A few weeks ago, I was walking through a little park at exactly 11:21am.
I know it was exactly 11:21am because I saw an unusual scene, so I checked the time and wrote it down.
Three local drunks were sitting at a table in the shade. Two empty beer bottles and two empty brandy bottles were in front of each of them.
And now came the time to get the next round.
One of the drunks got up, started collecting the empty bottles, and grumbled, “I’m the oldest one here! And I have to go?” And he did. But he kept mumbling to himself about the injustice of it all.
So at 11:21am, these guys were already four drinks in, and getting a fifth and eighth.
That was the unusual part.
But the elder drunk’s reaction was very usual. “I don’t want to! Why should I?” That’s something we all say every day in some form.
Psychologists call this reactance. It’s as fundamental a human instinct as breathing or wanting to sit when we see a chair.
Reactance says that when we have barriers erected against us, when we lose a freedom, when we’re commanded or manipulated into doing something, we rebel. Fire rises up from our bellies.
If we have no other option, like when the stupid boss tells us to do something, we do what we’re told grudgingly.
But when we have a choice, like on the sales page, we cross our arms, dig our heels in, and say defiantly, “No! I don’t want to! What are you gonna do about it?”
The good news is that there are lots of things you can do to get around reactance in sales talk and sales copy.
I recently wrote about a pretty standard one, which is the reason why. Because people don’t really want control… they want the feeling of control. And sometimes, a reason why is all that’s needed to give them that feeling.
“You gotta get the next round today… because Jerry got it yesterday… and I will get it tomorrow.”
That can work.
But there are other, and much more powerful ways to deal with reactance. In fact, I’m writing a book about one of them now. And if you want to hear more about it, well, you will find it in future issues of my email newsletter.