Most of us have clients and customers with whom we have longstanding relationships. And surely one of the major benefits of having regular contact with someone over an extended time is that it is generally easier to predict their needs and preferences and, as a result, construct more effective persuasion strategies?
As it turns out, perhaps not. New research about to be published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology suggests that even though people claim to be pretty good at predicting the likes and dislikes of others, they are, in fact, anything but that. And, surprisingly, the longer we know someone, the worse our predictions may get.
One set of studies required people to rate on a scale of 1 (don't like it at all) to 4 (like it very much) 118 different items and at the same time predict how a person they were in a relationship with would rate the same items. Some were asked to predict the preferences of people they had known for a short time and others those they had known for much longer.
It turned out that everyone was able to better predict the likes and dislikes of someone they knew more than those of a complete stranger. But not that much better. Those asked to predict the preferences of people they had known for a short time were accurate 42 per cent of the time. And tellingly those who had known a person much longer were accurate only 36 per cent of the time.
There are a number of reasons why a longer standing relationship could lead to a reduced understanding of another's likes and dislikes. Firstly, the majority of understanding and learning occurs in the early stages of relationships, when the motivation to get to know someone is much higher. Secondly, people who are in longstanding relationships often consider themselves to be more committed to each other and as a result may think that they know each other better than is actually the case. As a result they are less likely to notice changes in attitudes and preferences when they occur.
So given that older doesn't necessarily mean wiser, having processes in place to ensure a continuous and honest exchange of likes and preferences, especially with longstanding customers, could be considered an important pre-persuasion activity.
Steve Martin is co-author of Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion. Visit scienceofyes.com; Twitter #scienceofyes
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