If you’ve visited the internet lately you’ve probably seen Shia LaBeouf’s motivational video. It’s peculiar yet strangely effective and a bit like watching someone put fish sticks in a toaster. What you’re seeing may seem confusing at first glance, but it kind of works. It could be the awkwardness of the whole thing that pressures you into feeling like maybe you should, at the very least, get out there and wash your car for his sake. “Just do it”, you hear him yelling as you open the front door to the scorching summer heat.
Motivation can be elusive at times. Thankfully social pressure is here to save the day. The feeling of awkwardness could actually be a reason why Mr. LaBeouf’s video compelled me to go do something. I noticed a similar effect during an odd encounter with a kid I met a few days ago while filling up at a gas station. I’m standing there with my girlfriend talking about the components of petrol (she clearly wasn’t listening *sigh*) and this kid comes up out of nowhere and hands me his CD and a brochure. Thanks for the gift? He quickly asked me if I liked music and then launched into a sales pitch on a festival he’s going to play at and completely startled me by suddenly breaking out into song. I think I stopped pumping gas at that point. The whole thing was the most atypical interaction I think I’ve ever had with a stranger. If you’ve ever been to the Hartsfield-Jackson International airport in Atlanta and used the automated ticket kiosks for the parking lots, you know what kind of alien attempt at human interaction this was. Being somewhat involved in the music scene myself, and feeling really sorry for this kid, I wanted to give him a few of bucks like he asked for. But then it clicked. I realized I was about to be a victim of this kid’s weapons of influence.
Recently I bought Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini. I can’t recommend this book more to anyone slightly interested in marketing or how humans are influenced every day. I’ve only read the first couple of chapters so far and I’m hooked. In the book he points out many of the influences we are duped by every day. In the case of my interaction with this kid selling his CD he was leveraging several techniques. He tried taking advantage of my natural human inclination toward reciprocation. He forcefully gifted me with a CD which caused me to feel like I owed him something. He deployed an attempt at singing to make me feel bad for him and trigger some empathy and, after asking for several dollars, he retreated to “just one or two” hoping I would take him up on his concession. Tricky kid! He also knew I wouldn’t want to seem mean or selfish in front of my girlfriend!
I bet this is also why Shia LaBeouf’s video compelled me. I felt odd for not being ambitious after watching it. It was the same awkwardness I experienced with the gas station interaction. However, it made me feel like I need to follow through with my goals for his sake, which is less devious than pressuring money out of someone for something they don’t really want. So, thank you Shia LaBeouf for leveraging social pressure and making so many people feel strangely motivated.