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Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
 
 
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Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Paperback)

by Robert B. Cialdini (Author) "I GOT A PHONE CALL ONE DAY FROM A FRIEND WHO HAD RECENTLY opened an Indian jewelry store in Arizona..." (more)
Key Phrases: scarce cookies, luncheon technique, compliance practitioners, Bad Cop, New York, Good Cop (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (304 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Arguably the best book ever on what is increasingly becoming the science of persuasion. Whether you're a mere consumer or someone weaving the web of persuasion to urge others to buy or vote for your product, this is an essential book for understanding the psychological foundations of marketing. Recommended.

Review
Influence is a joy to read. Cialdini deserves a pat on the back for breaking the mold. -- Contemporary Psychology

The materials in Cialdini's Influence is a proverbial gold mine. -- Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology

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Product Details
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
I GOT A PHONE CALL ONE DAY FROM A FRIEND WHO HAD RECENTLY opened an Indian jewelry store in Arizona. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
scarce cookies, luncheon technique, compliance practitioners, reciprocation rule, social proof, compliance tactics, shortcut response, compliance professionals, scarcity pressures, liking rule, initial favor, reciprocity rule, social evidence, scarcity principle, smaller request, trigger features, psychological reactance, automatic influence, suicide stories, contrast principle, canned laughter, suicide story, association principle
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Bad Cop, New York, Good Cop, United States, People's Temple, Jim Jones, Arizona State, Hell Week, Robert Young, Boy Scout, Chinese Communists, Joe Girard, San Francisco, World War, Amway Corporation, Angela Lansbury, Catherine Genovese, Marian Keech, North Carolina, South America, Dade County, Professor Phillips
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
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Customer Reviews

304 Reviews
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4.7 out of 5 stars (304 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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419 of 430 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Text About Influence, January 25, 2003
As I sit here and write, I wonder why I did not draft this review long before now. I read Cialdini's book about five years ago and have been hooked ever since. It is simply a superb book about influence.

Cialdini believes that influence is a science. This idea attracted me. As a rhetorician, I have always thought of persuasion as more of an art. Cialdini, however, makes a first-rate case for the science point of view. But maybe most importantly, he makes his case in a well-written, intelligent, and entertaining manner. Not only is this an important book to read, it is a fun book to read too.

He introduces you to six principles of ethical persuasion: reciprocity, scarcity, liking, authority, social proof, and commitment/consistency. A chapter is devoted to each and you quickly see why Cialdini looks at influence as a science. Each principle is backed by social scientific testing and restesting. Each chapter is also filled with interesting examples that help you see how each principle can be applied. By the end of the book, I had little doubt that these are six important dimensions of human interaction.

I highly recommend this book to all professionals. It does not matter if you are a manager, sales person, pastor, or non-profit volunteer. The ideas in this book, once applied, will make it easier for you to accomplish your goals. In a video featuring the author, Professor Cialdini even goes so far as to promise that these principles can help you influence the most resistant of all audiences--your children.

With a claim like that, who wouldn't be intrigued?

My advice is to read this sooner rather than later. You will be quite glad you did.

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207 of 222 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading for the Intelligent Consumer, May 8, 2000
The human mind is a wonderful thing, capable of the most wonderful thought processes and ideas. Yet the brain is on automatic pilot for most situations. That allows the conscious mind to really focus. The drawback is that some people will use our conscious inattention to sneak one by us, like a fastball pitch to a hitter looking for a change-up.

Influence, the book, is very useful in this regard, because it uses interesting examples to help us be aware of our own tendency to let automatic pilot thinking take over.

Since I first read this book many years ago, I have been watching to see if the circumstances I see support or invalidate Professor Cialdini's points. By a margin of about 9 to 1, Cialdini wins.

Given that we are easily manipulated by our desire to be and to appear to be consistent with our past actions and statements, swayed by what the crowd is doing, and various other mechanisms, the only way we can be armed against unscrupulous marketing is to be as aware of these factors are the marketers are.

At the same time, I appreciated how the book explores the ethics of when and how much to apply these principles. Without this discussion, the book would come off like Machiavelli's, The Prince, for marketing organizations. That would have been a shame. By dealing with the ethics, Professor Cialdini creates the opportunity to educate us intellectually and morally. Well done!

I have read literally dozens of books about marketing and selling, and I find this one to be the most helpful in thinking about how influence actually works. Even if you will never work in marketing, you will benefit from reading this book in order to better focus your purchases and actions where they fit your needs rather than someone else's.

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131 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Deep AND readable; I'm persuaded!, January 2, 2003
By Max More "Max More" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Most books of applied psychology fall prey to one of two weaknesses: Either they lack scientific content (or over-simplify) or they present solid information in an academic manner that readers find difficult to absorb and apply. Robert Cialdini's book stands out brilliantly from these books. Combining wide and deep scientific scholarship with an engaging, lucid, and personal style, Influence may be the single best work on the topic. The intent of the book is to show how we can understand and defend against pervasive non-rational influences on our decision-making. Of course the same principles could be applied to market products or influence colleagues and rivals either in place of or in addition to genuine reasons. One sign of the range of the book is the fact that Cialdini doesn't get to the famous Milgram experiment on "Obedience to Authority" until p.208. The book concentrates on several factors that evolution and culture have drilled into us to produce compliance for good reasons, but which can be abused by "compliance professionals": reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Any reader will find the research results stunning and frightening. Fortunately, Cialdini concludes each compelling chapter with hints on "How to say no". No matter how intelligent you are, you have undoubtedly fallen for many of these techniques used deliberately or accidentally. How many poor business investment decisions, product purchases, or strategic moves have been influenced by non-rational factors? You have to read this book. Why? Because I've done you a favor with this review and you owe it to me; you can't say you're a rational person if you don't; everyone else is reading it; I'm attractive, friendly, well-dressed, similar to you, and you like me; I'm an psychology expert and I recommend it; and you need to buy it now before all copies are sold!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental Reading for Human Interaction
Whether you are interested in this subject to use it to your advantage or to identify when you are being influenced, this is a basic primer for influence. Read more
Published 6 days ago by A. J. Valasek

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable guide for our automatic and vulnerable animal brains...
Cheaters and exploiters fill the world. With nearly every step they try to influence us in ways that we may not even detect. Read more
Published 9 days ago by ewomack

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaches the Influence"Theory"
Robert Cialdani covers Influence Theory in this groundbreaking book. In influenced, it breaks influence into six key factors:
1. Reciprocation
2. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Tony DeFrancisco

2.0 out of 5 stars Off the Mark
Cialdini offers some interesting insight into group behavior, but all too often he strays from informing the reader on how to actually persuade. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Brian T. Geier

3.0 out of 5 stars Learn how to avoid Persuation traps
This book supports his teory in some researchs. Showing how people is triggered to do something that really don't want.
Published 29 days ago by Joao M. Sgreccia

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book but has some detestable remarks
"Click and the appropriate tape is activated; whirr and out rolls the standard sequence of behaviors. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Viriya Taecharungroj

4.0 out of 5 stars Awsome!
The book was very informative, interesting and an easy read. Sometimes I found it hard to put it down! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Silence Dogood II

5.0 out of 5 stars Know what you fall for
The book lists a number of psychological heuristics we use to make a quick decision, and how salesmen use them to their advantage. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ran Moshe

5.0 out of 5 stars Influence - Is Persuasion Automatic?
As a long time marketer, Influence and Persuasion have been my life persuit.

When I started reading and applying the principles found in this book it changed my... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Steven C. Weisenburger

5.0 out of 5 stars Vitally Important Book For Everyone
For anyone who ever has to interact with other people (I assume that would be most of us), this book is an absolute necessity. Read more
Published 2 months ago by W. K. Babb

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