Fascination Trigger #4: Alarm

Sally Hogshead is the author of Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation. In it, she talks about seven ways people can harness their natural personalities to be captivating to others. I've be going over these triggers on Wednesdays.

[If you missed the introduction to this series, click here. If you missed Power, the first trigger, click here. If you missed Passion, the second trigger, click here. If you missed Mystique, the third trigger, click here.]

With Halloween being today, I thought I'd go over Alarm, which is the fear that something really awful will happen. When the fear is bad enough, big enough, impending enough, it's truly fascinating to other people.

An example of how alarm can sell books would be the books on radical Jihad. Of course, these books soared after 9-11, as people were terrified of another attack or being caught unaware again. General alarm was like a siren call for books focused on Islam and the underlying tenants of their faith and connecting dots (whether real or not).

Individuals who have Alarm as their primary trigger are very detail-oriented, because in so doing, they can proactively identify and avoid problems. They have a lot in common with the Beaver personality, which you can find out more about here. I imagine LaHaye as meticulous in his research, making sure their depiction of the end times was as accurate as they could make it....even though know one knows for sure what will happen. 

According to Sally Hogshead, there are 5 defining characteristics of Alarm personalities:

1) Perfectionistic - Being flawless in their work and personal conduct is important to Alarms.

2) Reliable - Deadlines are no problem for Alarm personalities. They operate like clockwork.

3) Routine-Oriented - Having a predictable pattern is crucial for Alarms. If they have a well-oiled machine for their daily schedule, the likelihood of anything going wrong is greatly reduced.

4) Careful - Avoiding failure is the name of the game, and Alarm personalities will go to great lengths not to make mistakes, perceived or otherwise.

5) Rational - These folk tend to be very logical, and most of the times are unlikely to do or say anything others might perceive as controversial.

One author duo who has captured the use of Alarm in their writing is Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Their Left Behind series focuses on events during the end times. Using the book of Revelation as a guide, as well as other prophetic scripture for research, LaHaya and Jenkins made a best-guess at how things will go down after the Rapture. No one knows for sure, but the fascination about the alarming end of the world is great.

Let's Analyze

Who else has used Alarm? What about international thriller authors? Presidential re-election concerns? Any takers?

Happy Halloween everyone!