Executive Insights 2016

The best stories -- told the best

 74 % 26 %
Bake-Off
You
Buying Vision

60%
Status Quo

Prospect
Why Change? Engages Why Us?

Missed Them

Opportunity
 YOUR
SOLUTION
 YOUR
SOLUTION

Preference
Stability
 YOUR
SOLUTION

Preference
Stability

Anticipated
Regret
/Blame
 YOUR
SOLUTION
Preference
Stability

Cost of
Anticipated Action/
Regret Change
/Blame
 YOUR
SOLUTION
Preference
Stability Selection
Difficulty

Cost of
Anticipated Action/
Regret Change
/Blame
 decision-making science

Neuroscience

Hidden Forces Impacting How People Frame Value and Make Choices to Change
 Persuasion expert
and exclusive
research partner
Zakary Tormala, PhD to Corporate
Visions
WHY CHANGE MESSAGING

CONTEXT CONTRAST

CONCRETE

TESTED AND PROVEN

WHY CHANGE MESSAGING

CONTEXT

TESTED AND PROVEN

Which message will be more persuasive?

A message from a bank that says your company might fail if

A you take their money

A message from a bank that focuses on your critical

B business needs and the benefits of taking their money
Condition 1 Respond to Stated Needs Condition 2 Value Added Services

Condition 3 Unconsidered Needs LAST Condition 4 Unconsidered Needs FIRST n = 400

 Serving the
community for
over 75 years

$10 Million line Understand

of credit at a the needs
competitive rate of small
business
 Experience
with your
type of
business

Serving the
community for On-staff
over 75 years experts

$10 Million line

of credit at a Tailored
competitive rate services
 ! 42% fail due to
underlying
problems

Ensure no
Serving the
hidden
community for
problem areas
over 75 years
for max results

$10 Million line

of credit at a On-staff
competitive rate experts
 Ensure no
hidden problem
areas for max
results

On-staff $10 Million line

experts to of credit at a
review your competitive
operations rate

! 42% fail due to

underlying
problems
Serving
companies like
yours for over
75 years
 • How compelling
Uniqueness and • How thorough
• How clear
Quality Ratings • How unexpected (or unusual)
• How unique (or different)
• How good or bad

Choice and
• How likely to choose this lender
Attitude Measures
• How likely to accept the pitch and go with this offer
• Overall rating of the lending firm
• Overall attitude toward the lending firm
• How likely to choose this firm over other competing firms with similar rate
• How willing to choose this firm over another one offering a lower rate
• How much more than the proposed rate would they be willing to pay this firm
 Presentation Uniqueness

5
Statistically Significant
Uniqueness Improvement
4 50%

Standard Value Added Unconsidered Unconsidered

Solution Solution Needs Last Needs First
 Presentation Quality
9

7
Statistically Significant
Quality Improvement 10+%

Standard Value Added Unconsidered Unconsidered

Solution Solution Needs Last Needs First
 Presentation Persuasiveness

7
Statistically Significant
Persuasion Improvement (10+%)
6

Standard Value Added Unconsidered Unconsidered

Solution Solution Needs Last Needs First
 “Highlighting unconsidered needs
is unexpected, which can boost persuasion,
but this only helps when it happens at the
beginning of the message. When it
happens at the end, it’s too late.”
Dr. Zakary Tormala, Stanford
 NEEDS

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation
 NEEDS

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation + COST
+COMPLEXITY
 Urgency and
Uniqueness
NEEDS UNCONSIDERED
NEEDS
Lives in the
Context!

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation + COST
+COMPLEXITY
WHY CHANGE MESSAGING

CONTRAST

TESTED AND PROVEN

Which message will be create more action?

A message for a new product that first tells you what’s

A wrong with your existing product

A message for a new product that leads with the best,

B most different new features and benefits
Feature Benefits Only
New Smartphone Features:
• Latest security improvements
eliminate hackers looking to gain
access through applications.
• Automatic app shutdown closes
unused apps and increases
battery life by 30%.
• New photo and video
compression feature shrinks size
of data-hogging content to
enable you to keep more of your
favorites on your phone.
• New high resolution image and
expanded screen size improves
ability to run professional
applications you use in your
business right on your phone
instead of a second device.
 Contrast Condition
Current Smartphone Issues:
• Today’s smartphones are susceptible to
hackers through your keyboard app,
giving people access to your data and
the ability to turn on your camera.
• With today’s smartphones, unused
apps running in the background are
responsible for 70% of battery drainage,
leading to frequent charging and
decreased battery life.
• On current phones, photos and videos
hog storage capacity, which means you
often have to store files somewhere
else or periodically choose photos and
videos to delete.
• Current screen sizes and resolutions
keep people from being able to
maximize all the programs they want to
use and run on their phone, requiring
them to have a second device like a
tablet for things like business
applications.
New Smartphone Features:
• Latest security improvements
eliminate hackers looking to gain
access through applications.
• Automatic app shutdown closes
unused apps and increases
battery life by 30%.
• New photo and video
compression feature shrinks size
of data-hogging content to
enable you to keep more of your
favorites on your phone.
• New high resolution image and
expanded screen size improves
ability to run professional
applications you use in your
business right on your phone
instead of a second device.
What did we measure impact on?
Purchase Intent
Interest and likelihood of making a purchase

Attitudes and Choice

Willingness to switch and willingness to pay more

Advocacy
Likely to tell others and recommend a new product

Product Perceptions
Represents innovation and a clear improvement
 Purchase Intent
Interest and likelihood of
+14.63% making a purchase
8

3
Future Only Current then Current then Current and
Future (Same Future (Separate Future (Side by
Screen) Screens) Side)
 Attitudes and Choice
Willingness to switch and
+14.06% willingness to pay more
8

3
Future Only Current then Current then Current and
Future (Same Future (Separate Future (Side by
Screen) Screens) Side)
 Advocacy
Likely to tell others and
+12.46% recommend a new product
8

3
Future Only Current then Current then Current and
Future (Same Future (Separate Future (Side by
Screen) Screens) Side)
 Product Perceptions
Represents innovation and
+13.40% a clear improvement
8

3
Future Only Current then Future Current then Future Current and Future
(Same Screen) (Separate Screens) (Side by Side)
Contrast can improve all of these!
+14.63% Purchase Intent
Interest and likelihood of making a purchase

+14.06% Attitudes and Choice

Willingness to switch and willingness to pay more

Advocacy
+12.46% Likely to tell others and recommend a new product

Product Perceptions
+13.40% Represents innovation and a clear improvement
WHY CHANGE MESSAGING

CONCRETE

TESTED AND PROVEN

Which approach to questions is more powerful?

Asking open-ended diagnostic questions first and then

A sharing an insightful piece of information

First sharing an insightful piece of information and then

B asking diagnostic-type questions
 Compared to other people, how well
do you think you are doing getting
your recommended amount of
vitamin D each day?

 In more absolute terms, how well do

you think you are doing getting your
recommended amount of vitamin D
each day?

Diagnostic Questions
Insight
Unconsidered Needs

1
Insight
Unconsidered Needs

2
Insight
Unconsidered Needs

3
Insight
Unknown Strengths

1
Insight
Unknown Strengths

1
2
Insight
Unknown Strengths

1
2

3
 Compared to other people, how well
do you think you are doing getting
your recommended amount of
vitamin D each day?

 In more absolute terms, how well do

you think you are doing getting your
recommended amount of vitamin D
each day?

Diagnostic Questions
 Personal Intake

8
Questions then information

7
Information then questions

6
7.2% drop in
confidence

3
Compared to In Absolute Terms
Others
More willing to admit they were not doing as well as they could
Assessing Persuasive Impact
 Generally speaking, how much would you estimate that
the information you read about vitamin D will influence
your own views and behaviors?

 How compelling was the information we presented? (For

example, how convincing was it to you personally?)

 Will you post these new insights, or anything about the

information we shared, on social media (e.g., Facebook)?
 Message Impact

5
No Statistical
Significance
4

3
Information Only Questions Then Information Then
Information Questions

“Only way questions add value is if

they come after the insight!”
 Message Impact

7
9% More Persuasive
6

5
No Statistical
Significance
4

3
Information Only Questions Then Information Then
Information Questions

“Only way questions add value is if

they come after the insight!”
 Message Impact

14+% More Persuasive 9% More Persuasive

6

5
No Statistical
Significance
4

3
Information Only Questions Then Information Then
Information Questions

“Only way questions add value is if

they come after the insight!”
Which conversation drives more effective persuasion?

Sharing surprising information that puts the prospect at

A unexpected risk

Sharing surprising information that puts the prospect at risk

B and provides possible solutions to resolve it
RISK-ONLY CONDITION
RISK + RESOLUTION CONDITION
 • How important to you
personally was the
information you read
Measuring on Vitamin D intake?
Emotional
• When you read about
Responses vitamin D in the study,
how anxious did it
make you about your
own vitamin D intake?
 Emotional Response

6
12% improvement in impact

Risk + Resolution Risk Only Resolution Only

 • How likely would you be to change your
behavior based on the information you just
read?

• How likely would you be to take some sort of

Measuring action based on the information you just read?

•
Behavioral After reading that information, would you
purchase vitamin D supplements?

Intentions • How often would you eat vitamin D rich foods?

• These days there are many different kinds of

vitamin D rich snacks. How interested would
you be in purchasing some of these snacks?

• How likely would you be to try to persuade

others to take vitamin D supplements?
 Behavioral Intentions

6
9% improvement in impact

Risk + Resolution Risk Only Resolution Only

 WHY CHANGE MESSAGE

CONTEXT CONCRETE

CONTRAST
UNCONSIDERED QUESTIONS AFTER
NEED FIRST THE INSIGHT
CREATES URGENCY CREATES ACTION
COMPARE CURRENT
VS FUTURE STATE
CREATES VALUE
10%
65%

Picture Superiority Effect

 Hot
Hot
Spike 100%
70%

20%

The Hammock
AVOID
THE HAMMOCK
 Which Picture is Superior

Whiteboard PowerPoint Zen

 RECALL
“In each of the More accurate and more content

following areas we
found a statistically
significant
difference in favor
of whiteboard-style
visuals”
Zak Tormala PhD

VS.
 Memory Test
100

90
+10% +17%

80
%
70

60

50
Whiteboard PowerPoint Zen
 2 Days Later
100

90

Sustained Similar Advantage

80
%
70

60

50
Whiteboard PowerPoint Zen
 RECALL +13%
“In each of the More accurate and more content
following areas we
found a statistically
significant ENGAGEMENT +9%
difference in favor More interesting and thought more
of whiteboard-style
visuals”
Zak Tormala PhD CREDIBILITY +8%
More trustworthy and expertise

QUALITY +8%

VS.
Clearer and more compelling

PERSUASION +8%
More likely to follow and share

IMPACT +10%
Changed way communicate
Malcolm Gladwell
Scientist behind the Tipping Point

Morton M. Grodzins
 What made the difference?

Gladwell Told a Better Story