Persuasion-and Resistance

Summary of an Article

Persuation- and Resistance.

- By Eben Harrell.

This article is all about Persuasion and Resistance.”Why are self-confident blowhards so
often believed?Why are experts so often ignored?”.

Eben Harrell here talks about “how to influence people” and the recent rise of populist
politicians and the social media celebrities left many questions to think about and
publishers are responding with many titles on Art and science of persuasion.But their
authors need to convince the knowledgeable readers about the topic and persuade them by
their own.

There are many such authors who published first edition of their book on the
topicInfluence eight decades back. The most healthy of the new offerings is “Messengers:
Who we listen to, Who we Don’t,and Why” by the consultant Stephen Martin -former co-
author of Cialdini’s, and researcher Joseph Marks. Martin’s work with Cialdini on the book
covers of academic work in this field for example- will a person be influenced with the
wealth,height,or a favor done by him to someone?

Martin and Marks contribution lays the context which determines the response of different
types of people .During periods of conflict and uncertainity,the hard messengers
demonstrate and assert their status and at the times of stability,soft messengers display
their warmth,vulnerability and trustworthiness and are more likely to win.Thus,one secret
of an effective influencer is that they feel certain way of their audiences and accordingly
persuade their state of mind.

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Persuasion-and Resistance

In showtimes 2019 series, ”The Loudest Voice”which explores harnessed post 9/11 fear to
build a huge audience and a mass power by Roger Ailes, Executive of fox news.”Listen to
me”,as portrayed by Ailes,Mephistophele by Russell Crowe tells a young journalist about
fourth episode to which viewers might respond shockingly,described as “You tell people
what to think,you’ve lost them.But if you tell them how to feel ,they are yours.”

Messengers is useful as in to help customers and citizens understand when they are being
manipulated and help them taking steps to resist but as Cialdini states that the book will
generate the most interest among people looking to utilize its deep understanding.

Jason Harris,the CEO of ad agency Mekanism,advises readers to work on strengthening four

“Personal Dispositions”. In his books, he argues against short term tactics to gain
agreement.His books explains about psychological tactics which are uncovered by Cialdini
which help others to integrate in an ethical life. On the other hand, Alicia Menendez’s “The
Likeability Trap: How to breakfree and succeed as you are” this states the ability of a
women’s success which is less likeable and undermines their influence and ability to
rise.She fails to offer a compelling prescription which is forgivable as gender biasness is
deeprooted.

One of the principles of persuasion is the ”Focusing Illusion” which holds that people place
too much importance on one aspect of an event, causing an error in accurately predicting
the utility of a future outcome.

The research makes it clear how easy it is to influence people, whether by manufacturing
rather than meeting consumer demand or by generating irrational political passion among a
democratic citizenry.

Bibliography:-

Harrell, EBEN ;Persuasion-and Resistance(2019).

https://hbr.org/2019/11/persuasion-and-resistance

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