In "The Tipping Point", the author talks about an experiment done with university students. They were told they were testing earphones for their capability to withstand motion. They were divided into three groups. Each group listened to the same material on a case for raising tuition at the university after a songs by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. One group was told to shake their head sideways, one group to shake it up and down and the other group told to hold their head still.
The tuition piece was suggesting the tuition should be raised from $587 to $750. When they were finished they were all given a short questionnaire about the quality of the sounds and the effect of the shaking. They slipped a question in which was "What do you feel would be an appropriate dollar amount for undergraduate tuition?"
Students that kept their head still guessed $582 or same as now. Those who shook their head side to side wanted tuition to fall to $467. The nodding people wanted the tuition to rise on average to $646.
The conclusion was that sometimes little things can make as much difference as big things.
Apparently a similar study of people who watched different newscasters during the Reagan election were influenced differently. Apparently a subtle bias in Peter Jennings face during the newscast lead more people to vote for Reagan than those who watched Rather or Brokaw. Of course Jenning and ABC denied any intentional bias but the facial expression and tone was noticed by viewers.
So we are not just persuaded by features and facts but subtle little things.
