Healthy Influence Blog

Zealots of this blog (hi, Mom!) know that persuasion variables can function as WATTage, Arguments, or Cues, cleverly captured with the acronym, WAC.  You understand persuasion, not with how it looks, but by what it does.  Today we look at another application and implication of the WAC.

Jostmann and colleagues conducted a series of experiments on the variable, physical weight, and used it in a variety of functions.

For example, they randomly assigned participants to evaluate the quality of unfamiliar currencies holding the currencies clipped to either a heavy or a light clipboard.  Participants rated the (same) currency as more valuable when holding the heavy clipboard.  And, the effect size here was a medium (see the Windowpane for a visual demonstration).

Physical weight here clearly functions as a . . . what do you think?  WATTage, Argument, Cue?  Here’s your smiley face sticker if you said, “Cue,” or something that you meant as “Cue” even if you really said, “WATTage” or “Argument.”

Our typical human experience tends to associate heavy things with great value compared to lighter things, so the weight functions as a Cue, a simple heuristic that is often correct.  Of course, “heavy is better than light,” is not true in all cases (look at the bathroom scale, right?), but in a wide variety of instances “heavy” has a more favorable association than “light.”

So, weight is a Cue.

Now, just to confound us, Jostmann and colleagues ran additional experiments.  They randomly supplied strong or weak Arguments to participants holding heavy or light clipboards.  If weight is always just a Cue, then Argument quality should make no difference, right?  People are Cue-ing off the weight and skimming over the Arguments.

Except that’s not true in this weight function.  People holding heavy clipboards actually read the Arguments and if they got strong Args, they had more positive attitudes and if they read weak Args, they had more negative attitudes compared to the folks holding the light clipboards.  This interaction between clipboard weight and Argument quality shows the familiar fan effect from ELM theory.  And, again the effect sizes here were moderate to large.

So, in this instance, weight is functioning as WATTage, a variable that turns the dimmer switch from low to high WATT.  We see that function because the paricipants discriminate the differences in Argument quality.

Jostmann et al., did not conduct a weight as Argument experiment, but after reading this, you should be able to generate some ideas.  How about a new fitness program aimed at strengthening and people who follow the program have more muscle mass compared to those who don’t use the new fitness program?

So, here’s today’s lesson class.  Persuasion variable have their effect as function not form, thus poetically echoing the famous dictum of the architect, Louis Sullivan, that form follows function.  A simple, physical, and obvious thing (form) like weight (good grief, can you be more real?) has persuasion functions that follow the WAC.

Furthermore, the intellectual concepts of the WAC can be embodied in physical reality.  Normally we think of persuasion as an abstract science dealing with all manner of unseen variables like attitudes, elaboration likelihood, intention, norm, and so on, but realize that we always bring our bodies along with us wherever we go.  Jostmann et al.’s work demonstrates how to make abstract persuasion ideas as real as that spare tire around your waist!

Now, all you have to do is figure out how to make weight work for you like Jostmann et al. did with a clipboard.

How about a resume on heavy print stock – but you better have strong Arguments, right?  That’s an interesting persuasion study I’ve not seen.  Print resumes on heavy or light paper and list either strong or weak Arguments on the resumes.  This research would suggest that if you’ve got great job qualifications, present them in a heavy way.  Official pronouncements should likewise appear on heavy paper and never on flimsy stock.

Isn’t human nature interesting?