….we’ve got a situation, Mr. Cialdini.
Mr. Cialdini famously wrote in his work, Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion, of the six main principles behind persuading other humans.
They are summarised here:
- Reciprocity
- Commitment and Consistency
- Social Proof
- Authority
- Liking
- Scarcity
Which of these do we think Georgia is hoping to leverage?
Reciprocity? Nah; it’s a very long bow to draw to hope that, because she took a hit for the team, we need to all run out and get jabbed.
Commitment and Consistency? Nope; if we’ve not already taken the jab, we’ve not committed so don’t feel the need to double down.
Social Proof? Possibly. There’s a chance that young Georgia thinks because she’s got a blue tick, we’ll do as she says. Good luck with that.
Authority? She’s a journalist. Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it.
Liking? I repeat; she’s a journalist.
Scarcity? They’re vaccinating newborns and long dead pets these days, I think the scarcity ship has already sailed.
Bill’s Opinion
It has been quite some time since I last read Cialdini but I’m fairly certain there’s nothing in the book which might suggest a selfie from a hospital bed describing life-threatening side effects of a vaccine would be an effective persuasion technique to encourage others to follow suit.
If Georgia were to read my opinion, I would recommend she do more research on persuasion techniques, starting with Cialdini.
However, it’s apparent the 27 year old is not a big fan of research, else she might have taken this data into consideration:
Pericarditis usually impacts 27.7 people per 100,000 and has a 30% recurrence rate (so not quite the “usually doesn’t lead to complications” Georgia claims).
Journalists; they’re like regular people but with the maths part removed.
Fear is the big persuader but Cialdini was afraid to put it on the list.
You win the Internet today!