Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

Because people from individualistic cultures tend to give greater weight to their own personal experiences, consistency with one’s previous experiences is often a more potent motivator of people from countries in North America or Western Europe. And because people from collectivistic cultures tend to give greater weight to the experiences of close others, the behavior of close others is often a more powerful motivator of people from countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, and Africa. What this means is that when asking an American, Canadian, or Briton for a favor, you are likely to be more successful if you point out that it fits with what that person has done before. But when asking a favor of people from more collectivistic countries, the research suggests that you will be more successful if you point out that it fits with what that person’s peer group has done before.

In everyday life, we can use mirrors to persuade others in the most subtle manner to behave in more socially desirable ways.

If adding mirrors to a specific location isn’t practical, there are two other possibilities that produce mirrorlike effects. First, social psychologist Ed Diener and his colleagues have found that asking people their names can have a similar effect. This means that asking kids and employees alike to wear name tags should lay the groundwork for more desirable behavior.83 Second, recent research by scientist Melissa Bateson and colleagues suggests that placing a simple picture of eyes on the wall also has the effect of getting others to act in more socially conscious ways.