Glossary · Across all seven principles
Click, Whirr (Automatic Responses)
Want to know how Click, Whirr works? Whether you want to use it in your own requests, or spot it when someone uses it on you, you're in the right place.
You'll find the definition, the published study behind it, and ideas for how to use it ethically.
Also called fixed-action patterns, mental shortcuts, automatic compliance.
The definition
What is Click, Whirr?
It is not one of the seven principles of influence. It comes from the same research, and it works across all seven.
People often respond to a single trigger feature automatically, without weighing the full information.
People take the Influence Assessment to learn which principles they lean on, and where they lose people.
Here is how it works:
Click, whirr is Dr. Cialdini's phrase in Influence for automatic behavior: a single feature of a situation triggers a response, as if a tape clicks on and whirrs through its program. The shortcuts usually serve us well in a crowded world, which is exactly why the principles of persuasion work, and why the shortcuts can be exploited.
The study behind it
The word 'because'
Langer, Blank and Chanowitz, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1978
Ellen Langer and her colleagues asked people waiting to use a photocopier if they could go first. A request with a real reason, that they were in a rush, won far more agreement than a request with no reason. But a request with an empty reason, 'because I have to make copies', did almost as well as the real one. For a small request, the word 'because' itself was enough to trigger compliance.
Where you'll see it
How to recognize Click, Whirr.
Spotting it, in your own requests and in other people's, starts with knowing where it tends to show up.
You'll see it in: Giving a reason with every request, even a routine one, and noticing when you are being given a reason that does not actually say anything.
How to use it
How to use Click, Whirr ethically.
Here is how to use it ethically:
Understanding automatic responses is as much about defense as persuasion. Give real reasons, and slow down when a request relies on a trigger rather than on its merits.
Discover more
Find out which principles you lean on.
Which principles do you lean on?
Take the free Influence Assessment to see which of the seven you lean on and where you lose people. Your result is free; the full report is $49.
Related terms
- Foot-in-the-Door TechniqueAgreeing to a small request makes people more likely to agree to a larger, related one later.Read the definition
- Door-in-the-Face TechniqueA large request that is refused, followed by a smaller one, makes the smaller one more likely to be accepted.Read the definition
- Low-Ball TechniqueOnce people commit to a decision, they tend to stick with it even after its cost rises.Read the definition