The Shocking Power of Authority

Authority is powerful stuff.
Authority can be abused and it can definitely corrupt…
But it can also build trust, admiration, and respect.
And when it comes to online marketing…
Authority is what works.

The Shocking Power of Authority
Let’s say you see a newspaper ad saying the psychology department at Yale is running a little “experiment on memory.” Paidvolunteers are needed for the hour-long study, so you figure why not?
Upon arrival at the lab, you meet two men — a research scientist in a lab coat, and another volunteer just like yourself. The researcher proceeds to explain the study to you both.
He tells you the study is about the effects of punishment on memory. The task of the other volunteer will be to learn a series of word pairings (he’s called the “Learner”).
Your job as the “Teacher” will be to test the Learner’s memory of the word pairs, and administer electric shocks for each wrong answer. And for every new wrong answer, the voltage goes up.

You’re not sure about this whole thing, but it must be okay, right? The testing begins, and when the other volunteer misses a question, you pull a lever that delivers a mild shock.
Over time, though, the shock levels increase, and the Learner is grunting audibly. At 120 volts, he tells you the shocks are really starting to hurt. At 150 volts, he tries to quit. The researcher tells you to keep going, and that the shocks will cause “no permanent tissue damage” to the Learner. You continue questioning and delivering punishment for
incorrect answers.
At 165 volts, the Learner screams.
At 300 volts, the Learner refuses to respond any longer, as the shocks are impairing his mental capacities. The researcher tells you to treat non-responses as incorrect answers.
The Learner is screeching, kicking, and pleading for mercy with every subsequent shock, all the way up to 450 volts when the researcher finally stops you.
Scary story.
This couldn’t possibly have really happened, right? Well, actually, it did, in 1963 at Yale, during a series of experiments by Stanley Milgram.
But here’s the real scoop about the Milgram experiment:
• there were no actual electric shocks
• the Learner was an actor
• the study had nothing to do with memory.

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