Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)

"One of the great myths about modern society is that we can divide it into two non-overlapping parts---the private and the public. The private sphere is the purported locus of all affective, emotional commitments, while the public sphere is a realm of impersonal, purely instrumental, social interaction. In the private sphere, the story goes, we live, love, grieve, and sacrifice, while in the public sphere of markets and politics, we act to gather the material prerequisites to a fulfilled private life.

This myth was buoyed up in the mid-twentieth century by the vision of vast tracts of middle-class housing where neighbors were strangers ("and they were all made out of ticky-tacky and they all looked the same"), by the cult of public conformity ("the organization man"), and by such urban myths as women being raped and beaten in public while spectators did nothing.

We now know that this bizarre viewpoint is miles from the truth, and that public life is imbued with a rich nexus of emotion-laden, poignantly human, social relations. Even strangers meeting for the first time engage in characteristically human emotional interactions, and the quality of social life depends critically on the tacit culture of conformity to particular norms of social interaction among people in public capacities.

Chaldini's book is a classic contribution towards analyzing these tacit social relations among strangers. His take on the issue is that we are all vulnerable to being manipulated by our mental weaknesses, and we should learn to be on guard against this manipulation. This is a very good point, but it hides the deeper point that manipulation is just the pathological side of basically healthy approaches to interaction with others in society. Humans are intensely reciprocal, and will sacrifice to repay good with good, and bad with bad, at personal cost, even when dealing with strangers they will never see again (we call this "strong reciprocity"). We have a strong tendency to social conformity, thus respecting others by our willingness to follow their lead. We want to be liked, and we are more willing to sacrifice on behalf of people we like, even if they are strangers. These and other behaviors are what make us human. Cialdini's point is that these predisposition can be used against us, and we must be careful to protect ourselves from this.

The various elements of the psychology of persuasion are so well-known today, partly due to Cialdini's influence (the first edition was 1984), that I'm not sure I learned anything new from reading this book. But, he is a fine writer and tells a good story, making the reading worth its while.
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~ Written on 2008-06-30

"This is an intersting fast read on an important subject. Everyone should read this book. It explains so much about how we react to things and why. "
~ Written on 2008-06-12

"This book was a total "head trip" for me several years ago when I first read it. In "Influence", Dr. Robert Cialdini describes six "weapons of influence" that, when used, trigger automatic compliance from unsuspecting individuals. These weapons are subtle in that they're based on beneficial tendencies in human psychology that we all have and they work so well that the "victim" believes that the act of compliance was actually THEIR idea!

He spends the majority of the book explaining what these "weapons" are and sharing his (and others') theories on why they work, along with (often humorous) anecdotes that demonstrate just how effective these principles can be.

He also gives plenty of examples of how con-artists, unscrupulous salesmen, hucksters, and advertisers use these "weapons" on us every day. (Why are we more likely to buy aspirin when the guy who played Marcus Welby, MD. recommends it?).

Fortunately, Cialdini also describes the "antidote" that allows us to realize when we're being caught up in a pattern of automatic compliance, and how to say no to it.

After reading this book, you may never look at psychology, advertising or Marcus Welby, MD the same way ever again..."
~ Written on 2008-05-26

"We are all consumers of goods and services in some way or another, and I am glad I have read this.... hopefully I should have done so much earlier, but certainly better late than never. The author discusses how the psychological mechanism works in making decisions, saying "yes" to a request, how our decisions are influenced/swayed, and how we can prevent ourselves from the situations where we likely end up making unwanted decisions and/or being exploited by ill-intended profiteers. In so doing, the six underlying principles: reciprocation, commitment/consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity, are introduced with ample examples from various intriguing researches, and how these potent influencers can be commissioned by those who want us to consciously or unconsciously comply with their requests. Used with due professional ethics, the six principles can be very effective marketing tools, but we as consumers would be certainly better equipped with understanding of the principles when dealing with someone who tries to pull a trick or two and manipulate our attitudes and behaviors. "
~ Written on 2008-05-24

"Fantastic book. You'll come away seeing how you've been victimized by "compliance practitioners" for years, and you'll now be able to see which of the compliance techniques were used on you. But, you'll deviously also start seeing how you can use some of these techniques to get others to, well, comply. I like using the Scarcity technique myself.

Overall, this is a very fascinating book based on facts and studies and is a fun read. Not many books rate 5 stars in my book, but this one clearly hits the mark."
~ Written on 2008-05-15