Entries by Brian Ahearn, CMCT®

The Immediate Influence of Behavior

Have you ever read Viktor Frankl’s classic work Man’s Search for Meaning? If you haven’t I can’t recommend it enough! It’s one of the most impacting books I’ve ever read. Despite the sobering description of life in Nazi concentration camps the book has sold more than 12 million copies since it was first published in […]

Persuasive Marketing the Old Fashioned Way

People often ask me if Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence are as effective today as they were when he first wrote about them 30 years ago. I emphatically reply, “Yes!” The methods of communication may be changing – email instead of letters, text or instant messaging instead of phone calls, online advertising instead of television […]

Combating ISIS with NICES: Giving and Receiving

As I write this post there have been ISIS attacks in Belgium, Iraq and Pakistan, not to mention attacks in numerous other countries before all the recent tragedies. Their increased activity has people living in fear despite the reality that the likelihood of dying in an ISIS terrorist attack is so much less than dying […]

What The Hell Were You Thinking?

What the hell were you thinking? Ever thought (or said) that as you interacted with someone? Anyone ever said that to you? I bet at least one person thought it because we’ve all done things without thinking. There’s lots of research that clearly shows the vast amount of our behavior is driven by non-conscious forces. […]

Have We Changed or Are We Just Politically Correct?

I’ve never been as fascinated by the political process as I am right now. My fascination has more to do with how the process has been flipped upside down by people like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. In August I wrote a post on Donald Trump’s mASS Appeal where I shared some insight into why […]

Is Persuasion Just Common Sense?

“Persuasion is just common sense.” I’ve heard that from people countless times over the years when I share a little about the psychology of persuasion. I think the reason people reflexively say that is because it’s easy understand everything I tell them. Nearly everyone can think of a time when a principle of influence was […]