#1—Reciprocation: When someone gives you a gift, you feel obligated to reciprocate, to give something in return. I’m reminded of those fund raising mailings from the disabled veterans. They include free stickers with your name and address that you can use on your personal mail. This is, I suspect, designed to induce a feeling of indebtedness in the recipient so that we reciprocate with a donation.

#2 - Social proof: If many people are doing or believing the same thing, then that behavior or belief is validated as correct. Think of McDonalds’ “billions served” line on their signage and packaging. It implies that billions of people eat there, so you should get on board and eat there too.

#3 - Commitment and consistency: Once a person makes a formal commitment, s/he is more likely to follow through on the promised behavior. And once a behavior is established, most people tend to continue it. Last year the students in my social marketing course developed a campaign to encourage green behaviors on campus.  One feature was to get students to sign a pledge stating that they would reduce their consumption of plastic by carrying their own non-disposable water bottles instead of buying bottled water.  That’s a commitment technique. Regarding consistency, I immediately thought of the charge of “waffling” that is leveled against any politician who changes her/his mind about an issue.  There is incredible pressure to remain consistent in one’s beliefs, even if that belief is no longer credible.

#4 - Liking: People prefer to say ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ to those they like, so it pays to cultivate friendly feelings. Think Facebook and LinkedIn.  If I want to reinforce a connection with an acquaintance, I will often click “like” on something that s/he has posted on Facebook.  And then there are the LinkedIn “endorsements.” We say positive things about colleagues and they in turn say positive things about us. The endorsements are also a good example of principle #1.

#5 - Authority: Once someone perceives another as an authority, s/he will follow the authority’s instructions, whether they make sense or not. A recent episode of Nurse Jackie had a great example of this.  A patient in the ER was obviously misdiagnosed by a medical doctor.  It was clear to everyone that the diagnosis was incorrect, yet when a nurse determined the correct diagnosis the patient chose to believe the doctor. For this patient, the doctor carried more authority than the nurse.  Also, the doctor in this instance was male and the nurse female, which may have had something to do with it. Another good example of this is the “dress for success” concept.  If you look like you are in charge, people will accept it and generally do what you tell them to do.

#6- Scarcity: The scarcer an object is, the more people tend to desire it. You see this in fashion all the time.  My favorite example are those hideously expensive Birkin handbags that have a years-long waiting list for people to pay hundreds of dollars for one.  Another example is people waiting in long lines to go to some trendy restaurant that was just reviewed in the Times and/or is owned by some celebrity.

Storytelling is one of the communication techniques I use most. Whenever I am addressing a group or facilitating a meeting, I find that a good story can do many things.  It can set the tone for the meeting and whatever discussion follows, create a feeling of camaraderie among participants, make a theme easier to grasp or frame an issue in the way I find most advantageous. 

But for a story to be successful, it must be a “good” story, by which I mean it must evoke the desired response among most members of the audience.  Therefore I often try out my favorite stories on friends and colleagues before I put them into use.  Two of my most successful stories are below.  I have used these in one-on-one conversation, as well as to open a big speech or to make a point in a classroom. Read my two favorites and see if they spark any ideas that you can use in your own work. And please share your thoughts in our comments section.

The Stone Masons
A visiting priest was walking through a medieval village one morning and came upon a group of workers.  “What are you doing?” he asked one of the men.  “I’m carving this stone,” said the man.  The priest walked on.  “What are you doing?” he inquired of another fellow.  “I’m laying bricks,” said the laborer.  The priest walked on.  “What are you doing?” he asked another.  The man looked up from his work and replied, “I’m building a cathedral.”

I like to use the stone mason story to make the point that while members of a team may have different assignments in the end they are contributing to one, great mission or goal. And, while the mission is much larger than one individual’s work, the small efforts of every player on the team are necessary if the big goal is to be accomplished. And the mission, of course, is what inspires the workers to do their jobs well, not the smaller tasks themselves. Keeping a mission focus helps people feel important because they remember that they are part of something transcendent.

The Starfish
A woman was walking along a beach after a storm.  The sand was littered with starfish, which had been stranded on the beach by the ferocious waves.  As she walked, she occasionally bent down to pick up a starfish and toss it back into the sea.  Presently she saw another woman coming from the other direction, walking toward her.  Eventually they met.

The first woman thought a moment, then bent down, picked up a starfish and tossed it back into the ocean.  “It makes a difference to this one,” she said.

In some ways, the starfish story is the opposite of the cathedral story in that this narrative puts the emphasis on one individual’s efforts, rather than the combined effects of the group. I like to use this story to illustrate the importance of each person’s efforts, regardless of the ultimate outcome of events. Sometimes taking a very micro, local view is the only way an activist can keep a positive attitude. Just as it is important to be part of something larger than oneself, it’s also important to be mindful of what is, and is not, within one’s scope of influence.

“But that looks like a min pin. Let’s just go see if it is. Such a cute little dog!” – Kathy

“Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.” – The min pin

“Oh, look, he likes you!” – Obsessed dog rescue person

“Just foster him for a week. Then you can bring him back, no problem.” – Ditto

“Aw…sexy Rexy is going home. You’ll love him!” – Second obsessed dog rescue person

“Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.” – The min pin, aka Rex

“The cat will hate us.” – Bonnie

“I really didn’t want another dog. Really.” – Kathy

“Well, we could just try it out. They said we can bring him back.” – Kathy

“The cat will hate us.” – Bonnie

“Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.” – Rex

“Oh my god, he’s not neutered!” – The vet

“He needs an EKG and a sonogram, an antibiotic, an anti-worm pill and heart medication for the rest of his life.” – Ditto

“That will be $2,200, please.” – The vet’s receptionist

“Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.” – Rex

“He’s at the door again?! I just took him out an hour ago.” – Kathy

“There must be something we can do about this diarrhea.” – Kathy

“The cat hates us.” – Bonnie

“He can’t be neutered because his heart condition precludes surgery.” – The vet

“Understand that he’s not peeing on your [brand new, hardwood] floor. He is merely marking his territory.” – The dog book

“Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.” – Rex

“Min pins are naturally energetic.” – The dog book

“Does he never sleep?” – Kathy

“My career aspirations have changed. I now aspire to be the Foursquare mayor of the Brooklyn Heights dog park.”—Bonnie

“I hate them.” – The cat

Tweet

1) The (actual) future of the Big Idea, from Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, challenges the assumption that ideas need exposure in ‘Big Media’ in order to become big ideas.  What, author Megan Garber asks, happens when the Big Media become not so big after all? 

2) The title of this BBC News piece says it all – Species flee warming faster than previously thought. What will happen when most of the animals and plants have moved toward the poles? And what about those that already live there?

3) Here’s a sobering thought: “Somewhere between 2025 & 2045 computers are expected to develop self-awareness.” This, according to Peer 1 Hosting, is only one of the staggering developments that will come about through the progression of super computing technologies. Read it (and weep?) on one of my favorite sites, Read, Write Web:

4) Most of us know that mapping the human genome has shown that all humans are of a single race. Why, then, do ideas about race persist? Dorothy Roberts explains how “race is an invented political system” in Lies About Race, featured in The Root. 

5) Not to be lost in the new media feeding frenzy, our old friend, The New York Times, presses on. (OK, it’s a bad pun, but I couldn’t resist.) Many Baby Boomers built successful careers right out of high school. “That’s all in the past now. Money changes everything.” The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s - NYTimes.com

-- Bonnie McEwan

I have long believed that the most effective form of protest is economic and two new surveys provide support for that view. The annual Civility in America poll conducted by Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate found that 7 out of 10 Americans stop patronizing companies that allow uncivil behaviors in their places of business. In a separate survey, 64% of respondents told Consumer Reports that they had left a store due to poor service.

Apparently, the “Made in the USA” label matters to shoppers. A survey of 1,500 adults conducted by Perception Research Services International found that 60% of people claim that seeing the US label influences their purchase decisions. The most often cited reason for buying American was “to help the economy” but researchers say they also detected a subtle expectation among consumers that “Made in the USA” signals quality. 

Both of the studies above were reported in The Daily Dog, a free aggregation of public relations content that is published by Bulldog Reporter. Subscribe here.

Along those same lines, a group of PhD students at the University of Michigan studied the power of brand to inspire bias. They wondered how the logo of the Al Jazeera English (AJE) television channel might be influencing viewers’ perceptions of bias in its news content. To find out, they screened the same news story for different groups of viewers, some of whom saw the story with the AJE logo and others who saw the story with a fake CNN logo. Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab reported the results.

Ever heard of eco-driving? The term refers to a group of techniques that drivers can use to maximize mileage, save fuel and reduce tailpipe emissions. These ideas have been around for quite awhile, but few drivers are aware (or perhaps patient) enough to put them into practice. Now, however, researchers at UC Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies believe that eco-driving’s time may have finally arrived.

This blog’s content recommendations are updated monthly (more or less). If you would like to receive email alerts when we have new recommendations, subscribe here. 

It’s great that we can speak to someone on the other side of the world. Awesome that in a few hours we can travel to places that took our ancestors months to reach. Fun that cuisine from distant lands is now available on most urban street corners. But it’s not so great that we go to war over oil and may soon do so over water.  That non-human species continue to be crowded off the planet and many of us feel overwhelmed by our technology. 

There are solutions out there, yet somehow many of us fail to hear about them. And there are realistic writers who put the situation in perspective for us without being alarmist or over confident. So here are a few good news stories you may have missed while you were struggling with email fatigue or running to catch the last shuttle out of LaGuardia.

International Day of Biodiversity, May 22
Janez Potočnik, European commissioner for environment, explains why biodiversity matters.

Bamboo Building | Sustainable Development | Architecture | Colombia
You won’t believe what can be made from bamboo, and how beautiful bamboo buildings can be.

That Awkward Conversation (About the Climate)
You thought talking to your kids about sex was hard.  Try climate change.

What does the Arab world do when its water runs out?
Bottom line:  You can’t drink oil.

Wasps as Bedbug Hunters? (Nature’s way of pest control) NYTimes.com
Move over, Fido. Wasps smell bed bugs too.

Those who have been following the daily news reports have a general idea of what is happening and why technology matters, but many haven’t had time to reflect on what this really means and how it connects to the rest of us.  Here, then, are recommended articles and videos that represent some points of view you may have missed.

Revolution 2.0: Rebooting Tunisia
This story from ReadWriteWeb, one of the most popular technology blogs in the world, recounts what took place in the country that started it all, Tunisia.

The Women of Tahrir Square
This is a splendid documentary produced by India’s New Delhi Television (NDTV) about the crucial role women played throughout the Egyptian uprising.

Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution
I was fascinated by this article from The New York Times on American political philosopher Gene Sharp, a proponent of nonviolent revolution whose writing provided inspiration and practical guidance to the architects of the Egyptian protest.

Voices of a New Generation
This series of video clips is not about the recent revolutions per se, but focuses on the future and what could happen as a result of greater democratic freedom around the world. Developed by young people across the globe in response to a call from US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan B. Rice, these videos are representative of how the world’s youth think about peace and security.

Liberty Bell Photo credit: zoonabar / Chris Brown

Note: If you would like to receive one monthly email alerting you that new recommendations have been posted, go to the top of this page and click on “Get blog updates” in the upper right hand corner.

Thus, I’m using the theme of transparency for this latest group of recommended reads, all of which appeared on the Web in the recent past. 

Global Voices is an international community of bloggers who report on alternative, citizen media from around the world. These are their top posts from 2010 and many are important stories that were missed by mainstream, corporate media.

US to Vatican: Genetically Modified Food Is a “Moral Imperative.” Thanks to WikiLeaks, we now know that the US government was pushing the Roman Catholic Church to promote genetically modified food in the developing world.  And doing it while many Americans oppose GM foods here at home.  (Perhaps our government was keeping this secret in order to protect democracy.)

Nieman Journalism Lab @ Harvard is a great resource for monitoring the future of news.  Here they note the trend among nonprofit organizations to maintain newsrooms, and they suggest some rules of the road to delineate advocacy from objective reporting. What makes a nonprofit news org legit?

What climate advocates can learn from the American Revolution is an intriguing analysis by David Roberts that appeared in Slate in November.  Roberts is on the side of secrecy, or perhaps stealth is more accurate, in that he urges climate advocates to be less open about their policy positions so they cease to present a “fat target” to opponents.  Instead, he argues, it’s time for a “guerilla warfare” approach, where diverse groups take on smaller issues and create a “distributed, network insurgency.” I must admit, I admire the idea and certainly found the piece worth reading.

Finally, I want to give a shout-out to the Salvation Army USA, one of the most honest and ethical organizations I know, and one that is modeling the clever use of technology to boost fundraising.  Check out the Online Red Kettle. It’s an inspired program that encourages donors to set up their own virtual red kettles and send them around to friends with requests to donate.  Just brilliant – like the sun.

So here are four particularly interesting pieces I selected from the Web during the second half of November, including a video on YouTube and articles from the Associated Press, Macworld and Yahoo News.

1) Companies quit printing white-pages phone books – from the Associated Press in USATODAY.com

According to Verizon, it will save about 3,575 tons of paper per year by discontinuing printed directories in New York State alone. But Emily Goodman, a doctoral student at Northwestern University, points out that phone books have become a valuable archive of information for genealogists and historians – a reminder that change often carries unintended consequences.

2) Gartner: Social networking slowly taking over e-mail | Macworld

Many people, especially those on the younger side, eschew traditional email in favor of text messaging and mail formats that are embedded in social networks such as Facebook.  So is email dying?  Probably not, but it’s certainly slowing down a bit with age.

3) New York Times restructures its Web newsroom - Yahoo! News

As the paper of record and an iconic brand in the news business, the Times makes decisions that matter.  The Grey Lady’s move to consolidate its online and print operations signals a seismic shift in the practice of professional journalism.

4) - Explaining Cloud Computing – YouTube

For ease of understanding, think of cloud computing as the great mainframe in the sky.  But it’s much more than that, and it’s good for consumers, as the geeky Brit who hosts this video series explains.

--Bonnie McEwan

Church sign photo by Mel Silvers, Mobile, Alabama; au_tiger01 on Flickr