Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) Revised Edition, Kindle Edition

by Robert B. Cialdini PhD (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The widely adopted, now classic book on influence and persuasion—a major national and international bestseller with more than four million copies sold!

In this highly acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Dr. Robert B. Cialdini—the seminal expert in the field of influence and persuasion—explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these principles ethically in business and everyday situations.

You’ll learn the six universal principles of influence and how to use them to become a skilled persuader—and, just as importantly, how to defend yourself against dishonest influence attempts:

Reciprocation: The internal pull to repay what another person has provided us.
Commitment and Consistency: Once we make a choice or take a stand, we work to behave consistently with that commitment in order to justify our decisions.
Social Proof: When we are unsure, we look to similar others to provide us with the correct actions to take. And the more, people undertaking that action, the more we consider that action correct.
Liking: The propensity to agree with people we like and, just as important, the propensity for others to agree with us, if we like them.
Authority: We are more likely to say “yes” to others who are authorities, who carry greater knowledge, experience or expertise.
Scarcity: We want more of what is less available or dwindling in availability.

Understanding and applying the six principles ethically is cost-free and deceptively easy. Backed by Dr. Cialdini’s 35 years of evidence-based, peer-reviewed scientific research—as well as by a three-year field study on what moves people to change behavior—Influence is a comprehensive guide to using these principles effectively to amplify your ability to change the behavior of others.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

This book will strike chords deep in the hearts and psyches of all of us.

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.

From the Back Cover

Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book.

You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader—and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

One of the reasons reciprocation can be used so effectively as a device for gaining another's compliance is its power. The rule possesses awesome strength, often producing a "yes" response to a request that, except for an existing feeling of indebtedness, would have surely been refused. Some evidence of how the rule's force can overpower the influence of other factors that normally determine whether a request will be complied with can be seen in a second result of the Regan study, Besides his interest in the impact of the reciprocate rule on compliance Regan was also interested in how liking for person affects the tendency to comply with that person's request. To measure how liking toward how affected the subjects' decisions to buy his raffle tickets, Regan had them fill out several rating scales indicating how much they liked Joe. He then compared their liking responses with the number of tickets they had purchased from Joe. There was significant tendency for subjects to by more raffle tickets from Joe the more they liked him. But this alone is hardly a startling finding. Most of us would have guessed that people are more willing to do a favor for someone they like.

The interesting thing about the Regan experiment, however, is that the relationship between liking and compliance was completely wiped out in the condition under which subjects had been given a Coke by Joe. For those who owed him a favor, it made no difference whether they liked him or not; they felt a sense of obligation to repay him, and they did. The subjects in that condition who indicated that they disliked Joe bought just as many of his tickets as did those who indicated that they liked him. The rule for reciprocity was so strong that it simply overwhelmed the influence of a factor - liking for the requester - that normally affects the decision to comply.

About the Author

Robert Cialdini is a leading pioneer in the field of social influence. He is Regent's Professor of psychology at Arizona State University and the president of Influence at Work, a consulting company that trains business people to incorporate the lessons of his research into their work. He gives approximately sixty lectures a year to premier business associations and leading corporations.

File Size: 741 KB
Print Length: 334 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; Revised edition (May 28, 2009)
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006124189X
ISBN-13: 978-0061241895
ASIN: B002BD2UUC
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,825 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #6 in Marketing (Kindle Store)
- #1 in Consumer Behavior
- #7 in Applied Psychology

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Claude Whitacre author

To Anyone Reading One Of The One Star Reviews. This Book Is A New Classic.

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2016

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As an author of books on selling, I keep an eye out for the best books on sales and sales psychology. This book is a game changer.

In reply to the few one star reviews...It has been stated in the uncharitable reviews, that the entire content of the book could have been written in a few pages. I agree, at first look, this would seem true. The Harvard Business Review article "Harnessing the Science of Persuasion" by Cialdini, from their October 2001 issue....is a good example. You can even get the Six Principles from the books Table Of Contents...save yourself some time.

But sales ideas have to not just be listed....not just explained...they have to be sold. Examples have to be given, Principles have to be
explained...we need proof. And you need the entire book to do that. The people who read a short article by the author, maybe read the
ideas...but nothing else happens. Salespeople are changed by the content of this book, like with all great sales books. For salespeople to benefit from a sales book, the ideas have to be explained, understood, proven, accepted, and made real. This book does that.
I own perhaps 2,000 books on the subject of selling. This is certainly in the top 5.

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Camp RunamokTop Contributor: Cycling

A must read book on the science of persuasion.

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2018

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Scott Adams had a list of books he recommended on the science of persuasion. At the top of his list was this book, which was a really fascinating and enlightening read. It reminds me why being a skeptic and a cynic are so valuable and necessary, particularly in today's world. As Lily Tomlin said, people would often accuse her of being a cynic, but she found she could still barely keep up. In the book Robert Cialdini delineates the 6 ways a "compliance professional" will lead us down the yellow brick road - to do things which are often both foolish and against our self interests. I'm going to steal from the Wikipedia post and reprint these here:

1. Reciprocity – People tend to return a favor, thus the pervasiveness of free samples in marketing. In his conferences, he often uses the example of Ethiopia providing thousands of dollars in humanitarian aid to Mexico just after the 1985 earthquake, despite Ethiopia suffering from a crippling famine and civil war at the time. Ethiopia had been reciprocating for the diplomatic support Mexico provided when Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. The good cop/bad cop strategy is also based on this principle.

2. Commitment and consistency – If people commit, orally or in writing, to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment because of establishing that idea or goal as being congruent with their self-image. Even if the original incentive or motivation is removed after they have already agreed, they will continue to honor the agreement. Cialdini notes Chinese brainwashing of American prisoners of war to rewrite their self-image and gain automatic unenforced compliance. Another example is children being made to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance each morning and why marketers make you close popups by saying “I’ll sign up later” or "No thanks, I prefer not making money”.

3. Social proof – People will do things that they see other people are doing. For example, in one experiment, one or more confederates would look up into the sky; bystanders would then look up into the sky to see what they were seeing. At one point this experiment aborted, as so many people were looking up that they stopped traffic. See conformity, and the Asch conformity experiments.

4. Authority – People will tend to obey authority figures, even if they are asked to perform objectionable acts. Cialdini cites incidents such as the Milgram experiments in the early 1960s and the My Lai massacre.

5. Liking – People are easily persuaded by other people that they like. Cialdini cites the marketing of Tupperware in what might now be called viral marketing. People were more likely to buy if they liked the person selling it to them. Some of the many biases favoring more attractive people are discussed. See physical attractiveness stereotype.

6. Scarcity – Perceived scarcity will generate demand. For example, saying offers are available for a "limited time only" encourages sales.

The trick is that as the world gets more complex, these 6 things also provide us with social shortcuts, to keep on the straight and narrow with minimal effort. But this means we have to be vigilant - to make sure we are not being taken advantage of. He notes that we often get that funny feeling in the pit our stomach when we are being manipulated against our will, and he suggests using that feeling/intuition to our advantage - to recognize when we are at risk. One of the things I love about this book is that Cialdini himself is the first to admit that even with all he knows, even he was and is not immune, and he provides some very funny examples to show how he personally has been taken advantage of.

This really is a must read book. In the same vein, the last thing on his list is a one sentence course on persuasion - the sentence being, "People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions, and help them throw rocks at their enemies."

I think one of the most amazing examples in his book concerns well publicized suicides, as there are not just the expected copy cat suicides, but also up to 10X more fatal aircraft and automobile crashes. It's amazing how little it takes to establish a new subconscious social norm. Our lizard brain betrays us more often than we might think.

176 people found this helpful

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Libryia Jones

Irony

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2017

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So this book is mainly in the advocacy of the consumer. The premise is that we have mental shortcuts that trigger, almost automatic responses. This is our bodies and brains being psychologically efficient in our best interests. The author believes that many companies manipulate and take advantage of these psychological efficiencies for financial gain. He purports that it is dangerous for companies to do so, because as we learn we are being manipulated, we will use those autoresponses less and less...and they will no longer be used as intended (for our benefit) by our brains. The irony is, he explains exactly how these auto responses work and therefore this book has become quite popular among the very audience he speaks against using these tactics.

I picked the book up because it was recommended by a successful business owner who indicated that in building her business model, marketing strategy, and designing her website she used the principles in this book and found them to be very effective.

Insightful with good breakdowns of each principle and great examples. He even explains how a consumer can act against their natural and automated response to some of these triggers, which, for a business person, provides research into how to overcome rebuttals.

Could be that he wrote this book for the consumer, so they understood how they are being manipulated and how to overcome it...or could be that he geniusly manipulated us into believing it was in advocacy of the consumer when it's really for the business owner, heh heh. Either way, good read.

62 people found this helpful

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Top international reviews

Stiven Skyrah

If you haven't read it, then you should.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2018

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Summary: This book can’t be summarized. It can only be very, very strongly recommended.

Recommended? YES. Buy it now if you haven’t read it.

Table of contents:
1 Weapons of Influence
2 Reciprocation: The Old Give and Take…and Take
3 Commitment and Consistency: Hobgoblins of the Mind
4 Social Proof: Truths Are Us
5 Liking: The Friendly Thief
6 Authority: Directed Deference
7 Scarcity: The Rule of the Few

Notes:
Below are my key takeaways and some interesting points, but I’m telling you. Buy it. Read it. Trust me.

* Expensive implies quality. Example: gems in a jewel case that weren’t selling were marked up and then sold at a “discount” to the markup (a price higher than the original price), and they sold like hotcakes.
* 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 jumper because the contrast makes the sweater appear more affordable.
* Reciprocity. Example: If someone buys you something (say, a Coke), you’re more likely to buy something from them (say, raffle tickets).
* 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.”
* Commitment leads to consistency leads to collaboration. Example: During the Korean war, the Chinese got American soldiers to make public commitments of various things. Then they made those commitments even more public, which the American soldiers had to stand by to be consistent. That consistency then led them down a path of minor forms of collaboration – without them really thinking about it as such.
* Writing something down, even privately, strengthens your commitment to something.
* People like and believe in commitment because their image and reputation are on the line (i.e. the Chinese concentration camp example above).
* People like more what they struggle to get, even if it’s not that good. Example: frats (hey, it’s in the book, don’t hate the messenger).
* People like to feel they have control over a decision – even if they really don’t.
* The power of social proof, or the idea that if others do it it’s good. Example: introverted pre-schoolers who saw introverted kids become social in a movie were more inclined to go play. Another example: cults. People follow the crowd because they believe in the “wisdom” of the crowd.
* Convince and you shall be convinced. Example: cults, where people who convince or convert others become more convinced (that’s why so many are evangelical).
* Assign responsibility if you want things done. Example: a stabbing that took place over many minutes had 38 witnesses…it happened cause everyone figured someone else would call the police.
* The power of copycats that’ll play on social proof. Example: if you find a wallet of someone like you and you’re more likely to return it (it’s true). Another (scary) example: more suicides when the press publicizes a suicide…more fatal “accidents” too.
* Liking is an important part of influence. Attractiveness, similarity (identity and context), compliments, contact & cooperation all can make someone more influential.
* The reason good cop/bad cop works is because the subject feels someone is on their side.
* Associations are powerful. Bearers of good news get treated well, and bad news get treated poorly. Examples: weathermen (or Roman messengers reporting lost battles!)
* People tend to defer to authority/experts. Examples: experiments involving shock therapy where people listened to a guy in a lab coat to inflict pain on another human being (incredible how strong this is).
* The power of connotations and context over content, and how it can imply authority. Titles and clothing do this.
* Gaining trust. Example: a waiter who advises against a more expensive item early in the meal will gain the trust of everyone at the table, and then he can suggest more expensive items and more items through the course of the meal.
* Scarcity is powerful. There’s a psychological reaction…people don’t want to lose their freedom and don’t want to lose. This plays to a second point: competition. Invite 3 used car buyers at the same time and you’ll sell the car faster. A cookie is more attractive if there are two of them than if there are 10 of them. (Always as yourself when something is scarce: will the cookie taste as good if there are 10 of them?). Plus, if you saw that the number went from 10 to 2, you want it even more. It can even lead to revolt…when something is given and then taken away, people get mad; if something is never given at all, they don’t know what they’re missing.
* “It appears that commitments are most effective in changing a person’s self-image and future behaviour when they are active, public, and effortful.”
* “The most influential leaders are those who know how to arrange group conditions to allow the principle of social proof to work maximally in their favour.”
* “Social proof is most powerful for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure of a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside of themselves for evidence of how to best behave there.”

74 people found this helpful

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jay321

Not persuasively good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2018

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The book is 'okay'. The six areas the author identifies are interesting but there are two major issues with the book for me. Firstly, it is a bit rambling, you could have easily got all the principles and had a discussion around it in 100 pages. The second issue is that it is very American, so a lot of the examples talk about particular aspects of being in in American college and high school, baseball, that type of thing. I watch a lot of American programs but even with this it just made no sense at all. In this regard the book has failed to persuade me as to its merits (which is what the book is supposed to be an expert illustration).

39 people found this helpful

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Sue Cartwright

An invaluable series of lessons to be learned about self awareness

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2018

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A phenomenal book that provides example after example of how human beings are continuously duped into making automatic decisions without thinking them through, resulting in an invaluable series of lessons to be learned about self awareness.

Robert is a brilliant writer who well earns his accolade as the 'seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion' as he sets out how the five psychological principles of consistency, reciprocation, social proof, liking and scarcity direct human behaviour to give these tactics their power.

The ability for each of these principles to produce a distinct kind of automatic, mindless compliance from people to willingly say 'yes' without giving it a second thought is explained. Quite astounding and entertaining at the same time - a real eye opener and highly recommended for anyone who wants to take control over their decision making and indeed, understand how to achieve buy-in from others to do what they want them to do.

I first read this book in March 2012 and read it again this year as part of my research for my new blog.

What really caught my eye, the second time round, is the last chapter on Authority - How To Say No. This in view of the fact that it is now common knowledge that too many 'Social Media Consultants' who claim to be 'experts' are actually nothing of the kind.

Robert writes: 'We particularly mis-perceive the profound impact of authority (and its symbols)on our actions, we are at the disadvantage of being insufficiently cautious about its presence in compliance situations. A fundamental form of defence against this problem. When this awareness is coupled with a recognition of how easily authority symbols can be faked, the benefit will be a properly guarded approach to situations involving authority-influence attempts.'

He goes on to say that the best way to protect ourselves is to ask two questions: 1) Is this authority truly an expert? (to focus our attention on acquiring evidence of credentials and the relevance of those credentials to the topic in hand thus avoiding automatic deference), and 2) How truthful can we expect the expert to be here? (To focus on their trustworthiness in the situation as we seem to be swayed more by experts who seem to be impartial than by those who have something to gain by convincing us).

8 people found this helpful

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Nitin Sachdeva

Poor paper quality

Reviewed in India on January 23, 2018

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Book content - excellent
Paper quality - Very bad. It is equivalent to quality that is available on road side or some times on traffic signals at max. 100 Rs.
Quality of paper must be improved, here paying extra in comparison to what is available on locations mentioned above.
Book not worth amount paid.

37 people found this helpful

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Jeremy Prior

Hard going

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2014

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The book took a lot of effort to get through. Much of it applies more to American marketing psychology which is very different from that of the UK. I had to skimp through bits that got me bogged-down in topics that were a. not relevant to my interest or b. over-stating the point or topic being covered, indicating to me that it was written with rather too much 'padding'.

However when I skipped to parts that I was interested in, the topics were quite enlightening. It certainly highlights the vulnerability and gullibility of 'the public' that is exploited in a scurrilous manner by so much of the commercial and corporate world. I helps to know what tricks they use in order to be a jump ahead of them if any should try such tricks against us. I would say it was useful but in a limited way. Interesting in parts. Perhaps not quite as revolutionary as the old 1960s "How to win friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie but in my opinion it's a modern day upgrade on the ethos contained in that book, but with a lot of the sexism updated to be more politically correct for the 21st Century. It was good value certainly.

22 people found this helpful

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M. Bowers

Interesting, informative, entertaining and valuable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 21, 2019

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I've worked in Marketing for around 6 years, and although I have subliminally applied many of the principles of 'Influence' with the experience I have gained - directly or through others - during the course of my work, I still wish I had read this years ago.

It's a real game-changer, not just for marketers, but for anybody who wants to know the tools to influence others, and to avoid being unduly influenced themselves. I can't believe how old the original edition of this book is!

It's very well written and very informative. Though perhaps a bit over-elaborate and laboured at times, it is never anything less than interesting and enlightening to read, and you certainly get the point with each story or nugget of knowledge imparted.

While this book can be used ethically to influence the behaviour of others, like any valuable knowledge, there is also the potential to misuse it. That's another reason why you should read it, and the follow-up book Pre-Suasion: to give yourself the tools of defence against anyone who wishes to take advantage of your openness...

A really useful resource, and highly recommended.

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Yash E

Despicable Print Quality. Great book. Don't bother buying here!

Reviewed in India on July 11, 2018

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The book is obviously a milestone and I started reading it in my Kindle. I wanted to have it in my collection and ordered the physical copy. Thanks to Amazon's service, I got the book very next day. To my surprise, the book is third rate cheap print you'd find on road sides and bus stations! It's not worth the price and shouldn't be spent more than Rs.100 for such a copy.

TL;DR
Awesome content. Horrible Copy. Great Service by Amazon. Returned!

27 people found this helpful

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Luke It Or Not

Never trust a marketeer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2016

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A fascinating read, if a bit dry at times. It really makes you think about the marketing that is aimed at you. It makes you question the "great deals" you have got in the past and the ones currently on offer to you (a great money saving device!) It can lead you to feel quite cynical about the way companies (and some individuals) behave. But if you step back a bit, the book gives you the tools to defend yourself with (or approach others with - if you are a marketeer!) and helps you make more informed choices.
Some of the samples are so small that statistically the assertions are difficult to back up, but if you put that to one side you can believe the experiments would get results in the stated direction.

4 people found this helpful

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Daniel Davinci

Great for Sales!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2018

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I found this book particularly useful for sales. It's really an asset to be able to convince someone about something you are truly passionate about and this book teaches how to express and articulate. A few 'tricks' here and there too, which are very interesting, yet not too 'underhand'! Recommended!

2 people found this helpful

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Mash

An education in compliance tactics

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2016

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Many of the ruses described in this book will be familiar to you. The beauty of this book is how it rationalizes such compliance tactics under a handful of easily digestible principles and introduces you to their unexpected ramifications. While the last third is woolly and some of Prof. Cialdini’s examples will seem foreign to anyone who did not grow up in the United States in the 60s and 70s, the book’s clarity barely suffers for it. I learnt much and enjoyed the read.

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Kamaljeet

like many, based on loads of reviews I read ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2016

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I bought this, like many, based on loads of reviews I read online. I recognise that this is a top marketing / communications strategy read, and Cialdini is certainly well recognised in his industry, but I would say read with caution.

The book is really well laid out and the case studies are very compelling, but I feel the reason why they are compelling is because they are 'shocking' and outline the manipulative ways to influence people - nothing short of a dodgy NLP life coach or TV shopping channel.

Modern schools of thought, in marketing and advertising, tend to err on the side of more 'healthy' ways of engaging people and influencing them through positively reinforced actions and behaviours.

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Reece

Classic on understanding how the brain works

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2013

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How do we think? What are our weak points when it comes to dealing with sales professional? What are the buttons they can see and press, but that we don't even know are there? Dr Cialdini effectively describes the 6 key points he says compliance professionals (sales people) use: reciprocity, social proof, commitment & consistency, liking, scarcity and authority.

He offers examples that we can relate to, an understanding of where these might have come from, and ways that we can identify them and if not make us totally resilient, at least give tools to mitigate the effect they have on us. This is an excellent book - a pleasure to read while still providing useful, comprehensible and rigorous insights into how we work.

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Ammon Johns

Immensely Practical and Pre-eminent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2016

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While Cialdini's 'Influence' is certainly not the only worthwhile book to discuss influence and persuasion in deeply practical terms, there is certainly no doubt (or lack of merit) to it being pre-eminent. In my experience, if you ask anyone involved in sales or marketing to name a book about influence or persuasion then this will be the first one they name.

Cialdini perfectly manages to combine the scientific and academic depth of the topic with incredibly practical real-world application. No single book is going to transform you into some mesmeric machiavellian master, but this book absolutely will make you better at persuading and influencing others in their decisions.

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tKing

Cycle of Influence

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2013

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I bought this book relying on some productive review about it and after watching a YouTube clip interview on the author. It's an academic book and very informative and practical.
I love the way the author support his hypothesis with valid examples that I could easily relate with. Reading this book will open your understanding to why you probably always says yes even when you mean no, or why you do buy what you don't need with the money your don't really have!
I am still reading it and do re read over again so that it would be part of my philosophy for life - it's better to learn the art of influence especially the social influence, if you don't, others will do anyway. No one is immune from the weapon of influence on a daily basis.

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Zabi

Not as the title suggests

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

There are some points. However, not as the title suggests. Why do we need some children studies or some other alternative studies? I do not understand that it goes to some various sources that doesn't even apply to the title. I did pick some great points but not as I thought it would be.

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