If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always got.

Many people lead a very habitual life following the same pattern even down to the same time you brush your teeth, finish your breakfast and more. Thus leveraging consistency can be an extremely powerful principle of persuasion.

The American philosopher and psychologist, Stevens James, once said:

“I don’t sing because I’m happy. I’m happy because I sing.”

Similar to the conditioning affects that authority has had on our lives from when we were youngsters, the same can be drawn from the consistency principle of persuasion. In general, we have been brought up to follow a particular trajectory in life. Go to school, get good grades, go to university, find a well paid job, to find lifetime partner, to get married, and then settle down and have children.

The behavioural psychology of consistency is drilled into us at an early age. As mentioned earlier, we go to bed at a certain time, get up at a certain time, and follow a similar daily routine every day. Even if we vary our weekend routines, these usually follow a similar pattern from one week to the next.

For those who are inconsistent in their actions and behaviours, they are often called flaky, undependable or even untrustworthy. This is in contrast with someone who is consistent in their actions and behaviours. They are seen as being reliable, punctual, and someone who always follows through on their plans.

Based on this guarantee of people this makes consistency one of the most powerful forces in the human personality, for once we commit to something we have a hardwired need to remain consistent with that decision, choice, or mind set and follow through.

In fact, many of us believe we are unpredictable, but by default that makes us more predictable, with that unpredictability becoming predictable.

With this very real idea in mind, we can use influence as a principle of persuasion to persuade a prospective client or customer to buy a particular product or service. Furthermore, we can influence them to act or behave in a certain way if we were to show them that by not acting or behaving in a certain way would be inconsistent with their previous actions or behaviours.

If you want to influence somebody to develop a certain behaviour, you should first encourage them to exhibit that behaviour in a small way first. You can then build on this to influence them to make bigger and bigger behaviours all innkeeping with their previous ones with slight modifications which go almost unnoticeable.

An example of this may be to encourage people to make small, concessionary commitments (such as signing a petition). By doing so, it becomes more likely that they will change their behaviour over time to remain consistent with these initial minor commitments. Eventually, this will lead to a domino effect. It will become easier to influence the person or situation after each subsequent action or behaviour by increasing their level of engagement and commitment at each step. If you are making an influence attempt, if you were to adhere to this process, it will ensure that the final domino (and your goal) will be toppled, with the final domino (or request) being much greater than the first when you look back in retrospect.

When combined with the reciprocity principle of persuasion, consistency is an extremely powerful principle of persuasion to use in the correct situation to ensure your influence is much more effective.

An example of this using consistency in action would be if you were an online business or online service. Your goal may be wanting to encourage your prospective customers to complete their name and address on an online contact form in order to receive a free gift or sample (reciprocity). By offering a free gift or sample or trial period, will make the prospective client far more likely to buy something from you further down the line (consistency).

When people are asked to do something for us, or more specifically to help us, they want to stay true to their word. In 1972, Thomas Moriarty, the renowned psychologist, conducted an experiment on Jones Beach in America.

When one of his team of researchers left a radio unattended on a beach blanket and another of his team, posing as a thief, stole it. Watching and recording what they saw, the team of researchers found that only 1 in 5 beach goers intervened.

However, in the second experiment, when the owner of the radio asked his fellow beach goers to keep an eye his belongings whilst he went for a swim, these same people intervened 95% of the time. As a result, they acted as vigilantes with some even chasing down the thief to retrieve the radio and preserve their word that they wanted to stay true to.

The desire for consistency within our lives is innate in all of us. It makes our lives simpler. Without the need to respond to each decision, most people place themselves on auto-pilot, allowing them time to focus on more important decisions.

This is apparent in some of the most famous and recognised large business leaders in the world. Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are well-known for wearing the same style of clothes each day which alleviates the need for them to decide what to wear each day in turn allowing them to focus on the more important decisions. 

Duncan Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on influence, persuasion and effectiveness. He is the Founder of the Influence Association, best selling author and in demand keynote speaker.

He helps companies, teams, leaders and individuals become more influential and effective in their work and private lives.

To find out more follow the link below to see how he can help you or your team.