Influence: Science and Practice

by Robert B. Cialdini

Narrative writing is combined with scholarly ideas in this examination of the psychology of compliance (ie uncovering which factors cause one person to say "yes" to another's request). By combining evidence from two relevant, but very different arenas - the realm of controlled research and the working world of influence professionals - this book looks at this issue in terms of six basic principles of psychology (one to a chapter). These principles direct human behaviour, and are therefore extremely reciprocation, consistency, social validation, liking, authority and scarcity. This text is a supplement for courses in introductor psychology, social psychology, management, sales, marketing and persuasion.

253 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

Dr. Robert Cialdini has spent his entire career researching the science of influence earning him an international reputation as an expert in the fields of persuasion, compliance, and negotiation.

His books including, Influence: Science & Practice, are the results of years of study into the reasons why people comply with requests in business settings. Worldwide, Influence has sold over 2 million copies. Influence has been published in twenty-five languages. His most recent co-authored book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive, has been on the New York Times, USA Today & Wall Street Journal Best Seller Lists.

In the field of influence and persuasion, Dr. Cialdini is the most cited living social psychologist in the world today.

Dr. Cialdini received his Ph.D from the University of North Carolina and post doctoral training from Columbia University. He has held Visiting Scholar Appointments at Ohio State University, the University of California, the Annenberg School of
Communications, and the Graduate School of Business of Stanford University. Currently, Dr Cialdini is Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University.

Dr. Cialdini is President of INFLUENCE AT WORK, an international consulting, strategic planning and training organization based on the Six Principles of Influence.

Reviews

[kochamcbmatylda · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for uni (yes the whole book) but so interesting! i feel so educated but also genuinely was curious to read it

[Rafsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking, fast and slow”, I became really fascinated to study the subject of “Human Behavioral Psychology”. One of my friends has suggested me to read Cialdini also. So, a few days ago, I have bought 2 books of Cialdini. Then, I came back home, and devoured the books. This is a great and classic book where Cialdini brilliantly explained the science at work behind the scene variables of ‘the art of persuasion’. This book is a classic read for the people who want to explore “the art of persuasion”.

The central question of the book is, “Why and how people are convinced and persuaded to do something they really don’t need or want to do – ‘aka Compliance’?”

According to Cialdini, there are 6 major axioms or rules that are used by the compliance professionals (Salesman, Politicians, conman etc.):
1 The rule of Reciprocity: The Old Give and Take
2 Commitment and Consistency: Hobgoblins of the Mind
3 Social Proof: Truths Are Us
4 Liking: The Friendly Thief
5 Authority: Directed Deference
6 Scarcity: The Rule of the Few
These rules are exploited by some people because people use “System 1” thinking (Cialdini called it, ‘click …whirr’ mode). Basically, these rules are mental shortcuts to make our decision process more convenient, easy and time saving.

For our convenience, our brain has evolved some fixed-action patterns, patterns that we follow almost blindly without any recourse to reason or logic. Why we do this? Because our brain has been programmed this way and because by doing this we don’t have to think too hard, it seems natural and effortless, almost as if it is the most obvious and right thing to do. This ‘shortcut’ of ours is exploited, almost every day by people who are trying to “SELL” us something.

Cialdini repeatedly uses the term ‘click, whirr’, which explains our behavioral patterns when we encounter a situation for which we have a ‘programmed reaction’. These patterns are called “fixed action pattern” which occur in the same fashion and in the same order every time. They are like “Metal Tape”, you push a button, the “Tape” starts playing.

These fixed-actions are essential for survival. In fact, automatic, stereotyped behavior is prevalent in much human action, because in many cases, it is the most efficient form of behaving and in other cases it is simply necessary. However, we must be very wary of them in some cases, especially when other people use these techniques to gain something from us.

Let me give some examples of “stereotypic behaviors” described in the book:
1. Expensive implies quality (Expensive = Good): “if a thing is expensive it is good.” and “If a thing is rare, it is precious.”
2. Power of contrast: Example: If you go into a men’s store they’ll try and sell you an expensive suit before the sell you the expensive sweater, because the contrast makes the sweater appear more affordable.
3. The rule of Reciprocity: “If I take something, I must give something in return.” This sense of obligation is deep inside in our psyche that helped us evolved as groups for millennia.
4. Concession: Example: If someone tries to sell you something and you pass (say $5 of $1 raffle tickets), they’ll try and sell you something less that you’ll end up buying because you feel bad (1 $1 raffle ticket). Another term used here is “reject then retreat.”
5. Commitment leads to consistency leads to collaboration. People like and believe in commitment because their image and reputation is on the line.
6. The power of social proof (the “wisdom” of the crowd): Example: If someone goes to an unknown restaurant, he/she will look for others to figure out “what’s good in here?”
7. The power of Liking (“I like you, you like me”): Attractiveness, similarity (identity and context), compliments, contact & cooperation - all plays major role in the liking principle.
8. Conforming to authority/experts: Examples: Doctors are great example of authoritative/expert bias. We simply believe in “what they say” because they are the expert.
9. The Scarcity Principle (Scarce = Expensive = Good): Diamond is a good example here. Though it is basically just Carbon (coal), since it is scarce, it is expensive and thus good.

These are some of the shortcuts our brain is evolved to rely upon for making quick smart decisions, and it is by manipulating these very ‘click, whirr’ responses that we are compelled to say yes, even when we don’t want or need to.

Finally, the book is simply GREAT & Awesome. The craftsmanship of the book is almost near perfect. The book is perfect blended and crafted for both “professional readers” and “general readers”. It has a lot of beautiful examples as well as stories which creates the learning atmosphere a fluid and smooth experience. No one will feel boring reading the book – that is my apprehension.

One simple suggestion for analytical readers like me: Read both “Influence: Science and Practice (5e)” and “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” together. They are almost same, but the first book has some additional things that helps to analyze the books more in details.
Adios!