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How is psychology used to manipulate and influence people in their daily lives?





Psychology can be used in a lot of different ways. It is used to help people, manipulate them, influence them and guide them to find their own happiness. The Tricks I mention below can all be used in different ways, but I have categorized them by where they are used more often. These include: Stores, Emotions and Human Interaction.

Emotions
  • Like attracts Like. In terms of Emotion it is not opposites attract. When we are positive, or negative, we see everything through a different point of view. Normal things seem better or worse and even the good and bad things in our lives seem better and worse depending on our mood. This is used in advertisements, businesses and in every day interaction with others.
  • Instant gratification. Serotonin and Dopamine are hormones released by our brain when we achieve something. When we feel accomplished in our purchase or watch a movie or play a video game, our brain releases those hormones. This is a common fact in most businesses and is used to hook people in over and over again.

Stores
  • Color Psychology. This is so popular nowadays that I do not even need to explain it all that much. Specific colors lead to use having specific Emotions. Stores will paint their walls differently and attract you using different colors. Depending on the message they want to give you they will use different colors. The next time you buy a product or walk into a store notice the colors.
  • Odors. Stores have started to use specific odors in the air vents as you go into them. In doing so you will identify a specific smell with the store, and have a nostalgic feeling when you enter it at a later date. This leads you to feel more connected to the store, increasing the amount of money you are likely to spend.
  • Product placement. Stores usually keep the expensive Products at eye-level, with lower priced products at the bottom. This will make it more likely that impulse buyers will grab the more expensive product.
  • Deals to make you buy more. Psychology has figured out that you are more likely to say yes after you already said yes to something else. Stores use this in various ways:
    • Big SALES or percentages off
    • Having cheaper products in the entrance and at the cash register
    • Popular Products in front
  • Targeting the right audience. Key words and colors are used to target different age groups, ethnicities and genders. Even if they do not make sense with the product, we still identify with those words, increasing the chance we purchase them. Next time you buy shampoo look at the labels: For men it will say “Power”, “Strength” and similar words. For women the Shampoos will say “Beauty”, “Elegance” and more.
Human Interaction
  • Modelling. Copying the mannerisms, tone of voice and catch phrases of the person you are conversing with makes them feel more connected to you. They will like you more which increases the chance that they will agree with you and cooperate. This is used in almost any face to face interaction.
  • Foot in the door. A technique to get favors, to sell or to make others do what you want. This technique starts off by asking something very small from someone, like “Could I borrow your pen?”. After this the actual request follows. As I mentioned above, people are more likely to say yes after they agreed to something else. This can be used in a variety of ways but is used a lot in getting favors or requests from the other person.
  • Door in the Face. The opposite of the Foot in the door technique is the Door in the Face technique. Instead of asking for something small that is agreed on, you ask for such a big favor that the other person will deny it. This makes them feel bad and they will be more likely to hear out your request. A study showed this by asking people if they would teach a class of delinquents for one hour over a month and then were asked if they would at least take them to the zoo. When this was done a majority agreed in contrast to just asking to take them to the zoo where almost no one agreed.

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