Persuasion, Emotion & Trust: The Strategy of Persuasive Design

Persuasion, Emotion & TrustThe Strategy of Persuasive Design

UK Brighton, 11th August 2009

Robert Gillham

Project Director EMEA, Human Factors International

Human Factors International

• 200+ user-centered design professionals

• 27 years of operating history

• Project teams composed of both “local” and “global” experts

• ISO certified offices (ISO 9001:2000)

MinneapolisHamburgLondon

Courses in London, Utrecht and Hamburg

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San Francisco

Fairfield

Chicago

Baltimore

New York

Boston

Mumbai

BangalorePondicherry

Singapore

Shanghai

Why Consumer Experience is Important

79% of consumers will commit to a deeper brand relationship – through

product or service adoption – after a satisfying online experience

59% of customers will stop doing business with the brand after just one

bad experience in any channel

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IBM customer study

Initial relationship building has passed to the hands of the users

Salesman StoreInternet &

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Salesman StoreSelf-serve

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Persuasion, Emotion & Trust?

Persuasion

• Communication

intended to induce

belief or action

• Process of guiding

someone toward the

Emotion

• Defined loosely as a

physiological state of

arousal

• Triggered by beliefs

about something

Trust

• To have faith or

confidence in

something or

someone

someone toward the

adoption of an idea,

attitude, or action by

rational and symbolic

means

• Not coercive

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about something

• Has cognitive,

physiological, social,

and behavioural

aspects

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

HFI Proposal: Project Title for Client 7

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• People tend to return a

favour

• Scarcity

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• People behave more

consistently when they have

committed to something

• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• Scarcity

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• People are more likely to do

what everyone else is doing

• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• Scarcity

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• People will obey perceived

figures of authority

• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• Scarcity

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• People are more likely to buy

from people they like

• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• Scarcity

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• Reciprocity

• Commitment

Consistency

• Social Proof

• Authority

• Liking

• Scarcity

“Six Weapons of Influence”

• Goods become more valuable

as they become scare and we

compete for them

• Scarcity

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Tools for PET Design

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Tools for PET Design

CanWill

PET – BEYOND the site

• Do consumers connect with the site? • Does the experience educate?• Do behaviors and attitudes change?

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Can

do.

Will

do?

USABILITY– WITHIN the site • Can users find information?• Do they understand what they find?• Can they interact with it?

BUT, …. Emotion influences perceived usability

Once a consumer feels positively (or negatively) about a product

or service, their emotional reaction influences the perceived

importance of small usability issues

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Challenges to PET design

“You Can’t Just Ask”

• Pantyhose Study by Nisbett and Wilson

12% 17% 31% 40%

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“This pair is sheerer”

“I think this pair is better made.”

Tools for PET Research

1. Desk-research

• Demographics

• Existing research (psychological and domain-specific)

2. Priming Questions (Telling Stories)

• Lets talk about the last time you…

• Tell me what inspires you about…

3. Open Exploration

3. Conversion-related Tasks 3. Conversion-related Tasks

• Physiological (eye tracking)

• Expressive (facial expressions, tone of voice, body language)

• Verbal

4. Retrospective Analysis

• Emotion: Circle the emoticon

• Describe the site/Draw a picture/Read the text

5. Trust Questions

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PET techniques illuminate/confirm drives, barriers & beliefs

Barrier

Belief

Feeling

Feeling

BeliefBarrier

Barrier

Barrier

Barrier

Barrier

Barrier

Target Attitudes

Target Behavior

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Motivation

or Drive

Belief

Belief

Feeling

Feeling

Belief

Feeling

PET Design creates a conversation that addresses those issues to create a conversion path

Barrier

Barrier

Belief

Feeling

Feeling

BeliefBarrier

Target Attitudes

Target Behavior

Barrier

Barrier

Barrier

Barrier

Web Site Exposure

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Motivation

or Drive

Belief

Belief

Feeling

Feeling

Belief

Feeling

Web Site Exposure

Consumer

Path

Finding the flow

Persuasion, Emotion & Trust| New Product Messaging

HFI Case Study

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Persuasion, Emotion & Trust| New Product Messaging

Lovaza is in a new space: PharmaAlternative

Traditional

Pharma

Alternative

Medicine

New pharmaproduct

Pharma Medicine

Prescription supplement

PET techniques illuminate/confirm drives, barriers & beliefs

Talking to

the doctor

Is intimidating

Fear ofprescriptionmedications

Filling the script

takes effortBig Pharma

is not

trustworthy

I want to

protect

my health

I want to

learn more

about how

to be healthier

Drives | Protecting my health is critical

Feel I can control

Beliefs Feelings“I want to

protect

my health”

Need to be there for my family

Fear of earlydeath

Feel I can control

Should be able to control throughdiet and exercise

Doubt whetherthis will work

Diet and exerciseIs hard

Hope thiswill work

Putting chemicalsIn your body Is

bad for you

Uncertainty aboutlevel of risk

I’m lazy

Building Trust | People like me & people I like

Do you know who I am?

Challenge: I don’t see myself here

– Only 3 photos: 2 people and a doctor

– Physique is not representative

StrategyStrategy

– Show people throughout the site

– Use a wider range of body type,

especially heavier

Addresses: Mistrust of Pharma (Block)

Current Strategy: Create urgency to drive action

Visit the siteGet concerned about

triglycerides

Ask doctor about

prescription

Numbers are down –

fear reduced

May stop taking

meds

Get and fill

prescription

Augmented approach

Goal: Create proactive health seekers

• Create urgency to drive action

• Educate to adherence

Drive small,

incremental

commitments

Modify

self-image

Change behavior

to reflect new

self-image

Fill out a

questionnaire

“I am a person

who takes

responsibility for

their health”

“I take my meds

consistently to

maintain my

health”

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Measuring Persuasion | Analytics

Define where in the user journey we intend to attract, engage & persuade

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Browse &

Explore

Choose a

conversion path

Enter Site Converted

Visitor

Commit to

Convert

Start

“Checkout”

Unengaged Unpersuaded Unconverted

Common Conversion

Common Analytics

Browse &

Explore

Choose a

conversion path

Enter Site Converted

Visitor

Commit to

Convert

Start

“Checkout”

Common Conversion =Convα/Vα

Engaged Conversion

Persuasion Analytics

Common Conversion

Browse &

Explore

Choose a

conversion path

Enter Site Converted

Visitor

Commit to

Convert

Start

“Checkout”

Engaged Conversion =Convα/Vα-VU

Engaged Conversion

Persuasion Analytics

Browse &

Explore

Choose a

conversion path

Enter Site Converted

Visitor

Commit to

Convert

Start

“Checkout”

Committed Conversion

Engaged Conversion

Common Conversion

Engaged Conversion =Convα/Vα-VU Committed Conversion =Convw/inpath /Vw/inpath

AAA-MidAtlantic

HFI Case Study | Persuasive Design

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AAA-MidAtlantic

Measuring discovery…

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What does AAA do?

1. Roadside Assistance2. Trip-tiks

What people know…. What AAA does

1.2. Travel3.4.5.6.

1. Membership benefits2. Travel3. Automotive4. Entertainment Discounts5. Loans6. Insurance

The original design applied a sell everything everywhere strategy. This resulted in a cluttered and overwhelming sites. Benchmark eyetracking studies showed that visitors left the homepage before they even noticed the critical value of an AAA membership – saving money on every day purchases.

Persuasion Emotion and Trust (PET) explored how target customers think about the products and services that AAA provides. One key finding was the seducible sequence for cross sell and upsell of related products and services.

6.7.6. Insurance 7. Banking

Before

Is the website doing its job?

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Membership

benefits

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Car maintenance tools & tipsResearch

car

Auto Loan

Extended

warranty

Auto

Insurance

Create different groupings than card sort…

Original design HFI redesign

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Create different groupings than card sort…

Original design HFI redesign

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Creating the Seductive Sequence

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Measurable Changes

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From persuasion to profit …

ROI – Membership

• 2 x more visitors / day enter the join funnel

• 17% convert in the funnel

• Basic membership costs $60

Conservatively:Conservatively:

• 700 new members * 17% * $60 * 30 days =

• $214K increased conversion in 1st

month

• [Project cost recovery < 1 month]

Summary

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Summary

• Human beings make decisions based on emotional responses as well as rational thought processes

• Usability governs ‘Can They Do It’, but Persuasion, Emotion & Trust governs ‘Will They Do It?’

• The tools for uncovering PET issues are similar but differ

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• The tools for uncovering PET issues are similar but differ from usability (e.g. ‘Think Aloud’ isn’t much help)

• Psychological principles give us a framework for thinking about PET solutions

• PET can be engineered, measured and ROI justified