February 19, 2010

I have just finished reading Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, by Sally Hogshead. Sally is an award-winning advertising executive turned brand innovation consultant. In this book, she covers a wide swath of disciplines to weave a story-driven narrative that draws on her original research, a Kelton Study conducted specifically for the book, to look deeply into what captures our attention, and how we can create fascination in our lives and livelihoods.

Her goal in conducting a study of 1,059 Americans over the age of 18 was to define the role of fascination in our lives, and measure it in tangible terms. “Without fascination,” Sally says, “we can't sell products, persuade shareholders to invest, teach students to read, or convince our own kids to stay off drugs.”

Some of the more interesting results are these:

• When asked how far they would go for a fascinating life, 60% of people said they’d be willing to bend their morals, standards, or loyalties.

• Only 9% of employees say their bosses are “extremely fascinating,” but 96% of parents say they’re fascinated by their own children.

• A fascinating brand can charge up to four times as much as an un-fascinating one.

• On average people will pay $288 per month to be the most fascinating person in the room. Five percent will pay more than $1000 per month. (Women will spend more to be fascinating than they spend on food. In fact, women will spend more to be fascinating than they spend on food and clothes combined.)

These results raise the obvious question: what does it take to be fascinating? The answer, according to Sally, is that it takes some blend of the seven triggers, which are defined as deeply rooted primal means of arousing intense interest:

1. Lust: the anticipation of pleasure, which we crave.

2. Mystique: unanswered questions, which intrigues us and makes us want to solve the puzzle.

3. Alarm: the threat of negative consequences, which demands immediate response.

4. Prestige: symbols of rank and respect, which earn us status and admiration.

5. Power: command over people and things, which draws our focus.

6. Vice: rebellion against rules, which tempts us toward “forbidden fruit.”

7. Trust: certainty and reliability, to which we give our loyalty.

The business implications of being able to employ these triggers can be significant. According to the research, a fascinating brand can charge more than an un-fascinating one, up to four times as much. People also will pay a premium for brands that activate desired triggers. In the presence of a fascinating product, 80% of people report a strong emotional or physical response.

Take the example of Jagermeister. “It’s hard to find anyone that actually enjoys bittersweetly harsh taste of Jagermeister liquer,” says Sally. “But yet, sales have increased 40% per year since 1985. Why? The mystique and vice triggers. Jagermeister has brilliantly fostered myths that it contains all sorts of secret and forbidden ingredients: elk’s blood, opiates, Valium, and other unmentionables. Whatever floats those green-tinted bottles, one thing’s for sure: After a few shots, your memory of the evening’s events could also be an unsolved mystery!”

The bottom line is that people will not only pay a lot of money if you can help them become fascinating, but also if you can help them feel fascinated.

I found Fascinate to be a great read, engaging the reader right from the opening story of Giles Corey’s 1692 execution in Salem for his crimes of witchcraft (fascinate comes from the Latin fascinare, “to bewitch”): casting a spell over the townspeople, enchanting them, mesmerizing them, and leaving them powerless and immobilized with captivation.

This same fixation, Sally explains, spawned the popular television series Sex and the City. And did you know that Amazon.com uses the same tactics to lure book buyers that animals in the Amazonian jungle use to lure their prey? Or, that the billion-dollar “Just Say No” program actually increases drug use among teens, by activating the same “forbidden fruit” syndrome as a Victoria’s Secret catalogue?

If you want to know why you’re captivated by some people (but not others), why you recall some brands but forget the rest, and why certain people can get you to change your behavior, Fascinate will fascinate you.

And it won’t cost you $288.

Matthew E. May is an innovation consultant and the author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing. He blogs here. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Join the conversation ( 8 )

• Brent Terrazas 1 year 11 months and 3 days ago

  

  @Ted There are a couple posts/links with dos equis content on my site, the easiest way to find them is actually via google, just search for 'the most interesting man int he world' and click on the brentter.com links (it should be the first result in yahoo/google/bing) - http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=the+most+interesting+man+in+the+world&aq=0&aqi=g10&oq=the+most+interest

• Casey Knox 1 year 12 months and 14 days ago

  

  Love studies like these. The results can be so interesting and controversial. The seven triggers are spot on, love the forbidden fruit reference and the undeniable truth that people will pay to be the most fascinating person in the room. Thanks for this awesome download! @caseymaeknox

• Lola Catero 1 year 12 months and 14 days ago

  

  Although children are said to be more fascinating that adults (superiors), are children more persuasive aswell? It is interesting to delineate between what makes someone both fascinating and persuasive. If I had to choose, I feel I would rather be persuasive than fascinating. Although, I am sure both characteristics go hand in hand.
  
  http://lemonadeandorigami.wordpress.com/
  

• Spring Haigler 1 year 12 months and 14 days ago

  

  I agree with author on Jager. Almost everyone I know despises the taste of it. It's sort of a macho thing to take a shot of Jager. Lust and Vice definitely define it. I doubt that Jager fostered any myths, people have a way of doing that on their own.
  
  Whether any of us want to admit it or not, we all want to be fascinating in some way, even if it's only to one person.
  
  Anyway, I believe the book was written for people who want to become better at selling their service or products. I don't think it was written as a self help book or to improve our self esteem. In other words, don't take it out of context and make it personal.

• Natalia Jordan 1 year 12 months and 15 days ago

  

  I like the post a lot! but the part about paying to be fascinating does not really convince me.. I mean I'd rather pay to be in a room full of fascinating people rather than paying to be the most fascinating one there. And it's not just me: TEDsters, for example, pay a LOT of money to go to TED, where they will be surrounded by fascinating people. Paying people for any conference follows the logic that people will pay to bring someone fascinating to the room. Because they also inspire us.
  
  Yes, it's true that being the most fascinating one in the room feels good because it means stroking your ego, but you don't learn anything from that experience.
  
  Making a parallel to intelligence, I'd rather be dumbest of the intelligent than the most intelligent of the dumb. Because that way, I'm able to learn and be better.
  
  In a way, I think what we as humans look for are ways to be fascinated (that's my reasoning why we love art, music, literature, nature even if we are not the creators of those works). Being fascinating is that second step we take so as not to feel left out of all the fascinating things and people around us. That is, maybe, why we are social creatures.
  
  just a thought, what do you think?

• Ted Wright 1 year 12 months and 15 days ago

  

  @Brent - Care to share and address for your posts on Dos Equis? I'm speaking on word of mouth marketing as it relates to the beer business next Tuesday at the Beer Summit and I know the FEMSA guys are going to be there and will raise their hands about their campaign.

• Brent Terrazas 1 year 12 months and 15 days ago

  

  Ha! Great post.
  
  I especially liked the part - "On average people will pay $288 per month to be the most fascinating person in the room. Five percent will pay more than $1000 per month. "
  
  Whether they admit it or not it's true. Even your big introverts will want to be the most interesting/fascinating person in the room, just probably in a different way than the rest of us.
  
  It also got me thinking, you know my blog actually ranks #1 in most search engines (at least Google/Yahoo/Bing) for any variation of the search phrase 'who is the most interesting man in the world.' It all has to do with a series of in-depth posts on The Dos Equis campaigns that I've published through the years but to this day it still has my site listed above even the brand's domain for most variations on that query.
  
  I wonder just how much it'd be worth to someone for me to make the page show a lightbox/message informing the visitor that Google was right, they (insert name/company/nickname, etc.. here) ARE 'the most interesting man in the world.'
  
  A friend suggested I start looking for potential clients by first offering the service to big ad-agency heads/creatives. I don't know though, I almost think that any decently sized ivy-league reunion/get-to-gether would draw the same types. Any suggestions? ;p
  
  Nice post,
  -Brent

• Ted Wright 1 year 12 months and 16 days ago

  

  Totally wrong about Jager (not to mention illegal if it were true) but very interesting article none the less. Jager did use the Lust category but they did it with people not direct or implied communication about ingredients. God rest his soul, but Sid Frank wanted to be rich not in jail.