We’re Not Talking Mind Control, Are We?
Do you think it’s possible to control someone’s attention? Or predict their behavior? Imagine the things you could do, if you could control someone’s mind. In a very uncanny way, a pickpocket teaches us a great deal about getting people’s attention.
Hailed as the greatest pickpocket in the world, Apollo Robbins has studied human behavior for the past twenty years from a very unorthodox way, by picking pockets. As he describes and you will see in the video below, people often think about misdirection as something off to the side when in fact it is often right in front of them.
If you were able to keep up with him in the video, you’ll recall how Apollo introduced us to our inner security guard, whom he’s named “Frank.” Just in case you were misdirected and missed it, Frank’s job is to process our sensory input and then react accordingly. However, Frank can’t react to something new, if he is already focused on something else.
In fact, this concept was illustrated beautifully when Apollo brought a member of the audience onstage to demonstrate how focusing on something right in front of them hampered their ability to focus on everything else. Is there an ethical way of controlling someone’s mind, or behaviors?
Consumer Purchasing Power and Behavior
In our blog post “Getting to Yes“ we talked about some of the basic reasons why people buy something. What we didn’t talk about and what you may not even realize is how long you’ve been a consumer with purchasing power. In fact, you probably never realized you even had this awesome power when you did. Do you remember when you were first asked what you want to eat for breakfast? Or what toys you put on your first list to Santa for Christmas?
Even if you were not aware at the time, the decisions you were making were developing the rules by which you would make future purchasing decisions. Consumer behavior, often at the subconscious level, is influenced by things like our environment and the current situation we’re in, personal and psychological factors, family, culture, and more often than not by marketing factors that are controlled by the marketer.
Businesses and marketers are constantly trying to figure out trends and what makes buyers buy, so they can better reach those individuals who are most likely to buy their products. And in their efforts to do so, they often try to influence the consumer’s behavior with things they can control. Things we take for granted and never think twice about like a stores layout, arrangement and grouping of products, product pricing and discounts, and especially the advertising message.
Each of these many factors can affect the buyers behavior. Some of these influences are temporary, while others are not. Either way, these factors typically influence the way you make a purchase, what additional products you buy, or why you keep your money in your pocket and buy nothing at all.
It’s Really Not Misdirection
When all is said and done the steps a marketer takes to improve the sales of a product or service, just like in the Apollo Robbins video above, is really not misdirection at all. In both instances specific and precise steps are being taken to actually direct the “buyer” or pickpockets’ “target” to perform a specific action or head in a defined direction.
In the case of the true pickpocket unethical steps are actually being taken, because one person is trying to take something that doesn’t belong to them. However, in the case of the marketer they are using ethical practices (note… and we totally discourage any unethical practices) to point out the benefits and features that their solution has in such a way that the buyer subconsciously agrees with them and buys the offer at hand.
Getting into the minds of your target audience and knowing what makes them tick is a very powerful ability. As Maslow theorized in his hierarchy of needs, once people have fulfilled their basic needs— things like food, water, and sleep—only then can they begin to fulfill their higher-level needs. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”.
Learning how to properly “direct” a buyer through the decision making process is a goal that you will want to master. Doing so will allow you to fulfill their higher-level needs and to sell more products and/or services.
Hopefully you’ve come to understand that the art of misdirection is really an art of direction, and that mastering and applying it ethically can give you an enormous advantage in business. We will continue exploring and discussing this concept in more detail in future postings, so make sure you stay connected with us and…
Until then,
To Your Success!
