South Carolina Trial Law Blog

I’m currently reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. Robert talks about the contrast principle which is well known in the field of psychophysics.  The contrast principle is that people’s perceptions are altered by the sequence that information is related to them. Here are some examples:

Several years ago, my  wife asked me for a cat. We already had two dogs and I don’t like cats. I said no. She then asked for a baby. I said “how about a cat?” That’s the contrast principle at work.

Another example of the contrast principle is that people consistently rate women as less attractive  if they have just looked at a picture of a model. The key here is that the woman’s attractiveness has not changed, but people’s perception changed based on what preceded it. Also, people are far more accepting of high priced merchandise if they had just been offered a much higher priced item. Smart salesmen know always to try the most expensive item first. This is the contrast principle at work. A smart lawyer will always ask for more than he wants.

In a  jury trial, juries often balk at the large numbers. For example, a 25 year old man making minimum wage makes $13,000 a year. If he is unable to work again, that minimum wage job would earn him $520,000 over the course of the next 40 years (which would get him to the age of 65). This is not an extravagant number, it doesn’t involve the injured worker increasing his work skills and making more than minimum wage and it doesn’t include minimum wage increasing in 40 years.

Juries balk at this number even if it’s appropriate and the law. The reasons a juror would balk at this is they are not used to seeing a dollar amount of a lifetime of earnings all at once. They know how much they make and how much they have. A juror is not used to taking those paychecks and laying them end to end for the rest of their life. So 40 years worth of paychecks all in one fell swoop looks like a windfall to them. By taking their known paycheck and comparing it to the lifetime earnings of your client, the contrast principle is working against you.

To make the contrast principle work for you, offer a big number. Jurors expect a big number from the plaintiff’s attorney and will cut it in half, or even a quarter. While they will rarely use the attorney’s figure, jurors will negotiate an award using the lawyer’s figure as a starting place for a high anchor and work out their award from there. I used to worry about throwing too high of a number to the jury, because I didn’t want it to effect my credibility. But jurors expect a high number from the plaintiff’s attorney. The contrast principle is the psychological reason why you always want to ask for more than you want.

I found your comments powerful. I recently completed Dr. Cialdini's certification program and I live in Charleston. If you or a group of your fellow lawyers would like to get certified in his methods, drop me an e mail. I am a Cialdini certified trainer.

Regards,

Richard