Consumer Behaviour Article Presentation

How Certainty Transforms

Persuasion
Group-7
Animesh Kumar (M069-19)
Chandni Kumari Sinha(M013-19)
Iimon Tarun Kataki(M062-19)
Prameet Barua(M031-19)
Pushplata(M180-19)
 Certainty
● Certainty is the catalyst that turns attitudes into action, bringing beliefs to life and imbuing them
with meaning and consequence. It is the confidence we have in our beliefs, including the sense
that something just “feels right”.

● People who are certain of their beliefs are more likely to buy, buy sooner, and spend more.

● Subjective and Objective information

● Perceived Credibility: When consumers evaluate product information they feel more certain of
their opinions if both benefits and limitations have been included

● Position of Power: People are more certain of their beliefs when they are in a position of power

● It is poorly understood in business and rarely measured or put to use.

 Certainty (continued)
Subjective and Objective Information -

● Subjective - Such as a sense of its comfort,styling and interiors of the car

after test-driving
● Objective - Factual information, for instance, objective information like a
fuel efficiency, engine power and technological features
Perceived Credibility -

● Consumers while developing their opinion on a product, assert all the positives
(benefits) and negative (limitations), rather than looking for only positive
reviews.
● Combination of both reviews improve perceived legitimacy of the review and
people certainty

Position of Power -

People are more certain about their beliefs when they take up the role of a boss
 Four levers of Certainty
11 22 33 44

Consensus Repetition Ease Defense

Perceiving
Perceiving that
that   
Expressing
Expressing aa position
position How
How readily
readily an
an idea
idea Standing
others
others share
share your
your Standing up
up for
for your
your
many times 
many times  comes to mind
comes to mind beliefs
opinion
opinion beliefs
 Consensus
● People become more certain of their opinions when they think others share them.
● This effect of shared opinions also translates to social validation which influence them to defend their
opinions from external influence
● The consensus effect are widely used in customer satisfaction surveys and online reviews of products
services

Example: Restaurant Example: Hotel

● Wait staff says “That’s one of our most
popular dishes”
● Their aim is to make sure customers
feel certain that they’ve made the right
choice
● “Thank you for your 4-star review! 85% of
our reviewers feel the same way”
● This statement reinforces what the
customer has commented and increases
their certainty

The consensus effect can be applied in interpersonal and organizational settings -

Listen for favorable comments such as “I’ve never thought of it that way” or “I can see how that might help us”
Respond with something like “I hear that a lot” or “Another client just said the same thing yesterday” or “Most
people I’ve talked with agree with you.”
 Repetition
 Repetition effect occurs when people repeatedly express their opinions.
 Such repetition increases people’s certainty about their position and therefore, their willingness
to promote, defend and act on it.

Example: Virgin America Airlines

They asked their customers to give rating out of 10.

Picked a customer who gave rating 9/10
Then they were asked questions to get more specific: how was the crew, how was the entertainment system, etc

So, each of these responses can be expected to increase their certainty about their overall positive rating.

In interpersonal and organizational settings, provide opportunities for people to repeat desired views.

“Interesting point. Can you say that again so that everyone can hear you?”
 Persuading with Uncertainty
 Sometimes using uncertainty can also boost the persuasiveness of your message
 Slightly ambiguous message filled with uncertainty can be more engaging as it sparks curiosity and gets
people to pay closer attention to the content being presented.
 But uncertainty should be used with caution to avoid negative consequences

3 situations where uncertainty boosts persuasiveness -

Uncertainty introduced by means of

Uncertainty used by expert sources -
When experts acknowledge their message in
an uncertain way, it can be more persuasive
Like, in a restaurant, subjects read more
carefully an expert critic’s review of a
restaurant filled with uncertainty.The critic’s
review contain messages starting with –
⮚ Even I had some doubts regarding the
quality of the dish
⮚ Although its hard to be completely certain
that the customer service was acceptable
Uncertainty highlighting potential –
People can be better persuaded by ads,
recommendations and even résumés that
emphasize uncertain but at exciting potential
rather than impressive and certain ones
The uncertainty grabs more attention causing
the subject to read more carefully and attach
greater value to uncertain future impacts.
interruption –
Interrupting a message (even by inserting a
pause for loading a video in a presentation)
can make an audience more curious about
the unfolding argument, reengaging its
attention and making the message more
persuasive.
In essence, an unexpected pause creates
curiosity, prompting people to wonder what’s
coming next, and tuning them in to that
information when it arrives.
 Ease
 The more easily an idea comes to mind, the more certain we are of it
 When it's easy to make a decision or form an opinion, we are more confident that its valid
 Uncluttered slide decks, easy-to-read fonts, and simple graphics are more persuasive

Example: Nike Example: Argument generation Test

● Two sets of students were asked to generate

● Nike’s symbol is easy to recognise
and their brand name is also easy
to recognize and remember
● So, Nike scores good on this
parameter and people are more
certain when they think or hear
about NIKE
arguments on a common topic in a Test
● The 1st group was asked to generate 2 arguments
● The 2nd group was asked to generate 10 arguments.
● At the end, when asked, the 1st group was more
confident of passing the test their task was easy and
hence they were more certain of it
 Defense
 Benefit of inoculation - works like vaccine

 Increased certainty that follows from mounting a defense shapes future behavior.

 Helps in fortifying resistance to future challenges.

 Research - when consumers feel that a smaller brand is under threat from a larger one, they rally
behind it, buying more and providing more favorable reviews online. Eg., Tiktok v/s Youtube
 Example - Consensus
● Recommended by dentists - expert review
● Showing real people experiencing the difference

● E Commerce sites are making use of this consensus

buying
● Higher the number of reviews more assured and
certain we are of our decision
● More than 36% customers choose to
secure their trip
● Reference to another customer to add
authenticity and persuade customers
Example - Repetition

● Take consumer feedback twice for

every purchase (email, App, website)
Example - Ease

● Simple and easy graphics

● Easy to recall

● 1976 - complicate logo

● 2014 - simple design easy to recall
 Example - Defence
● TikTok vs Youtube - a digital battle, users
supporting their respective brands
● Content creators on these platforms getting more
certain about their stance

● Customer becomes defensive for the product

● Reminds the shopkeeper of the benefits and
reaffirms her decision of buying the product
● Dana dana ek saman, sabse shudh namak
Thank You..