Creating A Sense of Value: Building Citizen Commitment

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Creating A Sense of Value Building Citizen
Commitment

• Why this matters
• The financial rewards of perceiving value
• The political rewards of perceiving value
• The community values of perceiving value
• The personal values of perceiving value

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Why Dont People Value What You Do More?
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Creating Citizen Value
The Critical Principle Value is a Perception
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Assessing the Perception Gap
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Creating Citizen Value
Build and Maintain Affinity
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• Building and Using Interpersonal Networks
• - Task performance is critical, but
  networking helps
• - Key who you know is less important than
• who knows you

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Within Your Organization
Outside Your Organization
Superiors
Seniors
YOU
Peers
Peers
Subordinates
Juniors
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Networking Skills
1. You have a bigger network than you think 2.
Never underestimate the value of connecting
Metcalfes Law the value of a network grows
as the square of the number of its users 3.
Dont burn bridges--you may need them later 4.
Keep in touch--regularly 5. Do favors that cost
you a little and gain you a lot be
proactive--offer favors before they are
asked
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Networking Skills, (contd.)
Name____________________ Address________________
__ _________________________ Numbers_____________
____ _________________________ E-mail____________
_______ Individuating Characteristics ___________
______________ _________________________
6. Keep records--stay personal - note
individuating characteristics 7. Exercise your
network--a network that you dont use, goes
away 8. Network othersbecome the parent of
relationships 9. Differentiate between power and
position--- never assume that position
implies power - look for the informal
influencers

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Networking Skills, (contd.)
10. Seek out opportunities to expand
your network
- weak links matter (acquaintances count
even more than friends because they
have different sorts of links) 11.
Befriend those without friends
Weak Links
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Networking Skills, (contd.)
12. Proximity, proximity, proximity 13. Remember
Thumpers rule--Dont be negative it
will get back to them - the question would you
say it to their face?
14. Manage your disclosures--dont
overestimate your relational strengths -
associative versus reciprocal friends
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
2. The importance of face sensitivity
- Face refers to who we want to be seen as -
Most of us have two very basic face
concerns autonomy and positive evaluation -
All of us have individual face concerns
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
2. Face, (contd.)
- When our face is stepped on, we react by
suppressing, seething, lashing out, or
becoming resistant - We need to know
others face concerns - by observation - by
listening
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
2. Face, (contd.)
- We can also communicate in face sensitive
ways Case Someone is late for work Face
threatening Youre always late. You must not
care about this job! Face sensitive I
notice youve been late a lot recently.
Is something going on I can help you with?
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
2. Face, (contd.)
The basic principle Give them a way out!
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
3. Building close relationships through stories
- Our lives revolve around stories - We think
narratively - We learn many of our values via
stories - We create and share bonds through
stories
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
- Stories are an especially effective way of
communicating your ideas
- People often get it through stories
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What Makes a Narrative Interesting

• Coherence (clarity, flow, and organization)
• Vividness (imaginable and memorable
  descriptions)
• Thematic complexity (multiple interpretations
  lie below the surface)
• Topic familiarity (with the theme)
• Informational completeness (sufficient to be
  understood)
• Suspense (evoking momentary feelings of mystery)

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The grammar of a story
Obstacles Encountered
Characters Goals
Main Characters
Resolution
Setting
Narrative
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Building Advocacy Skills
Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships
- Guidelines for effective narrative
- make a strong point quickly - confirm
listeners values - invoke images listeners can
identify with - personal stories are best
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Value
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
1. How do people view us?

• what is our brand reputation? What are we seen
  as, known for?
• A brand allows certain actions and disallows
  others

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Understanding Your Brand Name
What is a brand? - familiar we
immediately recognize the brand - preferable
give a choice we select the brand - dependable
we trust products using the brand - valued we
willing pay more for the brand - extendable we
buy new products under the brand name
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Levels of Brand Familiarity
Rejection
Non-Recognition
Association/ Recognition
Preference
Insistence
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People have brand names as well. You are known
for certain things and not known for other
things. From the day someone first hears about
your community, you are establishing a brand
name. What is your brand name? _________________
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The more you understand your brand name, the
more successful your community
Your perception
Others perceptions
Others perceptions
Your perception
Good understanding
No understanding
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Brands allow or preclude you from succeeding and
getting credit for what you do
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Enhancing Your Brand Name
Principle of Resources More resources yield
greater impact. What resources do you offer your
community? _______________________________________
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The only resources that matter are those that
are valued within your community. Principle of
Scarcity Resources that are particularly scarce
are very valued Bottom Line Develop resources
that are both valued and scarce within your
community. What might these be? __________________
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What Resources Might You Develop and Refine?
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
2. Distinguish your idea
- Whats your niche? - Is this the right
time, right place, right audience? - Complete a
SWOT analysis
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
SWOT
Strengths What makes this idea especially
good?
Weaknesses What are the problems with the
idea? Opportunities What are the advantages of
the idea? Threats What is wrong with the status
quo? Why now?
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Understanding Your Community Strengths
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Create A Need
Have A Plan
Show Benefits
What Happens If We Dont Adopt
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
3. Do a competitor analysis
Who are our competitors? Other governmental
units? ________________________________________
_ _________________________________________ ______
___________________________________
Non-governmental units? ______________________
___________________ ______________________________
___________ ______________________________________
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
- How is what you offer different from what
others offer? - What are the advantages and
disadvantages of various alternatives?
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
4. Features are different from benefits
Because of _______ you can _______ which means
________
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
5. Labeling is a key skill
- Labels become the shorthand for your idea -
Get people to use your label
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
6. Create an image
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
7. Stay centered on your audience
- Who is your audience? - What matters to your
audience about the idea? - Always remember the
key concern
Whats in it for me?
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Match Your Proposal to Decision-Makers Needs and
Wants

• Community Reputation
• Personal Financial Issues
• Efficiency
• Individual Status/Power
• Relationship Enhancement
• Productivity
• Safety/Security

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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
A basic maxim
People seek rewards and avoid punishments. Find
things in your idea that offer pleasure to others
or allow them to avoid pain.
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
8. Leverage support
- Whom do your ideas depend upon? (your
dependencies) - whose cooperation do you
need? - whose compliance do you need? - what
opposition would stop me?
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
- How can I leverage these people?
- what would make them want to offer support? -
what sorts of power do I have over them?
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
- Am I credible?
- credibility ƒ (trust X influence) - trust
ƒ (character X competence)
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
9. Create demand
You always have a choice push vs. pull push
you convince them they need it pull they
believe they need it so they seek it out
What do the booksellers of the 1920s, the grocery
business of the 1930s and Arm Hammer baking
soda have in common?
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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value

• 10. Seek out interests that underlie
  positions
• Oftentimes when people say they want
• something, when they complain about
• something or someone, when they get
• argumentative, there are underlying reasons
• for what they are saying. These are their
• Interests. Smart people focus on the
• interests of others rather than their explicit
• positions

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Creating Citizen Value
Marketing Your Value
11. Build A Sense of Ownership in Government
- Principle of alternatives - Principle of
effort - Principle of rewards - Principle of
publicness - Principle of activity -
Principle of competency
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Adoption Process

• Stages in the adoption process
• Awareness individuals first learn of the new
  idea, but they lack full information about it.
• Interest potential buyers begin to seek
  information about it.
• Evaluation they consider the likely benefits of
  the idea.
• Trial they make trial purchases to determine
  its usefulness.
• Adoption/rejection if the trial purchase
  produces satisfactory results, they decide to use
  the product regularly.

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Categories of Adopters Based on Relative Times of
Adoption
Time of Adoption of New Product
Early Adopters 13.5
Early Majority 34
Innovators 2.5
Late Majority 34
Laggards 16
excludes nonadopters - those who never adopt the
innovation
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The S Curve of Adoption
Rate of adoption
Time
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Rate of Adoption Determinants

• Relative advantage
• Compatibility
• Complexity
• Possibility of trial use
• Observability
• If you want to accelerate the rate of adoption
  you can manipulate these five characteristics to
  some extent

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An Opinion Leader is Someone Who is Knowledgeable
About Products and Whose Advice is Taken
Seriously By Others
Are Technically Competent and Have Expert Power
Are Often Among the First to Adopt New Ideas
Opinion Leaders
Are Similar to the Others in Values and Beliefs
Reduce Risk Have Prescreened, Evaluated, and
Synthesized Information About the Idea
Are Socially Active in Their Community
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
1. Remember the effortful/effortless distinction
You always want citizens to see the effort even
as they experience your service effortlessly
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
2. Grasp the secret tests people have of you
- You Cannot Not Communicate - Different Folks
Have Different Tests - Everyone Is An Accountant
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
3. Understand the ways citizens think A. The
availability heuristic - People emphasize
vivid, most available information B. The
anchoring bias - People reference anchors they
have for information
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
C. The negativity effect - People
overemphasize negative information and
underweight positive information D. The
attribution-affect bias - When youre
liked, you can do no wrong when youre
disliked, you can do nothing right
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
E. Basic attribution error - People tend to
see their own behavior as situational caused
others as dispositional F. The egocentric
bias - People assume others have the same
motives they do
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Creating Citizen Value
Demonstrating Value
G. The norming bias - People dont want to
appear deviant, especially in uncertain
situations H. The exclusivity bias - If
everyone can have it, it isnt so special
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Creating Citizen Value
Communicating Your Message
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
I. Organize Your Message for Impact

• A. Know your goal and purpose
• B. Drop what is unimportant
• C. Structure your information for memorability
• - Primacy/recency
• D. Chunk what remains

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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
II. Be Redundant
A. Defining redundancy - repetition is not
redundancy B. Redundancy improves
memorability - always offer two examples of a
concept - beware of seductive details -
follow the tell-show-do-respond method
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
III. Focus on Your Listeners Schema
A. A schema is a category system people have
for organizing information
B. Schemas help people remember information
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The Elevator Problem
The manager of a large office building has been
receiving an increasing number of complaints
about the buildings elevator service,
particularly during rush hours. Several of the
long term tenants in the building have threatened
to move out unless the service is improved. In
response, the manager recently inquired into the
possibility of adding one or two elevators to the
building. Although it would be feasible, the only
elevator company in the area has a six month
backlog of orders. As an assistant to the
manager, you were asked to come up with a plan to
get two new elevators installed within three
months. You must present the plan at the next
staff meeting. Please circle one problem
statement 1. To get two elevators within three
months 5. To keep upset tenants from moving
2. To improve elevator service in the
building 6. To keep the offices fully rented 3.
To get more people out of the building faster 7.
To keep the manager happy with me 4. To keep the
tenants in the building happy 8. To keep my
job List several possible solutions for the
problem statement youve chosen 1.________________
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___________________________________ 2.____________
__________________________________________________
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______________________________________ this
exercise was devised by CRA
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
III. Focus on Your Listeners Schema, (contd.)
C. Schemas aid people in understanding
- The problem statement you choose
shapes the solutions you generate - always
make sure there is agreement about what
the problem is - when no solution seems to
work, change the statement of the
problem
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
III. Focus on Your Listeners Schema, (contd.)
D. Schemas can explain why people often
misunderstand what we are saying
- Listeners assume you are talking about
one category and you are talking about
another - Listeners fill in the
blanksthey assume everything goes
into a category even if you didnt
mention
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
III. Focus on Your Listeners Schema, (contd.)
E. Use schemas to enhance your effectiveness
1. You can adapt your message to your
listeners schema 2. You can create a new
schema for your listener
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
IV. Meanings are in people, not in words
or behavior
A. Words dont mean, people do -
Cross-cultural misunderstandings happen
because people assume words have meaning
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages

• The Dairy Associations huge success with the
  campaign Got Milk? prompted them to expand
  advertising into Mexico. It was soon brought to
  their attention the Spanish translation read Are
  you lactating?
• Coors put its slogan Turn it loose into
  Spanish, where it was read as Suffer from
  diarrhea.
• Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used
  the following in an American campaign Nothing
  sucks like an Electrolux.
• Pepsis Come alive with the Pepsi generation
  translated into Pepsi brings your ancestors back
  from the grave, in Chinese.
• Frank Perdues chicken slogan, It takes a strong
  man to make a tender chicken was translated into
  Spanish as It takes an aroused man to make a
  chicken affectionate.

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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
Even within a culture misunderstandings arise
because people assume words have meaning
- Mrs. Jones is an older woman. How old is
she? - Jack smokes too many cigarettes. How many
does he smoke each day? - Court collects
records. How many records does he have? - Mary
makes a lot of money each month. How much does
she make?
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
IV. Meanings are in people, not in words
or behavior, (contd.)
B. Behavior doesnt mean, people do
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Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages
IV. Meanings are in people, not in words
or behavior, (contd.)
C. What shapes meaning?
- need for inclusion - need for
control - need for affection - need for
efficacy When a need isnt met, everything you
say gets interpreted in terms of that unmet need
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Maslows Hierarchy
Self Actualize
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
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Creating Citizen Value
Handling Crisis The Test
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What crisis will happen in the next five
years ___________________________________________
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___________ ______________________________________
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________________ _________________________________
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Every crisis offers you extra desired
power W.M. Marston Watch out for
emergencies. They are your big chance Fritz
Reiner What one decides to do in crises depends
upon on ones philosophy of life, and that
philosophy cannot be changed by an incident. If
one hasnt any philosophy in crises, others make
the decisions Jeannette Rankin Crises
define life. In them you discover what you
are Allan Chalmers
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Next week there cant be any crisis. My schedule
is already full
Henry Kissinger October 23, 1973
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I. The Critical Importance of Crisis
Management     II. Some Guiding Principles   -
You will face crises   - Every crisis tests your
organization---its values, people, strategy, and
reputation.   - Every crisis can enhance your
organization or it can destroy your
organization  
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When a person or organization perceives an event
as a hazard or threat that they do not have the
resources to cope with in the normal way. It is a
period of disequilibrium A crisis is a major,
unpredictable event that has potentially negative
results.
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 A.. There are many types of crises
Economic Crises
Political Crises
Product Crises
Personnel Crises
Accidents
Financial Crises
Competitor
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 B. Crises often occur because of an interaction
among
Cultural factors
Technical factors
Organizational factors
Human factors Emotional factors
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 C. Elements of a crisis
Insufficient Information
Intense Scrutiny From Outside
Escalating Flow Of Events
Intense Scrutiny From Within
Loss of Control
Siege Mentality
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• D. Crises move along four dimensions
• Crisis trigger uncertainty and a need for
  information. The challenge is that, by
  definition, information is lacking.
• Difficulties come in waves. There is an avalanche
  of problems that cannot be ignored.
• Organizational procedures and systems weaken,
  become disordered, and may backfire.
• The organization becomes divided as the purpose,
  goals, and/or structures of the system are called
  into doubt.

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Crisis Stages
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  1. Avoiding the Crisis (Prevention)   -
this is the signal detection phase look for
opportunities where crises might arise. - make
a list of everything that could happen consider
the cost of preventionbut be careful - check
the culture of the organization -- is bad news
allowed to flow upward do you punish
whistleblowers - are you collecting data related
to potential crises? - are you looking at the
crises competitors face? - are you actively
working to avoid crises?
Ignorance is not bliss
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Focus is critical
Likelihood
Weak
Strong
Minor
Impact
Focus!
Major
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What enhances stakeholder crisis initiation?
Power
Impact
Legitimacy
Likelihood
Willingness
Mitchell, et al., Acad Man Rev 1997)
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Perceiving Risk

• The Perception of the Nature of the Risk
• to be involuntary (e.g. exposure to pollution)
  rather than voluntary (e.g. dangerous sports or
  smoking)
• as inequitably distributed (some benefit while
  others suffer the consequences)
• as inescapable by taking personal precautions.
• to arise from an unfamiliar or novel source
• to result from man-made, rather than natural
  sources
• to cause hidden and irreversible damage (e.g.
  through onset of illness many years after
  exposure)
• to pose some particular danger to small children
  or pregnant women or more generally to future
  generations
• to threaten a form of death (or illness/injury)
  arousing particular dread
• to damage identifiable rather than anonymous
  victims
• to be poorly understood by science

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Perceiving Risk

• The Manner In Which The Risk Is Communicated
• Experience with dramatic accidents or risk
  events increases the memorability and
  imaginability of the hazard, thereby heightening
  the perception of risk risks of a more everyday
  nature are underestimated
• Large volumes of information about an event may
  serve as risk amplifiers (e.g., mass media
  coverage)
• Disputes among various stakeholders or risk
  assessors amplify risk perceptions.. as subject
  to contradictory statements from responsible
  sources (or, even worse, from the same source).
• Reports which explain risks and the underlying
  processes that generate them in simple terms
  attenuate risk perceptions

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Perceiving Risk

• Demographic Characteristics
• men to discount risk factors associated with
  technology more than women
• the white male effectwhite males consider the
  world less risky than other groupsfrom smoking
  and sunbathing to nuclear meltdowns
• low income and poorly educated people are more
  concerned about risks associated with technology
• risks to oneself are discounted relative to
  risks to the population at large because
  individuals feel a greater sense of control

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2. Preparing to Manage the Crisis   - assume a
crisis is going to happen - make plans to deal
with crises before they happen - do you know
what is critical to maintain your business?   -
plan ahead 1. crisis center? 2. contingency
plans? 3. crisis team with assigned roles (have
a dedicated group of people working on
it)? 4. redundant systems (e.g., communication,
computers)? 5. practice (fire drills)? 6.
regular updates and refreshers?
Planning
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- develop relationships with stakeholders (e.g.,
media, suppliers) know who they are and
prioritize them in relationship to any crisis -
search for the second order effects--the devil is
in the details... - beware of overconfidence
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3. Recognizing the crisis   - it is critical to
recognize when a crisis occurs - don't
misunderstand the crisis...don't focus solely on
the technical aspects - never ignore
perceptions perceptions often cause, and almost
always expand the crisis. - beware of crisis
creep - focus on the interest of the consumer
- use independent investigators as well as
insiders
Seeing It
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4. Containing the Crisis - have senior level
involvement from the start - typical
responses - damage containment make sure
you limit the crisis to the units where it
happened...don't let it spread - respond
quickly engage in some decisive actions
quickly triage...make the tough decisions
fast - offer public apology for the experience
Its sink or swim
Denial
Anger
Delay
Acceptance
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- juggle conflicting advice from different
experts and advisors - evaluate in human
terms - know who you are (a corporate set of
principles to fall back upon) - find a "devil's
advocate" - FACTS F Find out what happened A
Accumulate information C Control the event T
Tell your story S Survive and recover -
silence is not an option.communicate!
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What happened?
What do I need to do? (e.g., to protect myself)
What is being done to correct the problem?
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5. Resolving the Crisis   - speed is
everything - see things from the perspective of
various stakeholders    
Getting over it
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6. Profit from the crisis   - learning from a
crisis can make it a valuable lesson - do you
formally review crises or near crises? - do you
do so without assigning blame? - do you devise
training based upon the reviews? - do you
generalize and apply beyond the immediate
problem? - there are immense marketing
advantages from handling a crisis well  
Smarter is better
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Communication Strategies
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Adapted from Toombs, 1999
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With employees and other important internal and
external stakeholders   1. be open and
honest 2. keep the routine keep thing moving
as much as possible 3. limit involvement to
key people 4. understand their concerns
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With regulators   Basic principle You need to
have developed, trustworthy, and positive
relationships with regulators prior to the
crisis  
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With the media   Basic principle Say
something---If you aren't prepared to talk,
reporters will find someone who is. Guiding
principle Quick, Consistent, Open, Sympathetic,
and Informative  
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• Communicate With Compassion
• showing concern is the top priority
• focus on the people affected
• saying you are sorry is not admitting guilt
• reassure demonstrate how it won't happen again

Beware Experts who are responsible for projects
involving potential risk often define the risks
more narrowly than laypeople
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• Know What You Know
• state clearly that you do not know all the facts
• state the facts you know
• get it right, get it quick, get it out, get it
  over...your problems won't improve with age
• stick to the facts
• responses need to be timely (the first 48 hours
  means more than the next two years)
• avoid the perils of the dribble
• don't over or underestimate the problem
• develop a core message
• be open and honest speak clearly and directly
• - avoid technospeak jargon and acronyms
• - nothing is really "off the record" and "no
  comment doesn't work

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• the best offense is a good defense
• - be the first to tell your side of the story
• - let others react to your version of the facts
• - set the tone for the public debate
• - generate an alternative story distraction
  can work
• if the media makes a mistake, notify and
  correct immediately
• consistent information is a must the media is
  looking for conflicts
• remember the WIIFT figure out who cares and
  why

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• Handling the Questions
• everything comes from one person select a
  spokesperson someone who is seen as high
  ranking
• - should have some history with the media
• take time to think through answers and then
  make sure your answers are brief
• - when did you know about the problem?
• - what did you do about it?
• - what are you going to do?
• - what will the effects of this crisis be?
• - if its available, let them have it
• if you promise something, make sure you deliver
  (trust)
• if it doesn't matter, let them have it

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• Go on the Offensive
• If you are in the right, go on the offensive
• find out where they are wrong
• biased reporting
• witnesses with agendae

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Always remember you can't win a fight with the
media
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Media Skills

• General Principles
• Have a simple, straightforward, core message
• Offer reporter business card and/or short
  biography with relevant information
• Never say no comment.If you cannot give an
  answer, explain why.
• If you dont know, say so and find out
• Understand the nature of deadlines
• There is nothing that is off the record.
• Treat reporters equally. Dont play favorites
• Short answers are better. Use complete sentences
  (less likely to be edited)
• Avoid hypothetical questions

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Media Skills

• General Principles
• Learn to bridge
• Anticipate difficult questions and plan your
  answers
• Create word pictures (analogies, metaphors)
• Avoid jargon and acronyms
• Dont get bogged down with statistics
• For the audience, offer a bottom linewho cares?
• Have several quotable sound bites ready
  beforehand
• Admit to bad news if it is necessary but frame
  it positively
• Dont let things like telephone calls interrupt
  you
• Even when a reported is not taking notes, assume
  that what you say is being noted

116
Media Skills

• Radio Interviews
• Radio gets across more of your message and less
  of your personality
• Be able to clearly articulate your key point in
  20 seconds or less
• Always assume the microphone is on
• Sit up straightyoull sound more animated (in
  telephone interviews, stand up)
• Trust the sound person to set levels. Speak in a
  normal voice
• Avoid statistics and numbersyoull lose your
  audience
• Answer in complete sentences. That puts what you
  say in context

117
Media Skills

• Television Interviews
• Remember, television is a visual medium
• - look good
• - create verbal pictures
• Appear open, relaxed, and responsive
• Look at the reported, not the camera
• Maintain eye-contact. Looking away makes you
  look nervous and is distracting
• Avoid chairs that swivel
• Stay cool. Never let them see you sweat
• Sit up and lean slightly forward

118
Media Skills

• Television Interviews
• Practice appearance tricks (e.g, sit on your
  jacket, socks to the calves, scarf or turtleneck
  for blushing)
• Avoid photo-gray glasses and shiny or noisy
  jewelry
• Everything you say is on the record.
• Make your point first, then back it up with data
• Use the language of the audience
• Surprised---pause and look thoughtfulnot
  surprised

119
Adoption Process

• Stages in the adoption process
• Awareness individuals first learn of the new
  idea, but they lack full information about it.
• Interest potential buyers begin to seek
  information about it.
• Evaluation they consider the likely benefits of
  the idea.
• Trial they make trial purchases to determine
  its usefulness.
• Adoption/rejection if the trial purchase
  produces satisfactory results, they decide to use
  the product regularly.

120
Categories of Adopters Based on Relative Times of
Adoption
Time of Adoption of New Product
Early Adopters 13.5
Early Majority 34
Innovators 2.5
Late Majority 34
Laggards 16
excludes nonadopters - those who never adopt the
innovation
121
The S Curve of Adoption
Rate of adoption
Time
122
Rate of Adoption Determinants

• Relative advantage
• Compatibility
• Complexity
• Possibility of trial use
• Observability
• If you want to accelerate the rate of adoption
  you can manipulate these five characteristics to
  some extent

123
An Opinion Leader is Someone Who is Knowledgeable
About Products and Whose Advice is Taken
Seriously By Others
Are Technically Competent and Have Expert Power
Are Often Among the First to Adopt New Ideas
Opinion Leaders
Are Similar to the Others in Values and Beliefs
Reduce Risk Have Prescreened, Evaluated, and
Synthesized Information About the Idea
Are Socially Active in Their Community
124
Perceived Confidence
Perceived Competence
125
Language intensity The degree to which
your language choices vary from neutrality.
Perceptions of confidence are associated with
greater language intensity.
My idea is Okay Good Great
Issue Low Moderate High
The new project has __________ potential

Lots of
His skills are _______
Adequate
126
Strong qualifiers Qualifiers can weaken or
strengthen your statements
A marker of confidence is the use of strong
qualifiers
I think this idea might be one we maybe should
consider.
The new plan is one I think we might explore. It
has some features that could possibly make it
somewhat successful. Apparently, there are a few
features that could, under some circumstances, be
helpful. But, it will depend upon how much it
costs. It isnt really that expensive so we
should probably adopt it.
127
Lexical diversity The amount of variation in
your word choice
Perceptions of confidence are associated with
greater lexical diversity
Firm -- Organization -- Company -- Business Plan
-- Proposal -- Idea -- Concept
Problem
Talkative
Clear
128
Vivid details How vividly and detailed your
statements are when describing an event, idea,
person, or product
Confidence is associated with more vivid details
The car drove past the stop sign. The red car
drove past the stop sign. The red sports car
drove past the stop sign. The red sports car sped
past the stop sign.
Jack made a great presentation! __________________
_____________________________ ____________________
___________________________
129
Make Declarations The degree to which your
language Is direct, clear, unambiguous no jargon
Martin Luther King I have a dream vs. I have
a strategic plan that will enhance our
competitive opportunities Thomas Jefferson wrote
the Declaration of Independence not a Colonial
white paper
We need to modify our logistical supply chain to
bolster the velocity of our delivery systems to
our citizens_______ _____________________________
___________________ His performance on the team
project far exceeded the parameters of expected
quality_______________________
________________________________________________
130
Use powerful metaphors, analogies People
often get it with a strong metaphor or analogy
-Marketing has changed. It used be a bus on a
traditional route. The customer waited for it
Now its more like a taxi, where the consumer
flags one down when needed -The experience of
going through an in-depth audit by the IRS is an
autopsy without the benefit of death.
Were spending too much money ____________________
____________________________ There is a great
deal of demand for our parks _____________________
___________________________
131
Sound organized When you sound organized, people
believe you are more confident and competent -
use orienting and summarizing statements - naming
points (but beware of announcing the count ahead
of time) - highlight organization on visuals
We need to talk about the shift changes, the
recent hires, the benefits plan, and the
consultants report. _____________________________
__________________________________________________
_________________
132
Nonverbal immediacy The degree to which your
nonverbal behaviors signal interest and
involvement
The more immediate your nonverbal behavior, the
more confident you are viewed.
When appropriate Gestures Animated, but
purposeful gestures Lean Leaning slightly
forward Posture Erect and direct Movement
Comfortable but active Vocal variety Use voice,
pauses, punch Volume Strong and
authoritative Gaze Dont fear looking at your
listeners
133
Avoid powerless language
Confidence is revealed by powerful language
choices

• Disfluencies uh, okay, you know, ah
• Hedges Well, this isnt that important, but
• Meaningless particles Oh my gosh, really?
• Emotional rather than intellectual evaluations
• Tag questions This is great, isnt it?
• Declarative statements delivered as questions
• What time is the meeting?Around eleven?
• Overly polite forms

134

• Using Evidence as an Influence Tactic
• Evidence must be seen as relevance
• Evidence needs to be believable
• New evidence is the best evidence
• Evidence should be comprehensible
• Best used when
• - you think you may be seen as low credible
• - you think you may be seen as having vested
  interests
• - you use multiple sources
• - strategically cite sources of evidence

135
Making Fear Appeals Work
Are you credible? Do people believe you can do
the harm?
Is the threat believable?
Is the threat relevant?
Is the appeal addressed to a significant other?
Does the appeal create the appropriate amount of
fear?
Is there a way out? Can the recipient do
something to reduce or eliminate the threat?
The greater the relevance , the lower the
optimal level of fear
136
Persuasiveness
Defensive Avoidance
Not Noticed
Degree of Threat
137

• Organizing Your Message for Influence
• Organized?
• Organizational patterns that work
• Chronological
• Problem-Solution
• Topical
• Cause-Effect
• Criterion focused
• Familiar organizational pattern or one that
  surprises people?
• Repetition
• Number of arguments

138

• Organizing Your Message for Influence
• Forewarning of intent to persuade
• Drawing conclusions
• Problem first solution first?
• Good news first bad news first?
• One-sided vs. two-sided vs. refutational messages