by Alexia

Created on: August 28, 2008   Last Updated: August 29, 2008

The Power of Persuasion: A Field Exercise

In order to examine the power of persuasion, I covertly participated in a field exercise involving a car sale. Unbeknownst to the sales person my experience will be documented for later analysis. The purpose of my analysis is to reflect and incorporate some of the psychological terms and concepts studied in my Values & Ethics class, during the 2008 summer semester at Metropolitan College of New York. Arriving at the car sales lot I was immediately spotted by a sales person. He approached with a bright smile that matched the wonderful summer weather. On approach, I decoded his nonverbal message as a person who is very competent. His demeanor too was approachable and reassuring, not aggressive or intimidating. I later learned he has been a car sales person for 20 years. My only concern on his approach was to recall and record my automobile shopping experience. I had no intention of purchasing an automobile. However, I had every intention to satisfy my curiosity about purchasing a used vehicle. Due to the nature of the field exercise, I steeled myself to hear his persuasive arguments. He began by deciphering my likes and dislike for the inside and outside colors of the vehicle, and whether or not I preferred an automatic. He asked about my intended regular use of the vehicle. Some of the other considerations taken into account were security locks and tinted windows. The next step was looking at a few choices he selected, based on my list of preferences. The very last things discussed and looked into were my financial credibility.

Normative Social Influence was evident as a psychological concept employed to capitulate my planned choice of purchasing a used vehicle into purchasing a new vehicle. The tangible means employed was test driving three new vehicles. The sale representative's reference to my up and coming graduation as a means to reward myself endangered me as a candidate for Groupthink, I became engrossed with the possibility of owning a new vehicle. Totally enmeshed with Cognitive Dissonance, closely related to Deindividuation, I was swept up in the dream of owning a new vehicle for the first time with a plausible excuse to back me up. My mind raced trying to find collateral and months old abandoned sources of income, accepted by my sales representative for credit approval. Thankfully, my lack of financial support allowed me an escape from a Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon. According to Myers 2002,

During the Korean

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