The Basics of Lying

I’m finding myself a bit disgusted lately with the glibness and frequency with which certain people lie – and when caught in a lie, they will backpedal, tap-dance, and otherwise attempt to lie their way out of the lies they have told.   They claim to have “embellished the truth” or “omitted certain facts” as if this qualifies as honest behavior, and they pretend not to recognize the fact that they have done something acutely dishonest.   It’s particularly distressing in the context of customer service because the truth will eventually hatch out, and the lie that was told to facilitate one transaction will then do much greater damage to the relationship between customer and brand.

I’m not particularly concerned about dishonest people – there’s no fixing them, and they are best avoided.  This is the natural consequence of their behavior and when enough people discover their character, they will suffer the natural consequences of being shunned by others.   I’m more concerned with those who genuinely wish to be honest, but who stray off the right path when they are attempting to influence the perception of others, particularly in a commercial context.   What principles can be applied to determine whether a given statement or message is truth or falsehood?

The Mercenary Lie

Dishonest people lie in a variety of situations, and there are a myriad of definitions and categorizations for the practice of lying (falsehood, misrepresentation, exaggeration, half-truth, etc.).  To avoid an effuse and general exploration of the topic of honesty, I am focusing on commercial lies, and propose this working definition:

In a commercial context, a lie is an attempt to misrepresent the truth in order to make someone else believe in something that is not true in order to increase profit.

The profit motive is what distinguishes the mercenary lie: there is a reason for deception, and that reason is to cheat that person in some way.  Generally the behavior that the liar seeks to influence is to increase the amount of revenue a person contributes (getting them to buy something they would not if the truth were known) or decrease the expenses of providing value in exchange for revenue already received (getting them to withdraw a demand for service to which they are objectively entitled).

There are many lies that do not influence commercial behavior, which are out of scope of this consideration – though some of them may be indirectly related (the lie that flatters a customer is meant to foster a relationship that will eventually lead to a sale).   Some causal analysis may be necessary to identify instances in which a social lie is actually a commercial one.

The Basic Kinds of Lie

The basic function of a lie is to misrepresent the truth, which can be done in two basic ways:

• The victim is led to accept something to be true that is not
• The victim is led to dismiss or ignore something that is true 

It is not one or the other, and is frequently both.  Moreover, very complex lies will bundle several facts (the listener is led to accept two falsehoods as true and dismiss three truths) or subscribe to a concept that subsumes multiple facts (to believe a product is “healthy” entails many discreet qualities).

Lie Detection 

The basic practice of lie detection is a process of three questions:

1. What does the seller want the customer to do or refrain from doing?
2. How is a given statement meant to influence the customer to take that action?
3. Is the mechanism of the statement based on a misrepresentation?

To answer the first question, consider that the objective of a commercial lie is to influence behavior in a way that profits for the liar.   It follows that the liar wishes to emphasize things that will gain revenue or save expenses – essentially, his motive to lead the victim to gran him revenue by believing something to be true that is not (the product is effective, safe, healthy, etc.) or to discredit a truth in order to save expenses (the customer is owed service or a refund).   So in general, lies of the first order are included in sales proposals and lies of the second order are included in service proposals.

The answer to the second question requires consideration of consumer behavior and its motives.   The liar generally knows or assumes what the customer wants, and makes a plausible and reasonable accurate assumption about the reasons that he wants it.   If the customers’ chief concern about a product is safety, than making them believe the product to be safe is necessary to influence them to purchase.   Generally, liars focus on the most common or influential reasons in the early stages of a sales presentation, and then focus on less common reasons (objections) later in the presentation, so the subject matter of a lie can be predicted.

The answer to the third question requires a bit more information: a statement has been presented that seems to lead to a true/false conclusion, and causal analysis must be done.  A suggestion that a product is safe can be explored by considering what makes it safe, if the product lacks features or qualities that contribute to safety, if the product actually has the features claimed, and if those features actually do lead to safety.   It often requires knowledge or research to sort out the mechanism of a lie.

Lie Avoidance

To switch from the perspective of the customer to the seller, particularly one who wishes to be honest but is tempted by an opportunity to profit by misrepresenting the truth, it is far easier to answer the same questions because the individual who is constructing a statement does not have to guess at what he might be trying to do.  He knows exactly what he’s doing.

“What does the seller want the customer to do or refrain from doing” should be well known, because there is a behavior that the marketing campaign is intended to drive and it is (or ought to be) documented in the metrics and success measures.   The seller knows what he wants of the customer.

“How is a given statement meant to influence the customer to take that action?” is likewise known, because each of the copy points of the message has been carefully chosen because it is believed to be motivational.   If it is known that customers are concerned about safety or durability, those qualities are spoken to as a means to reassure the customer and convince him to buy.

“Is the mechanism of the statement based on a misrepresentation?” is where sellers run into the most trouble.   If the product genuinely is safe, they are aware of the qualities and features it has that support that claim.  But when they are not sure if their product has those qualities – or worse, when they know full well that it does not – then the struggle begins to suggest that it does, or to make a specious connection that represents an actual quality to be supportive of a conclusion to which there is no actual link.

This pertains to every word of a message, not just the core proposition.   In many instances, advertisers go awry when their offer is contrary to the precise terms and conditions of the exchange – and this is often where the small print is used to reluctantly disclose the truth in a manner in which the seller hopes it will be overlooked.   The bold text proclaims a “2 for 1” sale, and the seller will honor it, but the small print discloses the offer is only good for purchases over a given amount, that most of the popular items in the store are excluded from the deal, etc.

***

The basic techniques for lie detection and avoidance are simple enough, but again it is a matter of character.  Some will consider this information as a way to ensure they are honest with their customers, whereas others will see it as a way to lie with greater finesse.   Again, there is no cure for poor moral character except avoidance, and this is the inevitable consequence of deception in any relationship of any kind.