Influence - Book Summary & Review

Influence

The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini

'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' is a Psychology book authored by Dr Robert B. Cialdini based on the understanding and study of why people tend to say 'Yes’. The book puts forth six universal principles and teaches its readers the art of becoming a skilled persuader and in turn the knowledge of protecting yourself from other skilled persuaders.

The book comes handy in all parts of life and will serve as a defining force in the change it brings to your lifestyle by pushing you towards a life of content and satisfaction.

Notable Ideas of the Book

We all take shortcuts in our judgment, but they can be used against us. The world is a complex place where it’s impossible to contemplate the details of every decision we make. So, we use quick shortcuts, and most of the time they serve us well.

Many people like advertisers, salesmen, con artists etc., can fool us into using our shortcuts against our own interests. They usually do this to get us to comply with their demands, for example, to buy a product.

Commonly abused is the “price indicates quality”-shortcut: people usually assume expensive items are of better quality than cheap ones. This shortcut is partially accurate, but it can be used against us too. For example, souvenir shops often sell unpopular gems by raising rather than lowering their prices.

Dealing with the life’s complexities means having to rely on shortcuts, we must identify and defend ourselves against the manipulators who can wrongly use these shortcuts against us.

Humans have an overwhelming need to return favours.
The rule of reciprocation states that we should repay others in kind for whatever they have provided to us. This basically forms the foundation of all societies, as it allowed our ancestors to share resources, in the knowledge that they would be returned later.

If someone does us a favour and we do not return it, we feel a psychological burden. This is because, as a society, we are condescending of those who do not reciprocate favours. In order to rid themselves of the burden of debt that people are ready to give much larger favours in return for small ones.

We desire to pay back favours, also we feel obliged to match concessions in negotiations. This is known as the rejection-then-retreat strategy, and it is astonishingly powerful in gaining conformity. Rejection-then-retreat is a devious tactic because it induces reciprocation and the principle of contrast.

If a boy scout first asks you to buy a five-dollar raffle ticket, but then retreats to requesting you only buy a one-dollar sweet, you are likely to buy the sweet to match his “concession,” whether you’re hungry or not.

When opportunities become scarce, we desire them more. There has to be some truth to the old maxim that people want what they can’t have. Banned items are often found to be more desirable.

Scarcity has powerful influence in our decision-making; opportunities are more valuable if their availability is limited. This is because of the fact that people hate losing opportunities.

Scarcity has powerful influence under two conditions: First, when the sudden drop increases people’s desire for something better, so they take action. We tend to want something more if its availability has diminished recently rather than if it has been low all along.
Second, competitions. Whether in auctions or real-estate deals, the thought of losing something to someone often turns us from unwilling to overzealous.

To counter the eagerness that arises from scarcity, we should consider whether we want the item in question because of our need of it or merely because of an illogical wish to possess it.

We are near-obsessed with being and appearing consistent in our words and actions. But what dictates consistency? The answer is: commitment. Research shows that once we commit to something, we want to be consistent with it. We may even modify our own self-image to be consistent with our earlier actions.

When uncertain, we look for social proof. The principle of social proof states that we often determine what to do by looking at what others are doing. This is used to manipulate us. Social proof is especially strong when uncertainty rules. This is mostly due to two factors. First, when many people are involved, it diminishes the personal responsibility felt by each participant. Second, an urban environment contains a lot of uncertainty. When people are uncertain, they look to see what others are doing.

Considering these facts, if one finds themselves in an emergency amid a crowd, one should single out an individual from the group and direct a clear help request at him.

Observing people similar to us can greatly influence our choices. We often imitate others in our choices, when the person observed is similar to ourselves this tendency is stronger. This is known as the Werther effect, named after a book that started a wave of suicides across Europe, apparently in emulation of the protagonist.

We comply with people we like, and it is easy for some people to make us like them. As a rule, we are usually more compliant toward people we like. One such factor is physical attractiveness. It produces a so-called halo effect, meaning that we see attractive people in a relatively more positive light.

We also tend to like people who are similar to ourselves in some way, and flatter us in any way. An especially powerful factor in liking someone is cooperating for some shared goal, i.e. being in the same team.

Finally, the things we associate with people are very important for likeability. To protect ourselves against likeability manipulation, we have to ask ourselves if we have come to like someone or something in an unusually short time. This could be due to some form of manipulation.

People are easily swayed by authority but also by the mere symbols of authority. Humans are trained from birth to obey authorities. We often do so even without thinking. If we have no reliable evidence of another person’s authority, we use simple symbols to estimate it. Titles, for example, are very powerful devices. Clothes and props are also powerful authority symbols.

Authority figures are often worth listening to, but how do we avoid people abusing our trust in them? Simply, we should ask ourselves two questions when confronted by an authority figure: First, is this person really an authority or merely camouflaged as one? Second, do they have their own interests at heart?

The information in the book is presented in a lucid manner and effectively teaches the art of influence and persuasion which is gradually developing into a scientific field. The book has been a tremendous success because of its exceptional writing and ground breaking content. The book has received remarkable critical acclaim.

Ruchika Verma

You can purchase this wondeful book from Amazon