A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests what NLP practitioners have known for many years – mimicking a person can influence that person to adopt your point of view. In NLP, it’s called “Match and Lead” – or “rapport”.
In a series of experiments intended to demonstrate the power of mimicry, researchers discovered that, “A person who views someone else’s snacking behavior will come to exhibit a similar snack selection pattern,” explain Robin J. Tanner (Duke University), Rosellina Ferraro (University of Maryland), Tanya L. Chartrand (Duke University), James R. Bettman (Duke University), and Rick Van Baaren (University of Amsterdam).
“This suggests that preferences may shift as a result of unintentionally mimicking another person’s consumption behavior.”
In another experiment, researchers examined whether a person who is mimicked would come to like the person who mimicked them more than they would otherwise, and whether that would lead to a more positive response towards a product endorsed by the mimicker. Participants who had their posture, body angle, foot movements, and verbal patterns mimicked rated a new sports drink more positively and drank more of the sports drink than participants who were not mimicked. A separate experiment showed that the positive ratings and the amount consumed was even higher when the mimicker expressly stated that he or she was invested in the success of the product.
“This suggests that mimicry has the potential to be a valuable tool in interpersonal persuasion, particularly in cases where the motivations and persuasive intent of the mimicker are transparent,” the researchers write. “So, even though consumers might try to resist a salesperson’s pitch, being mimicked by that salesperson makes that pitch more impacting.”
Match and lead. And here is the secret to matching and leading:
Match match match match
Match match match match
Match match match match
Match match match match
Maybe Lead
One must do quite a bit of matching in order to eventually maybe lead. I recommend testing through leading – just lead and see if they follow – if they do, you’re in; if they don’t, then do more matching and try leading again later.
Most of us want to lead too soon – impatience has killed more than one sale.
The successful strategy for getting a customer, boss, contact, client, or spouse to buy your pitch is to ACT like them first (mimicking bodily movements and behaviors). This acting has the side benefit of helping you understand them better – increasing the chances that you will develop a mutually beneficial rapport.
Match, match, match, match, match…. maybe lead.