. This unity is influencers behaviour. In a massive political election experiment involving 61 million people, a Facebook message urging people to vote was most successful if it included photographs of Facebook friends who had already voted. And critically, if one of the photos was of a close friend's. We are more likely to vote when someone from our shared identity has done so. One US study found citizens were more likely to agree to participate in a survey if the survey was conducted by a university in their home state. A request from a university in your state, your region, your county, will be more persuasive. Now maybe this sounds a little unsurprising. However, according to Bass, some smart communicators have found ways to trigger feelings of unity even when the recipients don't share an identity.

[Bas Wauters]

To start with, Warren Buffet. So unfortunately Charlie Munger, his right hand man, passed away recently. But the shareholders from Berkshire Hathaway were asking Warren and Charlie, you come to a certain age, how does the company continue without you? And then he wrote a shareholder letter where he addressed I will tell you exactly what I tell my family. So what is the most powerful unity driver? Your Family, of course, people who belong to you. Framing it that way, his shareholders, his co shareholders became his family. And everything that came after what Warren informed them was perceived as a united message.

[Phil Agnew]

Warren Buffett is a bit of a communication genius, so I think it's worth reading out what he wrote. The letter read, now let's look at the road ahead. Bear in mind that if I had attempted 50 years ago to gauge what was coming, I'd be certain my predictions would have been far off the mark. He added, with that warning, I'll tell you what I would say to my family today if they asked me about Berkshire's future. Cialdini, who received this letter as a Berkshire Hathaway stockholder, wrote that Buffett had done something that made me judge him as even more convincing. He had claimed that he was going to advise me about them as he would a family member. Because of everything I know about the man, I believe the claim. And as a result, I have never thought seriously about selling my Berkshire Hathaway stock. But Warren's advice to my family tactic, it isn't conclusive. It's not a randomized controlled trial in a lab. So I asked BAS for another example.

[Bas Wauters]

Another thing, another example which I like to share was a research done and people were three settings. And in one setting the people who participated in the research saw in the background a picture of a single individual. And then the researchers came in and by accident something bumped up. He throw something over from the table on the ground and he looked. How many people helped me pick up those elements that I threw on the ground? That was condition one. Condition two and three, the same effect was measured. The only thing was different was that picture in the background. In condition two, there were two people, but they stand apart. In condition three, there were two people standing shoulder to shoulder. What were the findings? Standing alone, about 20% of the participants helped the researcher. The picture with standing apart similar about 20%. The picture standing shoulder to shoulder, about 60% helped the research of picking up these elements. Why I'm telling this because there's a very fascinating component to this research. Who were the subjects? There were toddlers, little children that were the subjects. So it's in our system at a very young age. And the only thing they saw was a picture of people that were united. So it shows also the power of this effect because it's very deeply rooted in our system.

[Phil Agnew]

Toddlers were three times more likely to help the clumsy researcher if the image on the wall showed two people shoulder to shoulder rather than two people standing apart apparently that image of unity inspired helpfulness in the kids. Bass says the power of unity can be seen in some of the most persuasive requests in human history. Like this notorious request from persecuted Japanese J in World War II.

[Bas Wauters]

One more example is a very famous story from World War II and it happened in Asia. So Japan was a partner, was an ally of the Germans. And of course the Germans wanted to prosecute the Jews. So they went to Japan and said, we want you to deliver all the Jews in Japan to us. So two Jews were invited to argue and persuade the military power why they shouldn't be prosecuted and why they should not be delivered to the Germans. And one was a very factual man knowing a lot about the Jewish religion in Japan. And he argued very well, but factually, then one was more the persuader, the ethical persuasion. And he answered one question. At one moment the military generals asked him why we shouldn't give you to the Germans. Tell me why. Because we are all Japanese, just like you.

[Phil Agnew]

To clarify, the Japanese said we are all Asian, just like you. According to Cialdini in his book, this statement shifted the Japanese officer's reigning in group identity from one based in in the temporary wartime alliance with the Germans to one based in a regional mutuality. It did so by implicating the Nazis own racial claim that the Aryan master race was genetically different from and innately superior to the people of Asia. The older rabbis request had a very powerful effect on the Japanese officers. After a silence, they conferred amongst themselves and announced a recess. When they returned, the most senior military official rose and and granted reassurances to the rabbis. Go back to your people. Tell them we will provide for their safety and peace. You have nothing to fear while in Japanese territory. Very impressive and a very inspiring story. But you're probably wondering if you can apply this. The examples so far have been a little high level. So let's look at a study that reveals a simple yet powerful way to apply the unity principle.

[Bas Wauters]

There were students collecting donations on campus for good causes of students. So why should I do this? The students that needed to donate asked, because we are all students on campus. We belong to the same group here. It was just risen to awareness. That's the power of unity. Make sure, like Warren Buffett says, we are all family, we are all students here.

[Phil Agnew]

Bass is referring to an own and Basel study from 1994. In the study, a number of research assistants located themselves at high traffic areas at the campus of a large university in Hawaii. The assistants approached subjects during breaks between classes and asked them to donate to the charity. Ohne and Basil tested three types of messages. The control message was hi, I'm collecting donations for said charity. Could you contribute something? When people heard this, only 5 out of 51 students donated when they heard this message. The second control message tested the liking principle. Here, a friendly question was asked before the donation request. Assistants said, hi, how are you feeling today? Wait for response. I'm collecting donations for said charity. Could you contribute something now? Here, 13 out of 51 students donated with this message. The final message tested unity. Here, the researcher's assistants first asked, hi, are you a student at this university? Wait for a response and then follow up with I'm a student here too. Could you contribute something to this charity? That final unity message was far, far more effective. 24 out of the 51 students agreed to donate with this request, almost four times more than the control condition. But Bas raised a question that most of his clients struggle with. What do we do if there's no we ness, no connection between the client and the company? What do we do if there's no obvious unity?

[Bas Wauters]

What can you do? And how can you apply unity if there's no Venus relationship? Of course the first answer is develop that relationship. But then how can we do this? By co creation. Start co creating with your teammates, your colleagues, but start also co creating with your clients. What we saw is when you co create, people are 50% more favorable to what is created.

[Phil Agnew]

Cialdini writes how most studies on standard classroom friendship groups find that students tend to coalesce along racial, ethnic and social economic lines, finding friends mainly within their own groups. However, this pattern declines significantly after they've engaged co creatively with students from other groups. Kids create new friendship groups when they co create with others. Staff become closer after they work on a shared project and customers feel closer to a brand if they created something with the brand.

[Bas Wauters]

One more tip of practical application and everybody can start doing it right after they hear it. How do we often ask for people's co creation? Can you help me offer it reviews? Can you give me feedback? Can you give me your opinion? But if you ask for an opinion, you ask for a critic. What you should ask is can I get your advice? If you ask for advice, you get a partner and partners co create.

[Phil Agnew]

This isn't Bass opinion. It has been tested in a wonderful study that I've shared on Nudge before conducted by Liu and gal back in 2011. The study is called Bringing Us Together or Driving Us Apart. For the study, a group of online survey takers from around the United States were shown a description of a business plan for a new fast food casual restaurant called Splash. Splash hoped to distinguish itself from competitors through the healthiness of its menu items. After reading the descriptions, all survey participants were asked for feedback. However, some were asked for any advice they might have regarding the restaurant, whereas others were asked for either their opinions or or expectations that they might have. Finally, they indicated how likely they would be to visit a Splash restaurant once they opened. It turns out participants who provided their advice reported wanting to eat at a Splash restaurant significantly more than those who either provided opinions or expectations. Asking for advice made the customers feel like they were co creating with the brand rather than critiquing it. Cialdini said. This increased the desire to support the restaurant because they felt more linked to the brand. Ben Franklin's famous quote summarises this nicely. He says, we all admire the wisdom of those who have come to us for advice. Now coming up, Bass explains how TV adverts use the principle of unity to make customers feel connected to a brand and I run my own experiment. I emailed 96 loyal Nudge fans to run a test to see if Unity will make them more likely to agree with my request. All of that coming up after this short break.

[Natalie Gingrich]

Once on holiday, a local asked me to explain what marketing actually is, and I struggled. How do you even begin to describe marketing? You have to generate leads, you have to score leads, you have to contact leads, you have to create content, you have to gather data. And the next day you'll need to do it all again. And you wonder if it's even working. It's clear that marketers are spread far too thin, trying to do so many different things. But HubSpot really can help. With the help of Breeze, HubSpot's collection of AI tools and features like Content Remix can really help. With Content Remix, you can turn one piece of content into a suite of assets. With HubSpot, you can also pinpoint the best prospects with a predictive lead scoring system. And you can level up your campaign's KPIs with a new analytics suite so your day to day becomes less busy work and more driving revenue through the roof. Even if all of that won't actually help me explain what marketing is, visit HubSpot.com marketers to learn more.

[Phil Agnew]

Hello, welcome back. You're listening to Nudge with me, Phil Agnew. I've loved hearing how Unity works in the lab, how it's behind the effective requests made by wartime Japanese Jews and Warren Buffett's notorious shareholder letter. But the marketer in me wanted to know if this principle can be used in TV ads. Bass says it is used in ads.

[Bas Wauters]

One campaign comes to mind right away. It's a Belgium beer, Jupiter. It was around World Championship football or the European Championship. And they had this TV commercial where you saw everybody celebrating with Jupiter, the Belgian beer and the soccer player scoring goals and a lot of images. But all the time you saw that celebration and then why you pull up we are all Belgiums. That was the slogan. We are Belgium. We are Belgium.

[Phil Agnew]

We are Belgium.

[Bas Wauters]

Belgium, we are better. We are Belgian.

[Phil Agnew]

We are beloved Belgium.

[Bas Wauters]

We are all Belgium. So actually that campaign won an EFFIE award. So it was highly effective, but it was also brilliant use of the unity principle.

[Phil Agnew]

Once you know about the unity principle, you start to see it in all types of ads. Like for example, choosey mums choose Jif. Or take the old airline TWA who advertise their plane seats as dad's favourite chair. Kiwi chocolatiers say this in their adverts.

[Bas Wauters]

Hello, chocolate lovers.

[Phil Agnew]

Tea brand Tejana say this. Teejava, the tea for tea lovers and Heinz do the same. Heinz Seriously good mayonnaise made for serious mayo lovers. The evidence is fairly compelling. There are ample real world examples of unity. There's evidence of it working in the lab and in social experiments. And advertisers across the world use it too, which usually means it works reasonably well. But will it work for me? I decided to test it. For my Test, I sent two emails to 96 loyal Nudge fans. These fans are especially loyal because they've agreed to be part of a group of helpers, which I informally call the Nudgers. The Nudgers agreed to help me with experiments, answer questions and occasionally record interviews with me for the show. If you've listened to Nudge before, you've probably heard me interview some of them on the show before. I wondered if highlighting the unity I have with this group would make them more likely to agree to my request. So I drafted two emails. Both encouraged the recipient to watch a short video of me. The control email didn't contain any Unity messaging. The subject line simply read, can you answer this quick question? And the email copy read, hello, I value your opinion. Can you help me by answering this quick question? Just watch the video to hear the question that went out to 48 people. Now a second Unity packed variant went to another 48 people. The unity variant email subject line read Nudgers, can you answer this quick question in the email copy? I wrote hello Nudgers. As a nudger, I value your opinion more than any other nudge listener. So can you help by answering this quick question? Just watch the video to hear the question. Now, did my Unity inspired email work? Did highlighting the shared identity of the recipient, however weak that identity might be, make people more likely to watch the video? Well, it did. 24 hours after seeing the email, 20 out of the 48 who received the UNITY email had watched the video, while only 16 out of the 48 who received the control had watched the video. It's a modest 20% increase, but it satisfied me. My little test, which of course I should say is in no way scientific or even very reliable. It did seem to work for me. However, Bass did want to end the episode on a note of warning. Many of you who use the UNITY principle will probably be making a fairly common mistake. Here's what it is and how to avoid it.

[Bas Wauters]

I think what comes to mind what I see most is confusing it with liking and social proof. That doesn't mean their campaigns cannot be successful, but basically the mistake is that they are not applying it like Unity is meant. So they tell people what other people are doing, which is social proof. Instead of raising to awareness that people belong to the group and then telling yes, look, I used unity and probably the campaign was successful because they used another effective principle.

[Phil Agnew]

Today we've learned about Cialdini's latest principle of persuasion, unity. We've heard how the principle made toddlers more helpful, investors more trusting, and students more charitable. We've heard it used in ads, heard how asking for advice is better than asking for opinions. And how heard how Japanese Jews masterfully used it in World War II. And I tested it out on my loyal fans, crafting a message that was 20% more effective than a standard control. Cialdini starts his chapter on Unity with a memorable quote that I think is worth ending on today. Mother Teresa, when asked about the chance for global peace, said that unity was key. She said if we have no peace, it's because we've forgotten that we belong to one another. Okay folks, that is all for today. Thank you for listening to this episode of Nudge with me, Phil Agnew. Firstly, a massive thank you to Bas Wouters for coming on Nudge. Bas is incredibly knowledgeable on Cialdini's work, but he's also a behavioural science expert in his own right. His award winning book Online Influence takes some of Cialdini's amazing work, but combines it with Bass own knowledge for behavioural science. And it's a fantastic book that you should read if you want to improve your online results. If you want to pick up a copy, just click the link in Description. Now, I can't end without encouraging you to read the latest edition of Cialdini's book Influence. It's a fantastic read. Most of the studies I've cited today are from that book. I think you'll love it. If you like this show, you'll definitely love it. So I've left a link to it in the show notes. And finally, if you want to feel a bit of unity with your fellow Nudge listeners and join the extremely esteemed group of loyal Nudge fans, then why not join the Nudges yourself? If you do, you'll have a chance to appear on future episodes. You'll be able to take part in experiments, and you'll learn a little bit more about how how I run Nudge while seeing behind the scenes. So if you want to become a Nudger, just fill out the form in the show notes. It only takes 2 minutes to fill out and you will become an official Nudger. That is all from me, folks. If you've liked this episode, please do make sure you subscribe. Please do leave me a review or get in touch and let me know what you think. I'm on LinkedIn and X. Just search for Phil with two L's. Okay, thank you again. I'll be back next Monday. Bye.