I recently read a very interesting post, A quick way to make people feel bad about their whole lives.
As you can probably imagine from the title it’s a sad, negative post that shows you a quick, cheap way of making others feel bad about themselves. Great!
Here’s how it’s done:
“All it takes is a quick question to make them think of the worst aspect of their life, and then asking them, directly, what they think of their life.”
Unsurprisingly the assessment of one’s life isn’t a simple process. There are many variables to review and it appears that the brain takes this question and answers emotionally.
A discount or offer is thought to be a powerful emotional influencer that generally leads to people becoming interested in buying a particular product. As an example, many cafeterias and eateries tend to install signage for restaurants to advertise their promotional offers and festive campaigns, all of which are designed to entice customers to visit.
Here’s another ‘cool’ quote that explains the idea further:
“Remind someone of their failings, and then ask them about their life, and they suddenly feel like their entire life is equivalent to what they’re thinking about at the moment.”
Simple and obvious when you think about it. We humans are emotional, simple beasts, manipulated by horrid, cold blooded marketers at a whim.
Ever the optimist I thought about how I could spin this idea on it’s head to make people feel better about their lives.
Or how this sort of idea could potentially be used to influence users online, could this sort of idea be used to improve the chances of a sale? Did you read this far down because of the image* I used at the top or because I’m a superb writer?? Granted this is a cheap trick as SEO’s will read anything to help them increase traffic and take them away from their mundane daily tasks…
But you get what I mean, eh?
By luck (guffaw) I found this post > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3304496/Be-lucky-its-an-easy-skill-to-learn.html – The research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles.
- They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities
- Make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition
- Create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations
- Adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good
Homework Assignment – How could you make your customers feel better about their lives and lucky enough to purchase one of your products?
What’s the best aspect of your life? Did you like this post? Sharing content like this with others will make you smarter, more attractive & confirm that you’re the thought leader within your social circle.
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this made me think of kiosks regarding time of day it’s open or what other stores are around the kiosk affecting immediate mood. like, i feel people may respond differently coming in or out of a mall cafeteria for instance. hungry people are angry and anxious/fed people are satiated and kind of slow… could have different influences on kiosk sales (also depending on what the kiosk is selling). these are just generalities, but it got me thinking, which is why i do drugs and read this blog.
What was the greatest achievement of your life?
Are you a happy person?
Want this amazing can of Pepsi? Half price at $5
Sure.
Reading this blog is pretty neat huh?
it was 1990. little league. i, the first baseman for Stan’s TV, currently a runner on third base and wearing rec specs. we were down one. it was the last inning, (so, the sixth inning for those who are not little league savvy…)
the pitcher, edwin cintron, had a decent developing curve and hard fastball, but…he was…moody, walking back to the mound in a melodramatic cadence after each pitch.
i, being an opportunist (but, just lazy mostly), knew i could steal home like a bmx left outside a house unattended.. after he threw a bad pitch and began walking back to the mound downtrodden, i took off, being more than halfway home before he even realized i had the prepubescent balls to do such a thing.
we tied the game, and that momentum along with a double by Teddy ‘I Pick My Boogies’ LaPrince, gave us the win. that was my greatest achievement, as expected.
am i happy? no. but, i make responses up sometimes..
maybe. “hey, i like that shirt. it looks good on you. here’s a free pepsi and a coupon.” the person will associate feeling good about the compliment with the good feeling of a free token, and now has reason to return to your brand.
meh. i don’t know. but i gotta run. i’m late for class. see you 7th period.
Basically your story of glory showed a manipulative side for one so young. Edwin never stood a chance, I wonder whether he ever thinks back on that defeat? Maybe it’s his worse experience?
Did you shake Teddy’s hand after the game?
Starz.
my mom threw away a favorite stuffed animal of mine at the age of 4. i learned never to turn the temperature of my heart above a chilly 55 degrees with gradual gusts of wind after that.
you’re perceptive and right. no, as fate and devious thoughts would have it, edwin did not stand a chance.
i heard he started eating a lot of candy and became overweight with lower-back problems in his teens. he did some years at a local college, but his attraction toward the seedy corners of city nightlife kept him from really achieving upstanding citizenship.
one day, as he went to light a joint in his car, he realized his lighter was at home. having just left, he looped back home to find two men robbing his house. he threw a signed little league (by me no less) ball at the overbearing men to no avail. they locked him in his refrigerator, and though he was rescued, the mental anguish of being locked in the refrigerator inspired a nervous blinking, which keeps him isolated from society in a Victorian clock tower, but these are just things i heard.
i did shake teddy’s hand because boogie-fingered kids need friendship too.