Reinforcing the ‘rightness’ of their choice, by perhaps finding out before they board why they choose it, may help retain customers. Social Proof: Most of us look to others to find out how we should live our lives. Fashion, music and perhaps how we behave on a flight can all be affected by social proof. If faced with a large group who may be disruptive, identifying the person most likely to influence the group early and ensuring that their behaviour is not disruptive may well increase the likelihood that the rest of the group will want to mimic the behaviour of the influential
“
...people were more convinced that their horse would win after they had placed their bet than before..”
one. Further, particularly where alcohol can be an issue, some sort of display, or programme, that highlights the anti-social aspects of drunkenness on planes, and not just the health benefits, may have more of an impact on some potentially troublesome passengers. Liking: On many courses, I have asked participants what they think affects whether they like a person or not. Most people come up with the same list: physical attractiveness, similarity, compliments, cooperation, and familiarity. I would argue that we are less likely to be antagonistic with a person we do not know particularity well, for example cabin crew, if we like them. Remember, as part of your planning you should consider what you can manipulate to create an environment which is less likely to be antagonistic; early identification of areas of similarity or familiarity could have a significant impact.
Authority: Most people are ‘hard
wired’ to obey authority. Hard authority and uniforms etc are likely to have an immediate impact, hence most passengers will obey the sit down command from a member of crew in uniform.
Soft authority
comes from, in the main, credibility. Remember credibility comes from experience, expertise and good will. Showing this to be integral to every cabin crewmember should result in compliance from most passengers. The skills described in this article have been tested, at times, in particularly difficult circumstances, most of which have ended well. Effective deployment of these skills may prevent a significant issue turning into a disaster. But if this fails, restraint measures and the use of handcuffs, may be needed.
February 2013 Aviationsecurityinternational
www.asi-mag.com 33
Simon Wells is a co-director of a company that provides expertise in communication skills. This has recently included training and coaching members of the High Value Detainee Interrogation group of the United States Government, and providing coaching and mentoring support to members of the UK Ministry of Defence. Simon completed 30 years with the Metropolitan Police Service, the last 20 years of which he specialised in utilising Behavioural Science to the benefit of law enforcement. During this period Simon was the Operational Head of the Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit for five years, including the period of kidnappings in Iraq and Afghanistan involving al-Qaeda, Simon received numerous awards during this time for his involvement in those crises. Simon has published on a wide range of behavioural science issues, most recently on ‘Negotiating with Terrorists’, and ‘Negotiating with antagonistic people – from suicide to terrorism’.
Further Reading
Ambady, N., & Skowronski, J., (2008) First Impressions, Guildford Press Cialdini, R., (2007) Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Collins. Gladwell, M., (2005) Blink. The power of thinking without thinking. Penguin.
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