Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion [Paperback]

 

 

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What are the factors that cause one person to say yes to another person? Which techniques most effectively use these factors to bring about such compliance?
Prof. Cialdini found six such techniques: Reciprocation, Commitment, Social Proof, Liking, Authority and Scarcity. Author explains why they work, and how to say no to peddlers that want to exploit you using them.
The book is well written, the style is simple, there's ample use of appropriate anecdotes so you can better remember what's most important.
The six techniques are discussed "in terms of their function in the society and in terms of how their enormous force can be commissioned by a compliance professional who deftly incorporates them into requests for purchases, donations, concessions, votes..."; yes, 'votes', so I believe it's an important reason for you, citizen, to learn those six tricks, in your own interest! They exploit our 'automatic behavior patterns' (three pages to explain this, don't worry!), and they make us terribly vulnerable to anyone who does know how they work.
I'll break down how Prof. Cialdini examines the rules, I'll use rule number one, "Reciprocation" as an example.
1 - Definition of the rule: "The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us."
2 - Rationale (why it works and why we, as humans, always stick to it): The development of this behaviour "meant that one person could give something (for example, food, energy, care) to another with confidence that it was not being lost.(...) Sophisticated and coordinated systems of aid, gift giving, defense, and trade became possible, bringing immense benefit to the societies that possessed them."
3 - The rule at work: The Hare Krishna Society began to employ a donation-request procedure that engaged this rule. Before a donation is requested, the target person is given a "gift", say, a flower. The unsuspecting passerby who suddenly finds a flower into his hands is not allowed to give it back. "No, it is our gift to you", says the solicitor, refusing to accept it. Only after the Krishna member has thus brought the force of the reciprocation rule to bear the situation is the target asked to provide a contribution to the society.
4 - Power of the rule: "It is instructive that the reciprocation rule has begun to outlive its usefulness for the Krishnas, not because the rule itself is any less potent socially, but because we have found ways to prevent the Krishnas from using it on us. After once falling victim to their tactic, many travelers are now alert to the presence of (...) solicitors in airports and train stations, adjusting thier paths to avoid an encounter and preparing beforehand to ward off a solicitor's 'gift'. (...) It is a testament to the societal value of reciprocation that we have chosen to fight the Krishnas mostly by seeking to avoid rather than to withstand the force of their gift giving".
5 - How to say no: "If the initial favor turns out to be a device, a trick, an artifice designed specifically to stimulate our compliance with a larger return favor", "here our partner is not a benefactor but a profiteer". "We need only react to it accordingly to be free of its influence. As long as we perceive and define his actions as a compliance device instead of a favor, he no longer has the reciprocation rule as an ally: The rule says that favors are to be met with favors; it does not require that tricks be met with favors".
The advice given in this book works very well. Please learn the six techniques by heart and strive to recognize their use during your everyday life: it is an eye-opening exercise, really worth trying.
If you are an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers and con men of one sort of another, or if you just want to know better how persuasion works, this book is unmissable.
Wonderful book, five stars, go have a copy and read it now!

This book is an absolute must read as it points of some very important aspects of human behavior and compliance techniques. If you have every been ripped off by some savvy car dealer, or been in a situation where you ended up buying something you absolutely didn't need and never understood why - this book is for you! Excellent book, highly recommended.

I imagine that you have also read Machiavelli's "The Prince", Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", Sun Tzu's "Art of War", and Musashi's "Five Rings." Since you applied the art unsuccessfully, you thought you couldn't go wrong by studying the science of making USE of other human beings. I once thought the same way as you!

Indeed, Cialdini may be a genius; he may also be an evil genius. What are the consequences of this science and do we really want this science to be applied to you and me? What does it make of human dignity and does such a science make us more vulnerable to our use? These are questions I have been thinking about since I read this book several years ago.

I want to give "Influence" a 10, but I am compelled to judge its usefulness to us as human beings. A book, unlike a person, is a tool for our use. But a tool's usefulness must also be judged by whether it leads us to a greater realization of what is best in us and not what is worst.

Unfortunately, this book teaches a human being how to use another human being. And our reading it will not be a self-defense against its operation on us. Most of us are too busy in our lives to think about how we are being used by one another in everything that is done to us.

Nonetheless, we will need to guard our senses against such seductions for these methods insult our dignity as ends unto ourselves. We need to be more vigilant because Cialdini has unloosed terrible things from Pandora's box! The Professor continues to strip-mine our existence in order to obtain the same techniques by which we will transformed into one-dimensional beings that are easily administered ala Kafka's "Metamorphisis" and Marcuse's "One Dimensional Man".

Otherwise, we shall become ever more herd-like in our thoughts and our decisions. We will become less rational, less free, and less human. "Group think" will become a problem for us all, just as it has been a problem for 40 years in black America as told in "Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America," edited by myself, Brad Stetson, and Joseph Conti.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The classic persuasion text
Cialdini is probably the most respected popular psychologist alive today, so any publication of his is worth its weight in gold, and could potentially earn the same! Read more

Published 6 days ago by James Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC on INFLUENCE and PERSUASION
This book is a classic in the area of influence.

It deals with only 6 tools of persuasion, but it does a mightily good job out of it. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Laura De Giorgio

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
This is an excellent book for people interested in social psychology. It has very practical applications that can be used every day. It is also a very fun read. Read more

Published 9 months ago by A C

3.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening but not helpful.
Pros: Helped me understand a lot of ways we get persuaded. Warns you to be aware of people who abuse these techniques. Gives good real life examples. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Koush

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening
When I first started to read this book I was mortified at the loss of my naivety. It brought back to me every slimy sales interaction I've experienced and how truly awful some of... Read more

Published 16 months ago by L. Morgan

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for business and personal learning
Easy to read, to understand, well written. A book you will read a chapter at a time and try to test it around you. i love it!

Published 19 months ago by reader

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic
Great book, great research, well written - it is a must own for any compliance professional. If your in sales and you have not read this book buy it now, you will not go wrong. Read more

Published on April 23 2010 by Ali Abassi

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! A must read!
Normally I've found any type of self-help book, marketing book, or psychology book to be total crap. Read more

Published on Feb 15 2010 by Dude2006

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
One of my favorite business books this year! So many gotchas in that book (ah, THAT'S why they have door crasher sales on Boxing Day! Read more

Published on May 22 2009 by Darryl Kropp

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book - Understand yourself and others better (and never be duped again!)
This book took me a little while to pick up because I was expecting it to be dry - but to my delight it was interesting. Read more

Published on Mar 20 2009 by J. A. Broad

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