Chapter 3Controlling Illusions = Controlling the Deal
Let's take a quick pop quiz. From the list below, pick out the statement that is false:
- Shaving makes hair grow back thicker.
- Toilets flush in different directions in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
- The forbidden fruit of Adam and Eve was an apple.
- Vikings wore horns on their helmets.
- Bulls become angry at the colour red.
It is always fascinating to watch people discuss these statements. Some people decide on their answer quickly. Others narrow the list down and then have a long debate over the two or three that remain. Over the years, we have learned that everyone who has taken this quiz has one thing in common. They are all winners, because their selection doesn't matter. All of the statements are false.
The statements demonstrate what happens when pieces of information flow through culture unchecked and unchallenged. Years, decades, or even centuries of repetition and coincidence can turn a notion into a perceived fact. That occurs in corporate cultures as well, not only in national or ethnic ones. When no one doubts a statement's veracity anymore, no one applies any effort to question it.
This is known as the illusory truth effect.1,2 It occurs when the brain starts to accept and believe in an appealing message that is being repeated constantly over time without any contradiction or any evidence to cast serious doubt. Our minds literally take the statement for granted.
Salespeople can also use the illusory ...
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