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Description

Context persuasion is the change in perspective, or context, of something. When compared against different options, or presented in different ways, the same thing can seem better or worse. It all depends on what it’s compared to;
When we use it to severely mislead someone and hurt them, it becomes context manipulation;

How It Works

Context persuasion changes the context. That is, the universe where this specific thing lives. We can change the options compared, we can change which features of the thing are compared, and more, to simply make it seem better or worse;
In many cases, we are not aware of all the possibilities in the world. So, if someone says, “These are the 3 options, and this is the best of the 3”, we don’t challenge them on which options exist, or this one being the best;

This is one of the hardest types of manipulation to protect yourself from, and the only way is to gain perspective by seeing other options and comparisons;
You need to realise that, in many cases, something just seems valuable due to the contrast, or due to the options that were engineered to make it look good. So, you have to actively generate other options, or think of other things that diminish the contrast, to take away from the attractiveness of this;
- Our usual example of the $20 book. If it’s compared to $40 books on a website, and that’s all you see, you will think it’s the cheapest book. So, you have to do manual research, thinking of other books of the same type that could be cheaper, to realise that this is not, in fact, the cheapest option, for example;
It’s related to fact manipulation when facts are manipulated due to the perspective used. For example, a company saying their sales have increased by 25% last quarter. But, in fact, they have been down for a year. Just looking at the 3 months seems good, but if you request to take a historical look, you will realise the baseline is different, and performance is worse;
- The key is to not accept the historical perspective or timeline given, and to request to have more data. This “nullifies” specific timelines that may create different impressions;

(All the Context Manipulation techniques in Ultimate Persuasion Psychology fit here);
Using perceived contrast
Changing the option set or criteria
Defining highlights

Turning Product Flaws Into Features (PDF file in *How Manipulation Works* Course Companion DLC);
The Role of Contrast in Storytelling (PDF file in *How Manipulation Works* Course Companion DLC);