We don’t need to tell you the signs of hearing loss; you already know them all too well. You have a completely different type of challenge: persuading someone you care about to get their hearing assessed and treated.
But how are you expected to get through to someone who denies there is even a problem, or that simply shrugs it off as “just part of getting old”?
It turns out that it’s not as simple as just telling them that they need their hearing tested. They won’t understand the need, and you won’t get very far with threats, ultimatums, or other coercive tactics.
While it may seem like a hopeless situation, there are other, more discreet techniques you can employ. In fact, you can draw from the massive body of social scientific research that signifies which strategies of persuasion have been found to be the most consistently successful.
This means, you can make use of tested, researched, and validated persuasive practices that have been established to actually work. It’s worth a shot, right? And exploring the techniques might help you to think of additional ideas.
With that said, the following are 6 scientifically tested methods of persuasion and how you might use them to persuade a loved one to get their hearing tested:
1. Reciprocity
What it is:
The principle of reciprocity is straight forward: if someone does a favor for you, you’re strongly motivated to return the favor for them.
How to use it:
Timing is everything. You plan on requesting your loved one to get their hearing tested at some point anyway, so why not make the request after you’ve done something special for them?
2. Commitment and Consistency
What it is:
We all have a strong psychological need to think and behave consistently.
How to use it:
The key is to begin with smaller commitments in advance of making the final request. If you begin by ordering your loved one to get a hearing test, you almost certainly won’t see much success.
Rather, ease into the topic by casually sharing an article on hearing loss and how common it is. Without mentioning their own hearing loss, get them to confess that hearing loss is a bigger problem than they had thought.
As soon as they confess to some basic facts, it may be easier to talk about their own personal hearing loss, and they may be more likely to confess that they have a problem.
3. Social Proof
What it is:
We have a habit to think in terms of “safety in numbers.” We are inclined to conform to the crowd, and we assume that if lots of other people are doing something, it must be safe or beneficial.
How to use it:
There are at a minimum two ways to make use of this approach. One way is to share articles on the many advantages of using hearing aids and how hearing aids heighten the quality of life for millions of people in the U.S. and around the world.
The second way to use the strategy is to set up a hearing test for yourself. Explain to your loved one that you want to confirm the well being of your own hearing, but that you would feel better if they went with you and had their own test.
4. Liking
What it is:
You are more inclined to be persuaded by those you personally like than by either a stranger or by someone you dislike.
How to use it:
Solicit the assistance of those you know your loved one likes or respects. Attempt to find that one person whom your loved one consistently seems to respond to, and have that person discuss and highly recommend a hearing test.
5. Authority
What it is:
We have the tendency to listen to and have respect for the suggestions of those we perceive as authority figures.
How to use it:
Share articles on how celebrities, athletes, and other distinguished figures wear and benefit from hearing aids. You can also share articles from reliable sources that summarize the advantages of getting your hearing tested. As an example, the World Health Organization just recently published an article titled “1.1 billion people at risk of hearing loss.”
6. Scarcity
What it is:
Scarcity produces a sense of urgency when what we want is perceived as limited or in short supply. Scarcity creates the perception that, if we don’t act immediately, we may lose something permanently.
How to use it:
Recent research has linked hearing loss to a great number of dangerous conditions, including Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, memory impairment, and rapid cognitive decline. Hearing loss also gets worse over time, so the earlier it’s corrected, the better.
To employ scarcity, share articles, such as our previous blog post titled 8 reasons hearing loss is more dangerous than you think, with your loved one. Show them that each day spent with untreated hearing loss exacerbates the hearing loss, degrades health, and heightens the risk of developing more serious conditions.
If all else fails, just give it to them straight. Tell your loved ones how their hearing loss impacts you, combined with how it’s impacting your relationship. When you make it about your needs and emotions rather than their own, the response is usually better.
Have you had success persuading someone to have their hearing tested? Let us know your approach in a comment.
Source
The six principles of persuasion were developed by Dr. Robert Cialdini, and can be found in his book titled “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.”
