Make More Sales By Using The Power of Authority by Gihan Perera

People are influenced by people with perceived authority. Sometimes it's the position (President, Pope or prominent sportsperson), sometimes it's the uniform (a police uniform, a construction worker's overalls, or even a business suit) and sometimes it's the title (Doctor, Professor or Judge), and sometimes it's their "aura".

When the coffee company Sanka released a new brand of coffee, they hired actor Robert Young to promote it in their advertising. Why? Because he had played the role of Dr. Marcus Welby in a long-running television series, and the advertisers were exploiting the association in the viewer's mind of Robert Young as a medical expert, even though he was just an actor.

In a similar vein, two professors Michael Cohen and Neil Davis wrote a book "Medication Errors", chronicling the many errors that are made in the medical profession, often because staff members simply don't question the orders of authority figures such as doctors and surgeons. In one amusing example, a doctor prescribed some ear drops for a patient with an ear infection. Instead of writing "place in right ear", the doctor abbreviated it to "place in R ear", which the nurse read as "place in rear", and gave the drops to the patient rectally!

How do you use this on your Web site?

Unless you're selling diarrhoea tablets, you probably won't be employing an authority figure to recommend that your clients insert your products in their anus! However, you can still use the authority principle by citing well-known authorities who support your product or service.

One example is obviously to find well-known and well-respected people among your clients, and include their testimonials on your Web site. This is different from the "social proof" testimonials, where you're looking for people who are similar to your new site visitors. When playing the authority card, you're looking for people who are authorities because they are different from the average client.

Another idea is to include favourable reviews of your product from newspapers, magazines, critics or other reputable sources. If you can get permission to reproduce the page directly from the publication, that adds even more credibility.

If you don't have testimonials or reviews for your product itself, look for reviews or testimonials that endorse the general product category. For example, if you're selling a brand of low-fat sweeteners, it's useful to quote health experts who recommend low-fat sweeteners in general, even if they aren't specifically recommending your brand.


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