How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 366

Affiliation: Create the Link
Another aspect of the Rule of Association is the use of affiliation.
Persuaders want you to affiliate their company with positive images,
feelings, and attitudes. We tend to affiliate our feelings with our
surroundings and environment and then transfer our feelings to those we
are with.
For example, one frequently used technique is to take the prospect to
lunch. Why? Because people like whom they are with and what they
experience while they are eating (if the food and company are good). The
idea is to link something positive in the environment with your message.
For example, a good game of golf, a weekend at the beach, NFL tickets,
or an exotic cruise would all typically build positive associations and
feelings in your prospects. Do you remember ever noticing how, after a
crushing victory, sweatshirts sporting the university's logo were seen all
over the place? People want to be associated with winners. In fact, a study
showed that when a university football team won, more students would
wear that college's sweatshirts. The bigger the victory, the more college
sweatshirts become visible. When you bring positive stimuli into the
situation, you will be associated with the pleasant feeling you have
created.
We are now going to discuss the four different affiliation techniques that
are most often used: advertising, sponsorships, images, and color. Each of
these has a unique role in affiliation.
Advertising: The Billion Dollar Persuasive Industry
Advertisers and marketers use affiliation to evoke valuable associations in
the minds of their prospects. They know that babies and puppy dogs
automatically carry great associations of warmth and comfort in the minds
of their audience. Consequently, we see tire commercials with babies and
car commercials with puppies, even though cars and tires aren't really
warm and cuddly. These warm appeals grab our attention and create
positive associations in our mind.
Want some other examples? Consider some of the popular slogans: "Like
a good neighbor," "The same as home-style cooking," "Like a rock," and
"The breakfast of champions." Using slogans in this way, marketers are
able to readily create positive feelings and associations without having to
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