The Persuasion Test!

Choose the best answer from the options below.
Keep your eyes on your own computer screen, and remember
that it's cheating to email other Internet users during the test.
Answers are at the end of the test, but don't go there yet!

2.) If you're attempting to sell a customer an item from your company's lineup of three models (the "economy," the "midrange," and the "luxury" model), research has demonstrated you will obtain higher sales figures by:

a) starting at the bottom and moving up the line;

b) starting at the top and moving down the line;

c) starting at the middle and then allowing customers to "own the decision" by moving up or down the line themselves.

3.) Years of tracking political elections have revealed that the single most reliable predictor of who will win an election is the candidate who:

a) is the most physically attractive;

b) produces the greatest number of negative or "attack" ads against his opponent;

c) has the most active and committed volunteer base;

d) spends the most time focusing on the issues.

4.) Research has shown the general relationship between self-esteem and persuadability to be:

a) people with low self-esteem are the most persuadable;

b) people with average self-esteem are the most persuadable;

c) people with high self-esteem are the most persuadable.

 

5.) Imagine you are the (unlucky) campaign manager of a political candidate who has recently lost the public's trust. Now imagine that the candidate wants to rebuild his reputation through profiling himself as a tough crime-fighter. Of the following choices, which would be the best way for your candidate to start his next ad?

a) "My opponent has not gone far enough in fighting crime . . ."

b) "Many have supported my ability and willingness to fight crime . . ."
c) "Although my opponent has a good record of fighting crime, . . ."

 

6.) Imagine you are a financial adviser, and you believe that a young client of yours is invested too conservatively. In order to persuade her to invest in riskier, high-return investments, you should concentrate on describing:

a) how others like her have made similar mistakes (appeal to consensus);

b) what she stands to gain if she invests in riskier options (appeal to greed);

c) what she stands to lose if she does not invest in riskier options (appeal to loss).

 

7.) Research has demonstrated that jurors are most persuaded by:

a) an expert witness who uses easy-to-understand terms;

b) an expert witness who speaks in incomprehensible language;

c) a witness who speaks with conviction.

 

8.) If you have a new piece of information, when should you mention that it
is new?

a) before you present the information
b) in the middle of the presentation of the information
c) after the presentation of the information
d) you should not mention that it is new information.

9.) Imagine you are presenting your case, and that you are coming to the part
of your presentation that contains good, strong arguments for your
position. How quickly should you speak?

a) you should speak very rapidly
b) you should speak somewhat rapidly
c) you should speak at a moderate rate
d) you should slow down

10.) The six most fundamental principles of influence to be discovered by social psychological research are:

a) enthusiasm, pleasantness, dissonance, memory, attention & positive associations;

b) attending, pacing, hypnosis, mirroring, archetypes & subliminal persuasion;

c) consistency, authority, reciprocity, liking, consensus & scarcity.



Now for the answers and your score.

1. Both a & d
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. C
6. C
7. B
8. A
9. D
10. C

8-10 Right: Your a genius, go write a book on persuasion
6-8 Right: Impressive, read a few books an build on your understanding
4-6 Right: You can persuade, yet a good training session would help
2-4 Right: You definitely need to get some training and lots of books!
0-3 Right: Have I got a deal for you ......

No matter what your score, you do have the capability to be a better persuader, check out the program and resources we have that can help you.