Persuasive Web: Where Psychology Meets Conversion

June 30th, 2009. It’s a big day for us. The 30 Days of Persuasion has come to a close, but we’re not going anywhere. This is just the beginning of what we hope will become a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve Web site conversion through understanding how people behave.

The concept of a ‘persuasion blog’ was entirely Joanna’s (take the credit or the blame, Jo!). We talk a lot (perhaps too much — just ask our friends) about conversion and persuasion since we’re both responsible for those aspects of Intuit’s global business’s Web properties, but we’ve never put fingers to keyboard to capture our conversations — until June 1st, when this little project began. As many of you know, a blog requires a huge commitment, so what better way to demonstrate our commitment than to blog every day about this hugely interesting and new-to-the-Web topic.

It’s been a valuable learning experience for us, too. We’re not formally trained in social psychology (i.e., the foundation for much of what we cover here), so we’re relying on the research of experts to form our own thoughts on how the principles can be applied online. To be fair, however, Joanna is completing a graduate thesis on persuasive information design, a component of which is her own research project.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for me to overcome initially was the notion that we’d be writing for nobody but ourselves — and those friends who tire of hearing us talk about persuasion. But based on what we’re seeing in our WordPress Web analytics, the falling tree is making a sound, and the idea that people may actually benefit from what we’re writing has become a motivator and given us reason to deliver against an aggressive posting schedule.

So, where to next? First thing is to package up the 30 Days of Persusasion into a free e-book… something you can easily take with you, print & read offline, email to others, or scribble on during your Web site conversion meetings! From there, and after a short break — no more than a week — you can expect to find a continuous flow of new ideas and examples on how to apply persuasive design to your own e-commerce sites.

In the meantime (or anytime), we’d like to hear your thoughts on the first 30 days of the blog (use the comments feature or email us: lancecj at gmail dot com OR wiebe.joanna at gmail dot com). We’d really like you to share your ideas on where we might take this project. And we’d absolutely love it if you’d share this resource with people you feel would enjoy it.

Here’s to the beginning of something new and exciting. Thank you for coming.

~Lance & Joanna

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Let’s continue yesterday’s “30 Ways to Persuade” post with the remaining 15 ‘ways’. FYI: The 10 categories into which we’ve divided these persuasion opportunities are based on the work of Robert Cialdini and HFI (among others).

Remember that we’ve got an additional 25 persuasion opportunities in our free ebook (which we’re currently preparing and hoping to share out… um… soon). Without further ado…

VI. Reciprocity: We feel obligated to return favours performed for us.

16. Give to Get: Give your customer something before you ask them to give you anything.
Example: Free software download, followed by an email request to rate your software 5 stars, if they like it.

17. Ask for Favours: Without giving anything, ask users to do a favour for you, with the favour element clearly highlighted.
Example: “Can you please help us? We’re trying to get the word out about our blog – so would you do us a favour and Digg it if you like it? Thanks so much.”

VII. Scarcity: The less available something is, the more we want it.

18. Sales – Urgency: Highlight the end date or time for a sale.
Example: “Sale ends midnight (MST).”

19. Sales – Flash: Intentionally limit sales to a very short period of time – and explicitly state the time.
Example: Clear start time for sale, and countdown of hours left in your sale.

20. Just 1 Left! Provide a real-time countdown of the quantity of a high-value item available.
Example: Number of seats remaining for a concert or on a flight.

21. Exclusive Access: Provide access to an event on your site to a limited number of people only (and commit to that number) to encourage those with access to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity.
Example: Invite a select group of preferred customers to your site for a sale, and give them a personalized access code as well as start/end times.

VIII. Social Proof: We look to what others do to guide our own decisions and behavior.

22. Herd Behavior: Showcase ratings & reviews from users alongside offerings to help narrow decisions for shoppers.
Example: “Rated 4.38 out of 5 stars by Canadian entrepreneurs.”

23. Social Pressure: Quantify the number of others who are already doing what you want your new users to do.
Example: “Already 80,000 users worldwide in just 6 months.”

24. Intelligent Recommenders: Use data from other shoppers and/or the current shopper (e.g., past behaviours) to recommend new best-match products and effectively narrow choices into sets.
Example: “People who bought the Apple iPhone also looked at the Palm Pre.”

IX. Trust: Show your character and competence to help people feel confident in choosing to work with you.

25. Low-Risk Purchase – Return It: Build trust and reduce barriers for shoppers by explicitly stating your return policy.
Example: “No hassle returns! We even pay the return shipping.”

26. Clear Payment Options: If you allow users to pay by PayPal, credit card, e-check and/or other methods, or if you have credit terms, highlight those options early in the process (pre-cart).
Example: “Don’t pay for 90 days – or pay easily today by PayPal, Visa or MasterCard.”

27. Interface Properties – Brand: Clearly brand your site to ensure users know they’re on a legitimate site for purchasing and feel confident providing their credit card info.
Example: Consistent brand elements throughout the experience.

X. Other: Extra persuasion tips/tactics that are so unique, they just can’t be categorized.

28. Repetition: Say it once. And remind them of it again to reinforce facts and reduce barriers related to uncertainty. (You don’t want users to have to hit the Back button to find that info… and end up abandoning their carts.)
Example: “We accept PayPal” messaging near purchase calls-to-action and again at entrance to cart.

29. Because: The word “because” is a cue to people that they are in the presence of reason and logic and that, in turn, they don’t need to think – the thinking’s already done for them.
Example: “More people choose our product because it’s the only one that removes stains in 4 minutes flat.”

15. Security: Highlight security & safeguards on your site to help users trust that you’ll protect their info.
Example: HackerSafe logo placed prominently on main pages and nearby buttons in cart.

It’s been a phenomenal 30 days for me. I’m looking forward to helping to craft this blog into a great resource for all things persuasion, usability, emotion and trust – and I really hope you’ll help us shape this blog into what you need and want. It’s all about increasing conversion, baby!

Oh, yeah: Download the free ebook as soon as it’s ready. And please Digg it and share it with friends!

~joanna

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It’s been an incredibly intense and rewarding 30-day journey into exploring and applying the power of persuasion on the Web. Of course, we’re not quite done yet (2 more sleeps!), so on Days 28 & 29, Joanna and I will summarize 30 of the 55 ‘persuasion opportunities’ we’ve discussed during the month. Why 30 of 55? It seems only fitting since this is the 30 Days of Persuasion! And following our final post on June 30th, we’ll be happy to give you the remaining 25 opportunities as part of our free e-book (100% free, no registration required, no sales calls or annoying follow-up, and in limited quantities!).

And with that tongue-in-cheek sales plug, here are 5 principles of persuasion and 15 ways for you to apply them to your own site:

I. Authority: We look to experts to show us the way.

1. Endorsements – Publications: Showcase endorsements from trusted publications to build credibility.
Example: Product review quote and logo from significant published authority (e.g., Time Magazine).

2. Endorsements – Experts: Showcase endorsements from trusted experts in a field to build credibility.
Example: Video testimonial from a well-known user (e.g., Seth Godin).

3. Endorsements – Influencers: Showcase endorsements from trusted influencers to build credibility.
Example: Preferred product selection or recommendation from authority figure (e.g., Rachel Zoe for PiperLime).

II. Commitment & Consistency: We want to act consistently with our commitments and values.

4. Say-Do: You say you’re going to do something, and you do it.
Example: Specific call-to-action buttons that match exactly what you want the user to do (e.g., “Order the Swiffer Sweeper Now”).

5. Make “Free” Great: Give away items that are as high-quality as your paid items.
Example: Free webinars packed with useful content – not fluff.

6. Share with Friends: Visitors who would recommend a product to a friend are more likely to purchase that product.
Example: “Tell a friend” calls to action.

III. Contrast: We notice and decide by the differences between two things, not absolute measures.

7. Bang > Buck: Simplify product selection by telling users which product/service will give them the most for the least.
Example: A “best value” icon positioned on/near the product.

8. Line ‘Em Up: Position similar information across various products in a standard layout to help users easily scan and contrast features, pricing, etc. and, in turn, narrow their options.
Example: Price for products positioned in same proximity to each product and formatted identically.

9. Proximity in Lists: The items you place at the top of the list are the items that will create context for shopping (on your catalog page in particular).
Example: List the items your want users to choose from at the top of a list, with lesser items lower in the list.

IV. Engagement & Emotion: We want to interact with things that make us feel.

10. Play: Make your site or the tasks on it feel more like a game to activate an emotional response in users and limit the amount of executive thinking (the bane of persuasion efforts) required.
Example: Car-builder tools on auto sites.

11. Interaction: Use interactive tools to help people find the information they’re looking for (rather than sorting through lines of text).
Example: Product recommendation quizzes.

12. Affect Recruitment Heuristic: Use images & messages that help your users picture themselves doing something with a purchased item, feeling a certain way (i.e., experiencing affect) about that image, and using that feeling to make a purchasing decision.
Example: Imagery of a melting slushy drink on a cabana (on a travel site).

V. Likeability: The more we like people (and companies), the more we want to say yes to them.

13. Be Transparent. No, Really.: Be completely honest about your company’s motivations.
Example: Tell users that you’re giving them your product for free in the hopes that they’ll love it, share it and be willing to pay for it later.

14. Cause Marketing: Support a relevant-to-your-brand cause to help users relate better to your brand.
Example: Tide’s Loads of Hope campaign.

15. Win Healthy Debates: Encourage users to find flaws in your product – flaws you know you do not have. In seeking out a flaw but not finding it, users will be more likely to believe in you than had they been indifferent to flaws.
Example: Money-back guarantee if your product doesn’t save users at least 5 hours each month.

~Lance

Part 2 to follow…

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You and I’ve both noticed how much free stuff there is floating around the Internet. Free software. Free email accounts. Free [legal] music downloads. Free information — in the form of blogs, ebooks, podcasts and webinars. Free, free, free.

But have you noticed how crummy a lot of that free stuff is? There’s the really bad free: Free software downloads that come with free viruses. Free email that comes with free spam. Even free music lyrics that leave you with a screen full of free! annoying “smiley face” pop-ups. And there’s the less-bad free: Free ebooks that are pure fluff. Free music that’s interrupted with “Music now!” mid-way through the song. And free webinars that promise one thing and end up being about something quite different.

Webinars are great ways to share useful info worldwide... for free. But when they're empty, webinars can backfire.

I recently attended an hour-long webinar by David Meerman Scott (the uber-bright ”New Rules of PR and Marketing” guy). It was called something like “Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy” – a timely, relevant topic pour moi, given that I was working on creating exactly that for the global division of Intuit. My colleague and I signed on to the webinar… and, after 10 minutes, we thought, K, this’ll get on topic soon. And then another 10 minutes passed. By the time 35 minutes had passed and we’d sat through a very general introduction to the power of social and how social can support PR and marketing initiatives, we decided to cut our losses.

We’d heard nothing of developing a social media strategy — not what to do, not why or how. We’d been taken in. Promised one thing, and delivered something else. We’d given up over an hour’s worth of combined time on, basically, nothing. Not cool.

When Free Goes Bad: Beggars CAN Be Choosers Today

I guess the idea with giving something away free is that people who take your free offering should just be happy with anything you give them. “Beggars can’t be choosers.” Kinduv an old idea, though, no? ‘Cos the thing is that ‘beggars’ using your freebies are, of course, potential customers. (You knew that! That’s why you were giving your stuff away to begin with, right?) The beggars on the phone for Meerman Scott’s webinar are people who might’ve purchased his books at minimum… or even advocated to invite the man to consult with their Fortune 500 companies. So why the lack of quality, on-topic content? Can’t ‘free’ be ‘great’???

So here’s the deal: If your webinar or ebook’s title promises something, the content had better deliver on it. When it doesn’t, we as consumers — even ‘free’ consumers — get offended. We shake our heads and say, “Why’d you waste my time like that?” — and what we really mean is, “Why did you make a commitment to deliver something, and then act inconsistently with that commitment?”

If (When!) Obama lives up to "Yes we can", there'll be relatively little persuasion work to be done for re-election.

It speaks to Cialdini’s “commitment and consistency” persuasion principle. If you want to persuade people, you should:

1. Make a commitment to do something, and then
2. Act consistently with that commitment

Acting consistently with what you promise — also called a high say:do ratio — builds trust in you. It emulates an ideal that society has reinforced since we were knee high to a grasshopper. If you say you’re going to do it, do it. People like it. And likeability is persuasive.

The Reverse: Persuade Users to Do What You Want by Asking Them to Make a Commitment

Just as people expect companies to act consistently with their commitments, so will people act consistently with the commitments they make. I mean, no, this isn’t always the case — if it was, no one would ever default on a loan, and no contractor would ever skip town before finishing the drywall in your basement. But, by and large, when you give people the opportunity to act consistently with what they’ve said/thought/felt, you will find them persuaded to do so.

What does that mean, practically speaking?

It means that when you want someone to give you a $25 donation, you say, “Will you please commit to a $25 donation to the SPCA?” rather than asking them simply to donate (e.g., “Please give to the SPCA”). It means that you ask the people who download your free plugin to rate your plugin 5 stars. Not just to rate it. But to rate it at 5 stars.

So here’s the trick: Write calls-to-action that closely mirror exactly what you want users to commit to doing, and see your conversion rates skyrocket. Avoid ambiguity. Instead, get right to the commitment you want them to make, and in doing so set expectations as to what they will be doing  to follow through on that commitment. Check out these examples.

Long story short: Get your users to make a commitment, and they will be more likely to act consistently with that commitment. It’s all about commitment and consistency — for your users and for your company.

~joanna

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37signals is a small, Chicago-based company which prides itself on simplicity and offers a well-honed suite of Web-based productivity and collaboration software. In their words, “Our products do less than the competition — intentionally.”

Their founders have made a few waves in the business and developer communities because they’ve been vocal about how:

1. Companies shouldn’t always listen to their customers (especially when it comes to new feature requests);
2. Businesses should focus on generating revenue with products that offer real value (versus trying to monetize ‘free’) and;
3. Venture capital isn’t the optimal method of financing a new venture.

Several months ago I read their popular publication, “Getting Real” — which is about building a successful Web-based application and business — and thoroughly enjoyed the author’s honesty and openness about what has worked and hasn’t worked for 37signals, as well as his view on business and quality of life.

In addition to focusing on simplicity, it’s apparent that the folks at 37signals know a thing or two about persuasion, and specifically around the principles of social proof and contrast. In today’s post I’ll again use screenshots to highlight how this company is converting visitors into customers:

So there you have it.

37signals’ design team offers up some great examples of how to effectively weave social proof, authority, contrast, and credibility messaging throughout your site. While I question their choice to pack so much content into their home page, it wouldn’t hurt (even a little!) to emulate the company’s overall approach to persuasive design.

~Lance

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I’ve been a web writer for quite a few years now, and I’ve developed a list of pet peeves along the way. It’s a short list of pet peeves, thankfully — yes, I’m one of those annoying people who loves what she does more with each new day — but it is a list nonetheless. And at the top of that list is this statement, commonly made by marketing managers or executives reviewing a website’s copy:

“There’s too much copy on this site! Let’s just get to the point.”

Balance that bit of opinion-based criticism with this statement we often hear from users in usability studies:

“I need info. Where is it? Why can’t you just tell me what I need to know?!”

Given that we’re sticklers for usability around here, I tend to listen a bit more to the frustrations of our users regarding copy quantity than to management. (Call me crazy! ) As a result, I lean more in the direction of writing additional content — and, of course, positioning that content in non-interruptive but easily accessible ways — than in the “get to the point” direction. 

But am I right?

Are study user groups right?

Are managers right?

And, hey, you have an opinion on the subject. Are you right?

That really brings us to the obvious, oft-debated question: How much copy is enough copy on a website… and how much is too much?

The answer: Ha ha ha! Were you really expecting an answer here? I mean, how could there be just one answer? We’re dealing with people — so there’s always an exception (or a whole massive group of exceptions). But it would be nice to get closer to an answer… So let’s ask a better question. 

The better question: When my users are on my site and are trying to find a product without wasting their time sorting through content, how much copy is enough copy… and how much is too much? Now that’s a question we (with the help of Chowdhury, Ratneshwar, Mohanty and their lovely recent research) can answer.

Time-Harried Shoppers: Crafting Enough Copy to Help Users Make Decisions as Fast as They’d Like

Not everyone makes decisions the same way under the best of circumstances — nevermind when they’re uber-busy. The truth is that, when consumers need to make decisions quickly, time becomes a hugely influential factor in their choice processes. Chowdhury, Ratneshwar and Mohanty showed us (in 2009) that consumers will even alter their preferences, switch brands or fail to buy products when hurriedness enters into the equation. 

That’s right: Time is an influencer. Actually, it’s both an influencer and a barrier. (Double-edge swords are fun!) A lack of time can prevent people from making decisions… That said, when considered during your site’s content development, a user’s lack of time can actually work in your favour and help to persuade your users. 

Time is an influencer.

Here’s how time influences the decision-making of the 2 primary groups of consumers, Maximizers and Satisficers.

• MAXIMIZERS – This group of consumers strives to make the best decisions possible and seek out content to help them make those decisions. Maximizers are born window shoppers: the more options you present to them, the more time they’ll spend considering those options. When pressured for time, maximizers feel it heavily and may make a rapid decision accordingly,… but they’re more likely to feel regret about those decisions and change their minds later, if given the opportunity to do so. 
• SATISFICERS - This group of consumers is willing to settle for decisions that are adequate rather than perfect. These folks like to get to the point. When pressured for time, satisficers hold up well, making rapid decisions with little regret; unfortunately, satisficers may be more prone to making the wrong decisions (given that they are happy with “good enough” and may not consider what “good enough” fails to address). 

If you’re building a website for satisficers who may be rushed, less copy/content is fine-and-dandy (as are fewer options). Just get to the point — you’ll make satisficers happy enough to make a purchasing decision. (Just hope that they don’t have a maximizer partner at home to point out why their decision was not good enough and force them to return the purchased item to you.)

If you’re building a website for maximizers who may be rushed, you need to be a bit more careful with the amount of copy you choose to put on or cut from your site… not to mention how you organize/design that copy. Maximizers require enough content to make them feel that they can make the best decision because they know all the facts and are 100% informed of their options. …But when they’re busy, maximizers need to find a balance between getting enough content to feel confident and not getting so much content that they feel they won’t become 100% informed (because they don’t have enough time to read everything!), can’t make the best decision and, as a result, may not buy at all. 

Make sense? The primary point I’m getting at, without saying it, is that you have to know if the majority of your site’s visitors are satisficers or maximizers, and you have to write content for them. 

Example Site: Designed for Satisficers

This website is one of the top-converting sites today and is made, largely, for quick purchases rather than well-researched purchases — not too surprising for flower-ordering/-delivery sites. That is, it’s designed as if it’s made for satisficers first, maximizers second.

ProFlowers.com can still help maximizers (rushed or not). But that’s not what the home page is for. That’s what the rest of the entire site is for. (Pretty smart, if satisficers are the primary visitors to this site.)

Example Site: Designed for Maximizers

Top-converting QVC.com provides more content to help maximizers find the info they want to find… and purchase it only when they’re actually ready to. (That is, not from the home page.)

At the end of the day, of course, as you’ve already guessed, building a site for satisficers makes less sense than building a site for maximizers. Why? Because satisficers are happy with “good enough”. It’s the maximizers who give a damn what you’ve got for info. It’s the maximizers you can actually help with your site’s copy. So give ‘em what they need… and see how the amount of copy you place can lead to better conversions thanks to better persuasion. 

~joanna

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Over the past 23 days (whew, 6 days still to go in our 30 Days of Persuasion!), we’ve explored a ton of persuasion principles, discussed their application and potential on the Web, and tried our best to illustrate the techniques and why they work. Discussing each principle separately – in our opinion – is the most effective way to inform and educate readers of our little blog. However, in my final few posts this month, I’m going to pull together the various elements and examine some companies that are doing an admirable job of taking their sites to a holistic persuasive level of design (i.e., beyond just functional and usable, as discussed in yesterday’s post).

It’s hard to write a blog without loving blogs in general. I have my list of favourites and probably scan 200-300 posts per day. Of those I read about 10%. Sometimes I come across a reference to an older article or interview that piques my interest – which is likely a form of nostalgia – and the aging articles that are most interesting to me are related to Web site design and conversion. In this little gem from 2003, Christine Perfetti of User Interface Engineering interviews Andrew Chak about persuasive design. In the article, Andrew mentions that one of the most persuasive sites he’s seen is eBags.com, so I decided to check it out and see for myself if Andrew’s praise was (and still is) deserved.

Upon arriving at the site, the first thing I noticed was how little eBags.com has really changed over the past 6 years. While some may consider its design somewhat outdated, it’s hard to argue with success (10 years, 10 million bags sold). And there are a few other companies that have done well to slowly evolve their site designs… like Google, Craigslist, eBay, Amazon.com, Lands’ End, and ProFlowers.com. The second thing I noticed was how right Andrew was to point out eBags.com as a leader in persuasive design. Many of the elements of persuasion we’ve discussed here are being applied – year after year, visitor after visitor – to their home page, category page, search results, product page, cart, and others:

The visual and content designers at eBags.com clearly understand how to deliver for customers as well as the business. The company is placing its biggest bets on the principles of scarcity (e.g., one-day sales) and social proof (e.g., user reviews, number of people currently browsing the site), but it is also adept at establishing trust and credibility on the very first visit. Remember, persuasion is not manipulation; it’s about engaging and guiding visitors to making confident purchase decisions – and it certainly looks as though eBags.com approaches this effective style of selling with integrity and a sincere focus on the customer.

~Lance

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Influence guru Robert Cialdini and several fellow researchers this month published an article on “Evolution, Emotion and Persuasion” (Journal of Marketing Research) in which they discussed the interplay of evolutionary shaping, fear & romantic arousal and the widely used persuasion heuristic scarcity. Here, very briefly, is what their discussion led to:

• FEAR – Fear contexts and fear-heavy content can cause normally persuasive scarcity appeals to backfire
• ROMANCE – Romantic contexts and romance-heavy content can cause scarcity appeals to more effectively persuade

Why does fear cause scarcity appeals to backfire? Because, from an evolutionary perspective, people facing fear have survived by sticking together — not by being conspicuously visible, off doing their own thing and seeking out limited editions. 

And what of the power of romance in increasing the effectiveness of scarcity appeals? Simply, mate attraction equals reproduction, which is a very basic human need — and we become more attractive when we are differentiated from the larger group. That is, it’s good to own a limited edition as that scarce item is one more thing that separates you from the crowd and makes you more attractive to a potential mate.

Moving from Cavemen to Conversions

What can we as online marketers do with Cialdini’s insights into the popular persuasion heuristic that is scarcity? Let’s consider visual design. First, an example of a site that creates fear context — and the banner ads that attempt to persuade users in those spaces. 

According to Cialdini’s research, ComCast may not achieve the results they might otherwise have simply by virtue of the fear arousal that users felt prior to clicking the banner ad and landing on ComCast’s offer page / lead gen form. That’s because scarcity appeals and fear do not mix well. 

Fear’s not very fun… but romance is! So let’s go there next. Remember, romantic arousal — including photos of attractive people or even stories about romantic desire — can cause a person to think less about their decisions and be more readily persuaded by the widely used persuasion technique that is scarcity. 

Missed Opportunities? Swimsuit, Lingerie and Other Women’s Apparel Sites

Given that attractive members of the opposite sex have been shown to make scarcity messages more persuasive, it’s surprising that sites targeted to women shoppers are so filled with photos of women. …And beautiful (which is not necessarily likeable) women at that! From a persuasion perspective, it seems safer to assume that women shoppers would be more effectively influenced with images of men-and-women…. So why do sites for women — like JuicyCouture.com & BlueFly.com (a scarcity-heavy site) — feature images of women only? Simply because women wear the clothes? Really? 

And why does VictoriasSecret.com not have a single man on their entire website? Is it because, after all, the site really is for men? Surprising. 

~joanna

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Short answer: Never. If you’d like to understand why, please read on.

Simply put, in the context of the Web, usability is making it easier for your visitors to accomplish their intended task or goal. Persuasion, on the other hand, is compelling a person to want to get there, or perform the given task in the first place. Without persuasion, making something easy to accomplish doesn’t necessarily make it something people want to do. Think of it as ‘can do’ versus ‘will do’. Making a site easy for visitors to use makes them more proficient users but does not necessarily make them customers.

Eric Shaffer of Human Factors International (HFI) writes in a blog post dated January 26, 2009:

“The next wave in Web site design is persuasive design, designing for persuasion, emotion, and trust. While usability is still a fundamental requirement for effective Web site design, it is no longer enough to design sites that are simply easy to navigate and understand so users can complete transactions. As business mandates for Web site design have grown more strategic, complex, and demanding of accountability, good usability has become the price of competitive entry. So, while usability is important, it is no longer the key differentiator it once was.”

On this blog, persuasive design gets all the attention, but Eric makes a valid point that we have not yet delivered here: “…usability is still a fundamental requirement for effective Web site design.” Once the foundation of a Web site is laid – functionality and usability – attention can and should be turned toward engaging and persuading visitors to act on their desires.

In the physical world, people may overlook poor usability in favor of aesthetics. Think about the Lamborghinis of the 1980s (I’m a car nut) – drop-dead gorgeous design but terrible ergonomics. Affluent car shoppers were persuaded by the sexy Italian exterior, crazy performance statistics, melodic exhaust, and thoughts of people staring back from their Ford Fairmonts and Buick Skylarks. Luckily for Lamborghini, they were purchased by Audi, the undisputed king of interior design. And now purchasers can experience all the emotions afforded by the car’s beautiful design and still feel like everything is at their fingertips and still manage to walk without back pain after a long cruise. Lamborghini sales have never been better.

On the Web, persuasion without usability (or even basic functionality) just doesn’t work. On the Web – and especially on e-commerce sites – people expect to be able to accomplish tasks in an efficient manner. The ‘rush’ of a long-anticipated purchase may be equated to a ride in an Italian supercar, but any obstacles encountered along the way will likely diminish the overall experience. There is no exhaust note or rush of acceleration to make users forget about an unusable Web site (and very few Web sites spur the release of dopamine in the human brain!).

No, in our opinion, you cannot have a persuasive Web site until you address basic functionality and usability. Think of them as pre-requisites for graduating to the level of persuasive design. Let me break down the differences between these three concepts:

Functional sites offer all the basics but typically get launched with no user testing. Everything works, but not necessarily the way visitors expect (i.e., there is some frustration). Forms are reasonable in length, spelling and grammar is correct, and there are no broken links on the site. Images include alt tags, a site map is in place and basic search engine optimization is complete. Basic Web analytics are collected. However, it is also likely that a high percentage of shopping carts are abandoned, conversion rates are below average, and customer frustration is expressed through high bounce rates, frequent support calls, or occasional email complaints.

Usable sites are the next step up in the evolution of Web site effectiveness. Usability guidelines are embraced by site designers and user testing is part of the release lifecycle. Forms are optimized, navigation is intuitive, product features are clearly messaged, and essential tasks are completed by visitors without frustration. Traffic patterns are reviewed regularly and basic Web testing (e.g., A/B or multivariate testing) helps to deliver a more delightful user experience. Conversion rates are higher than the purely functional site but orders may still have to be completed via other channels (e.g., phone) in order for all customer concerns and questions to be answered. The user experience at this level is still far from optimal because persuasive elements such as motivation, emotion, and trust have not been addressed.

Once functionality and usability are in place, persuasive design can become a reality. Persuasive sites employ the principles discussed throughout this blog, such as social proof, social learning, contrast, authority, reciprocity, and likeability. The site’s value proposition is clear, visitor paths are free of ‘friction’, benefit statements abound, and calls to action are obvious and compelling. Forms are designed to be completed with minimal anxiety and maximum ease and trust is reinforced at key decision points. All elements of visual design support and enhance key messages and company branding is consistent throughout the experience. At the other end of the sales funnel, visitors typically purchase more than they intended when they arrived at the site – and they often recommend the site! Additional outcomes of persuasive design (contrasted with a usable site) include lower customer service and acquisition costs, higher average order values, and higher customer retention rates. Email and pay-per-click-campaigns also yield higher returns.

Persuasive design requires a deep understanding of customer needs, desires, and barriers. But to reach the level of persuasive design, a site must first enable visitors to complete the purpose of their visit and deliver an experience free of usability obstacles. Until a site reaches the persuasive level – or until functionality and usability have been fully addressed – marketing dollars to promote the site are not optimized, conversions are lost, and business performance is well below what can be achieved.

Where is your site on this spectrum?

~Lance

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What happens when you look for a flaw… but find nothing? The athlete who must be on steroids… but isn’t. The 24-year-old millionaire who must be a drug dealer… but actually runs a successful start-up. The beautiful actress who you hope has veneers & extensions, gets Botox by IV, is brainless & shallow… but who’s actually naturally gorgeous, a PhD and a math tutor for inner-city kids on the weekends. 

There’s power in looking for flaws and being proven wrong. It’s persuasive. Research into consumer decision-making behavior even proves it. 

The Experiment: The Power of Being Proven Wrong

What if someone sat you down in front of the aspirin message to the right (from Bayer’s Aspirin website) and said, “Tell us what you think about this product”? And what if they then sat your friend down and said, “Tell us all your negative thoughts about this product”? 

Drs. Derek D. Rucker and Richard E. Petty of Ohio State University conducted that experiment almost exactly. The widely held assumption in consumer research, prior to their research, was that people can’t be persuaded once they’ve started to argue against the claims or messaged benefits of a product. …So when Rucker and Petty asked one group to focus on their negative thoughts about aspirin, they might’ve expected that the effect of all that negativity would be “anti-persuasion”. 

The actual result? People who aggressively considered drawbacks to aspirin but found none concluded that they had truly few negative thoughts about the product… which actually increased their certainty in choosing aspirin. Those who sat and objectively processed the aspirin message — that is, those who were asked just to ‘think’ about aspirin — were less certain about choosing aspirin. Why? Because they had not attempted to find fault and come up empty-handed. They hadn’t engaged in battle and lost. They hadn’t been proven wrong. 

What Happens If They Counter-Argue… And Are Proven Right?

Umm… don’t let that happen. As researchers Tormala and Petty found, people who successfully counter-argue a message ended up feeling even stronger negative feelings towards a product… because they’d been proven right. Their negative attitudes stuck and even further solidified. Good luck breaking down that wall! (Well, it can be done… but why go there if you don’t have to?)

Examples of Companies Who Benefit from This “Flawed” Persuasion Principle

Some companies use guarantees, inviting consumers to investigate their products for flaws and return the product if there are, in fact, flaws in it. The truth is that any company that has a truly great product can confidently encourage people to try to find their flaws. When no such flaws are revealed, the effect is a more positive attitude towards the company and/or product.

The moral of the story? As Rucker and Petty put it:

Aggressively considering drawbacks to a product, but finding none, allows individuals to conclude they have truly few negative thoughts, which increases attitude certainty. Individuals who objectively process a message have not aggressively considered the faults, and therefore are not as certain.

Are you ready to put yourself out there? Is your product so good that, when put to the test, consumers would talk themselves into using your product rather than talking themselves out of it? 

It’s a big challenge, putting yourself and your brand out there to be picked apart — but we’ve seen that, if you’re as good as you claim to be, there’s no reason people should choose the competition. So the real question is whether you’re as good as you claim to be. And no number of persuasion principles — even expertly applied — can help you if you aren’t. (Not in the long run, at least. ) 

~joanna

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