I love the concept of psychological triggers. There is a lot of stuff written about them, but I have yet to read Internet marketing literature about the dark side. The positive triggers don’t work without it. First let us look at the light side.

The 6 Standard Psychological Tricks

There are six standard psychological triggers that are constantly discussed:

Reciprocation

If you give someone something for free, he feels the need to give you something back. That’s why you give out freebies. That?s also why you are constantly told to over-deliver in the Internet marketing literature.

Consistency and commitment

If someone does something once, he is more likely to do it again under the same circumstances than he is to do something different. That’s why you try to get him to make that first click or accept that first email, etc. This is sometimes called baby-steps.

Social proof

If a lot of people say something is good or bad, the person hearing it or viewing it will be induced to go along. The whole reason for testimonials is right here. Crowd psychology is based on social proof triggers.

Liking

A person is more prone to grant someone he likes the benefit of the doubt than someone he doesn’t like. That’s why you try to be human, show your weaknesses with charming humility, talk about your problems and dreams, etc. Once he likes you, he will actually read your sales copy.

Authority

Another word for this is credibility. If a person thinks you are an expert, he will often take your word over another person’s without checking it. If you have trouble being truthful, which is the best way to obtain long-term credibility, bullshit people often about what an expert you are. Many will believe you sight unseen.

Scarcity

Our customer likes to have something others can’t have. This makes him feel special. Countdowns and “Only 23 left!” kinds of messages yank this trigger.

There are many studies on this, and sales techniques developed from them. There are people who provide even more triggers. But the 6 above are the main ones used most of the time in the Internet marketing material I have seen.

The Dark Side Psychological Tricks

Now for the dark side. The ugly fact is that it is hard to get these triggers to work without lying or misleading people. You must omit at best. If this bothers you, just be yourself and forget about using them. The White Hatters will not like the following comment, but if you play it straight all the time, you might be seen as one hell of a nice guy, but you will not sell jack.

Vanity

If a person thinks he is more important than other people for superficial reasons, he will do many stupid things. Flattery works. Pile it on in sales copy. And present your call to action right after. You will often get it.

Laziness

People in general like to automate stuff so they don?t have to think. They are lazy. They prefer to push a button and feel like they are masters of the universe than study and get it right. All you have to do is tell them they will learn a secret or simple-to-learn technique nobody knows, that they will only have to do it once, then repeat it without thinking to get a desired result like a profit, and they will pay good money for that secret. Use the phrase ?rinse and repeat? often when yanking this trigger.

Inner Thief

Almost anybody will steal on the Internet if he thinks he can get away with it and nobody will find out. Anybody. So promise him that if he buys your stuff, you will teach him how to steal other stuff on the sly and nobody will be the wiser. Use pretty words and euphemisms like ?secret weapon? and ?special technique? and ?loophole? and ?hedge? and ?sidestep? so forth. Don?t say steal. This way he can lie to himself and pretend he is not stealing.

Tribe Member

The most common way this trigger is yanked is by an “us against them” approach. Establish this easily by saying “Other gurus teach blah blah blah to the majority of people, but this is a lie!”. You make your potential customer feel he is part of a special minority that is striking a blow against an enemy for truth, and, as an “unsought” result, he will get filthy stinking rich by being so virtuous. You also reinforce this by putting together some easy-to-learn insider jargon for common concepts and using these words and phrases frequently in your presentation – always with a subtle superior smirk (vary this with nodding your head knowingly). Also, once you establish group contact with your customer, and yourself as the cool expert wealth guru, single him out for special praise in front of the group. This blends the tribal feelings with vanity. Then he will dig deep in his pockets and fork it over whenever you need him to.

Guilt

If your customer is lazy, it is easy to get him on guilt. He knows deep down that he doesn’t know jack, so remind him once in a while about it. Right after he feels comfortable that he is an insider and doesn’t need to think to get rich anymore, he only needs to push some damn button or other, remind him that the stupid fools ?out there? always try to get off the easy way and not do the work that needs to be done. That’s why they stay poor. Thunder a little here. This will make him feel guilty and in a panic. Then offer him another “secret” that will show him the light and another button to push for only $XXXX.

Greed

This is my favorite. Tell a person he is not to be greedy but must seek inner balance. Then say because he is very special and enlightened, you will teach him how to make millions. Hit him with visualization. Make him think the millions are arriving tomorrow or the next day. Show him pictures of money and beaches and fancy cars and mansions, telling him that this is his just for the asking. Spend some time showing bank statements. (If you don’t have them, use a graphics program and make them.) Get him really worked up and salivating, then hit him with your product. Once he bites and forks it over, if he complains that his riches didn’t come, then up the ante. Tell him to forget about that old stuff. There is even more coming with this new secret (make up something, whatever, at the time). The customer will fall for it again and again because the larger amounts cater to his greed. This isn’t the only form of using this trigger, but it is widely in use like that.

If you want to learn more about this, study cults and cult fighters. There is a lot of free information on the Internet, so all you have to do is Google it. Cult leaders are masters of using the dark psychological triggers.

I don’t see White Hatters using psychological triggers too much, except for some lightweight stuff taught by standard gurus. They might think this kind of manipulation is dishonest. Gray Hatters will be more ruthless, and I see them as the largest group of users. Ironically, I don’t see Black Hatters using them too much, except for special projects and spam texts. Then I see them going forth without mercy.

The real danger is that the line between using psychological triggers and becoming a con artist is very thin. A person needs to be emotionally balanced and highly disciplined to use them well without becoming a total scumbag. The best way to avoid this is to always provide value on your end.