By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Almost Anybody Qualifies for Medicaid in Maine
    November 23, 2012
    ebola and EHR
    Ebola: Are We Relying on EHR to Tell the Story?
    October 24, 2014
    Caitlin Kelly
    How Would You Fix Healthcare? – Question and Answers.
    January 16, 2013
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How to Persuade, Charm and Convince: Marketing’s Rule of Three
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > How to Persuade, Charm and Convince: Marketing’s Rule of Three
Business

How to Persuade, Charm and Convince: Marketing’s Rule of Three

Lonnie Hirsch
Lonnie Hirsch
Share
4 Min Read
power of three
SHARE

power of threeThe “Rule of Three” is a fun and easy-to-use “universal truth.” It can give your writing more impact, make your marketing more effective, and your advertising more persuasive.

power of threeThe “Rule of Three” is a fun and easy-to-use “universal truth.” It can give your writing more impact, make your marketing more effective, and your advertising more persuasive. And for healthcare marketers and advertisers there’s a study out that validates the notion that three is the optimal number of claims in consumer messages.

We’re all aware—at least intuitively—of the power of three. A string of three words, things or ideas pop up all the time in literature, expressions and storytelling:

  •  Do it now.
  • Gold. Silver. Bronze.
  • I love you.
  • Manny, Moe and Jack [Pep Boys]
  • Snap, Crackle, Pop. [Rice Krispies]
  • Three Little Pigs.
  • Three strikes and you’re out.
  • Three’s company.

Advertising:

  • Built Ford Tough [Ford Trucks]
  • Competition. Bad for them. Great for you. [DHL]
  • Let’s Go Places. [Toyota]
  • Play. Laugh. Grow. [Fisher-Price]
  • The Few. The Proud. The Marines. [USMC]

And some hospital taglines:

  • Compassion. Innovation. Trust [Winter Haven Hospital]
  • Dedication. Compassion. Innovation. [Memorial Hospital]
  • Every life, every moment, every day. [Sherman Hospital
  • Excellence. Every Patient. Every Time. [Memorial Medical Center]
  • Serving, Caring, Healing since 1854 [Providence Hospital]

What can you add to these three lists?

In part, all of this, according to the infallible Wikipedia, “The Rule of Three is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader or audience is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of threes.”

Three Charms, but Four Alarms…

The insight here for marketing and advertising people who want an entryway to the consumer mind, it turns out that three—exactly three—is the optimal number of claims in persuasive settings. Kurt A. Carlson of Georgetown University Department of Marketing, and Suzanne B. Shu, UCLA Anderson School of Management provide an important and insightful study titled, When Three Charms But Four Alarms: Identifying the Optimal Number of Claims in Persuasion Settings.

The authors observe that “in settings where consumers know that the message source has a persuasion motive, the optimal number of positive claims is three. More claims are better until the fourth claim, at which time consumers’ persuasion knowledge causes them to see all the claims with skepticism.”

Producing the most positive impression of a product or service in marketing can effectively “use the ‘charm of three’ to minimize skepticism and maximize positive impressions.

“When selling consumer goods, marketers should list only three positive claims on packaging. Marketers also can create more effective messaging in distracting environments by listing more than three positive claims on channels such as billboards on the side of highways or signage in busy retail spaces.”

 

TAGGED:healthcare marketing
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

iPad EHR Drchrono Gears Up for HealthKit

October 16, 2014
Image
Business

High Quality, Low Cost HealthCare Video Interview Series: Dr. Akash Rajpal and Ekohealth

January 15, 2013
Google tonsillectomy
Business

Google’s Knowledge Graph: Four Things You Need to Know

March 4, 2015
biopharma beat
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformMedical EthicsMedical InnovationsPublic Health

BioPharma Beat: We Want Healthcare at Any Price – Until We Have It

May 7, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?