How Can We Promote Ideas Effectively? Idea Seeding and The Art of Persuasion

Getting people to accept an idea by placing it in their minds and convincing them is an important element that affects human relations, decision-making processes and the general dynamics of society, both in our private and professional work lives. Beyond being a tool for persuading someone or a group, sharing ideas and getting them accepted, it also has the power to change people's mindsets and direct their beliefs and behaviors. As a leader, persuasion skills are an important element in motivating our team and uniting them around a thought and purpose. In this article, I will talk about placing thoughts in minds and how persuasion can be achieved.

Theories and Strategies About Idea Seeding and Persuasion

1.Communication and Influence Theories: There are different approach models to influencing and persuading minds by communicating effectively. One of these is the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in the 1980s. According to this model, people can process and evaluate an argument in two different ways.

a. Central Route: It is the path where the message and main idea are carefully evaluated and thought out. The accuracy, consistency and quality of the argument are important because the person filters the message consciously and informedly.

b. Peripheral Route: Thoughts are generally accepted or rejected based on emotional and external factors. The source and design of the message are more effective than the content. This persuasion process is based on the tendency to make quick decisions.

According to this model, if we can give the message we want to give and the idea we want to cultivate, with a message that will attract attention and with accurate, confirmed and acceptable information, it will be easier to gather and persuade people around this idea.

2.Cognitive Persuasion Methods: There are also persuasion methods that enable an idea to germinate and be established by influencing people's thought processes. These include methods such as confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance and persuation cues.

a.Confirmation Bias: The tendency to place more value on evidence that confirms a person's existing beliefs or assumptions. This is related to the way people process information. In persuasion processes, the person trying to persuade can facilitate the process by ensuring that the other party focuses on information that supports their own beliefs.

This situation can even be attributed to very old examples. Although Galileo had access to evidence supporting the Sun-centered model of the universe, the scientific authorities of the period gave more value to the evidence supporting the belief that the universe was earth-centered, which constitutes an important example of confirmation bias. Being aware of this tendency and keeping it under control can make persuasion processes more transparent and fair.

b.Cognitive Dissonance: It is the situation that occurs when a person's beliefs, values and behaviors conflict with each other. In persuasion processes, persuasive people can make the other person accept the opposing view by making him question his beliefs and values. Another example of this situation is the belief in the necessity and legitimacy of the Vietnam War, in which the United States participated. While people initially defended the necessity of war, the harm to innocent people and unethical situations that emerged later began to cause the American people to question their beliefs about war.

As in this example, information that will enable people to question rigid acceptance and beliefs they may have in a community or organization can play an important role in the persuasion process.

3.Social Proof Strategy: It is a persuasion management that uses the fact that people tend to follow the behavior of others. In this method, examples of other people who support the idea are included to ensure that people are willing to support a thought or idea. Because when people witness a large group doing something, especially when they are in a state of uncertainty and indecision, they tend to believe that this thing is right and good.

For example, to support a social movement, stories of other people participating in that movement can be told. Telling the stories of other people involved in environmental protection efforts can encourage other people to participate in these efforts as well. Nowadays, the increase in the use of social media and the effect of likes, shares and comments play a significant role in increasing interest in a product or idea, and it is a good example of a social proof strategy.

There are some points to consider when using the social proof strategy:

• Make sure the source of social proof is trustworthy and reputable.
• Ensure social proof is presented in a way that attracts and appeals to your target audience.
• Increase the impact of social proof by using it in combination with other persuasion strategies.

In conclusion

We make many decisions both in our private and professional lives. Many of these decisions are matters that will fall under the influence of other stakeholders other than us. At the same time, we are also the parties affected by the decisions made by others. Therefore, knowing the ways in which ideas can be processed into minds and the ways in which persuasion occurs becomes an important awareness for success.