Pavlovian Circle.
Most of us know about Pavlov’s experiments with dogs where he used a bell to implant an associative memory (in very simple terms, the dog associated the sound of the bell with food, and would salivate in anticipation of it being served).
Reading more deeply about Pavlov recently, I became aware of some of his other experiments, including using shapes rather than sounds.
The dog was trained to salivate when shown a circle and to stop when shown a narrow oval shape.
Over time, Pavlov changed the shape of the oval, making it more circular at each stage.
At the point where the difference between the circle and oval was marginal, not only did the dog become highly agitated, it also became irritated and then ignored Pavlov completely.
Are you unwittingly doing the same with your team, customers and prospects?
People, like dogs, want things to be consistent. Indeed, when working with Professor Robert Cialdini, (author of ‘Influence: Science and Practice’), to create his training manuals, we learned that one of his six principles of persuasion is titled: ‘Commitment & Consistency’, and how powerful a concept this is when applied appropriately. Quite obviously, the opposite is true – people hate inconsistencies.
In changing times, consistency is even more important. Constantly changing messages is unsettling – they result in audiences getting annoyed, and then ignoring them.
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