Copywriting
Tactic
Emphasize Their Autonomy in the Decision
If customers believe you are trying to persuade them, they fight and resist this attempt.
Overview
People engage in psychological reactance: If they sense that their freedom or autonomy is being restricted, they actively fight this restriction (Brehm, 1966).
To influence behavior, you need to obscure persuasive motives.
One solution is to emphasize their autonomy. People donated 4x more money after hearing the phrase: but you are free to accept or refuse (Guégen & Pascual, 2000).
- Brehm, J. W. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance.
- Gueguen, N., & Pascual, A. (2000). Evocation of freedom and compliance: The “but you are free of…” technique. Current research in social psychology, 5(18), 264-270.