Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

Influence explains the psychology behind what makes us agrees to somethings and not to others. Through real life examples, especially through the study of sales techniques, Cialdini reveals the six principles that are consciously or subconsciously applied to persuade others. It brings these to light so that we are aware and can knowingly decide on our actions. But also teaches us how to use them to our advantage when necessary.

“There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking”

This is not the type of book I read, but I still found very interesting. While Cialdini right at the end makes a disclaimer that he does not encourage using these techniques to persuade people. And he finds it wrong to manipulate people willingly for profit, I still found that the book overall does actually work in favour of using these techniques to promote yourself – be it just to improve social status, get ahead in your career or make sales. And of course, there are the benefits of applying these, such as during accidents when people seem to be hesitant on how to help because they are looking at other – just as clueless – witnesses.

I think the main benefit of reading this book is being able to put it in writing what does happen every day. Most of what Cialdini writes about is very clearly observed in everyday events – so much so that he uses simple examples, and his own examples, as a basis for his research. And perhaps, people who are already in sales and have been instructed to operate in such manner, may find this book just repetitive and not of use. But for others, we may have a vague understanding of how we ourselves are influenced by others, but perhaps don’t have something clear to point to, or some signs to be aware of during those times. So sometimes we only realise after the fact. Readers of Influence can gain a better understanding of how the world works, and be able to actually apply a knowledge that was perhaps only in a very basic idea form in their minds.

So I don’t recommend to read this book, it is very useful for people of any career (again, with the exception of perhaps successful salespeople that are quite aware of the tricks of the industry). But here is the summary -->

•     It is human behaviour to act in quite mechanical ways. This is because we have so many choices constantly and we must have a way to quickly act. But this can be used against us. Such as when favours are followed by ‘because’ there is a greater chance of compliance. No matter what the actual reason following is.

•  Contrast principle – when we see two things in order, they seem even more different. Such as when lifting a lighter weight and then heavier – the heavier will seem even heavier. This is often used in sales. E.g. when showing houses – showing a undesirable house with inflated price and then showing a house that’s actually in the market with a reasonable price. The second will seem like a much better purchase than if had been seen alone or in first place.

• Reciprocation. We feel that we should repay favours. It does not matter if we like the person who did the favour or not, nor does it better if we had asked for the favour in the first place – because there is also a sense of obligation receive. And a small favour can actually produce an agreement for a larger return favour, as people don’t like feeling indebted and will do more to cancel this debt. Sometimes it’s not even that a favour is done, but that a concession is made when the favour is declined – so people feel inclined to also make a concession instead of saying an outright no.  

o   Note: the original favour to concession cannot be too extreme to appear as an illegitimate request.

• Commitment and consistency. Once we have made a choice we often go through with the commitment, so to justify earlier choices. This can be used in cases such as getting people to buy something small and then add. Or for favours. Because by them doing a favour it starts manipulating the person’s self-image as a ‘public servant’. Most important is that they own what they’ve done so they take responsibility for their behaviour.

o   We believe in our deeds more than just words. So writing things is better than just verbal, not only the act of writing but also proof of that. And determines then what other people think of us – doesn’t matter the reason behind writing it. And what people believe about us, determines how we think about ourselves.

o   Lowball --> making an offer and then retracting it after it’s already in the action/process stage, people will often just go through with it.

•  Social Proof – we act as we see people around us doing so, as we believe it’s the ‘correct’ action. This works best when 1. we are unsure of ourselves – when the situation is unclear/ambiguous. 2. During similarity – we copy people that are like us.

o   But this can lead to ‘pluralistic ignorance’ This occurs strongest amongst strangers. Explains bystander inaction in cities. A leader knows how to arrange a group condition to allow the principle of social proof to work in their favour.

o   Times we should avoid relying on social proof – 1. When it has been purposely falsified,  such as fake laughs. 2. Pluralist ignorance, goes haywire without a mastermind of fakery. Always think/take a look around – don’t have single minded reliance.

o   Important: in emergency situations, give a specific someone action to do. Once someone is acting other people will start to help.

• The liking rule – It is harder to turn down a friend or neighbour. The reasons we like people are; physical attractiveness (creates a halo effect. We assign favourable traits to them), similarity, compliments, familiarity. The opposite also occurs – such as guilt by association. We don’t like the messenger. We also assume that we have the same personality traits as their friends/associates. So professionals should connect themselves and products with things we like.

o   Authority – just as vulnerable to authority figures. These include titles (even fake ones for tv), clothes (e.g. uniforms and suits), trappings (status symbols).

• Scarcity – opportunities seem more valuable when availability is limited. This is because idea of potential loss plays a larger role in our decision making than thought of gaining something of same value. This can be seen through deadline tactics. And if the news carrying information on the scarcity, is scarce itself (e.g. an insider/friend’s tip), then it makes it more persuasive. And works better when think they’ve become scarce through social process – as we think of them being more desirable and having competition for it.

This is a good summary of what I got out of the book. If you want to have more examples, to understand these principles and know how they are applied, I recommend reading it 😊