Sometimes, it takes a single word — like “because” — to change someone’s mind.
That’s according to Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who’s compiled a list of “magic words” that can change the way you communicate. Using the word “because” while trying to convince someone to do something has a compelling result, he tells CNBC Make It: More people will listen to you, and do what you want.
Berger points to nearly a 50-year-old study from Harvard University, wherein researchers sat in a university library and waited for someone to use the copy machine. Then, they walked up and asked to cut in front of the unknowing participant.
They phrased their request in three different ways:
- “May I use the Xerox machine?”
- “May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?”
- “May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”
Both requests using “because” made the people already making copies more than 50% more likely to comply, researchers found. Even the second phrasing — which could be reinterpreted as “May I step in front of you to do the same exact thing you’re doing?” — was effective, because it indicated that the stranger asking for a favor was at least being considerate about it, the study suggested.
“Persuasion wasn’t driven by the reason itself,” Berger wrote in a book on the topic, “Magic Words,” which published last year. “It was driven by the power of the word.”
Other ‘magic words’ and how to use them
Companies use “because” to make their advertisements more convincing, behavioral scientist Nuala Walsh wrote in an Inc.com column last year: Makeup company L’Oréal has used the slogan “Because you’re worth it” for five decades, and furniture stores need you to shop their sales now “because it’s for a limited time.”
The seven-letter word isn’t the only one with communication superpowers. Arguments, requests and presentations aren’t any more or less convincing when they’re based on solid ideas, Berger says…
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