Tweet

Book Review: Influence: Science and Practice

Written by: Jay Hamilton-Roth

Article Overview: Robert Cialdini’s book is all about “click, whirr� – how we’re programmed as humans, how marketing can leverage the programming, and how as individuals we can overcome the programming.

Book Review: Influence: Science and Practice

Robert Cialdini’s book is all about “click, whirr” – how we’re programmed as humans, how marketing can leverage the programming, and how as individuals we can overcome the programming. The six major influence techniques that he explains are: 1. Reciprocation: We feel indebted to people who gives us something of value. For example, when someone gives us a sample of a product to taste, we often feel that we need to stop and converse with the attendant. Salespeople know that giving something of small value can trigger higher value purchases to alleviate the imbalance (”I owe you”). A sophisticated version of this is to make a large request of a prospective buyer, with the intention of having the request be rejected. The real goal is the second “fall-back” request, which seems reasonable in contrast.

2. Commitment and Consistency: Once we make a decision (or promise), our subsequent actions maintain the sense of commitment. We don’t want to appear to be wishy-washy. We also don’t want to have to rethink the decision each time – better to be consistently wrong than overwhelmed with research. Salespeople’s goal is to get you to commit to a belief, then create arguments why you should then purchase from them based on your belief system. This psychological one-two punch is used in everything from testimonials (by going on the record, you have a vested interest in being consistent) to hazing rituals.

3. Social Proof: As social beings, we 0ften feel that the more people that like (or do) something, the better it is (whether this be a fad or canned laughter). We tend to trust the pack mentality because we’re busy (if others pre-chose, then we don’t have to think — it must be good) and we’re trusting (other people that are smarter, better-looking, etc. chose it so we’re better off being part of the “in” group than not).

4. Liking: We all want to be liked, so when a salesperson likes you (even if you know they’re just saying it), some part of us feels good. If the salesperson is well-dressed, well-groomed, and similar to us (in mannerisms) we want to believe them (all things being equal) and want to be liked by them.

5. Authority: We’re not just social beings, but we’re naturally hierarchical. We’re used to following an authority figure (who a group of people have endowed with special trustworthy qualities). A person who looks like they’re in authority (by dress, mannerisms, professional title, social standing, etc.) we naturally follow the advice of (even if they are advising something they’re not the authorities of).

6. Scarcity: This is tied to social proof – if there’s not a lot of something (whether real or imagined), then it’s perceived value is higher (we have a fear of missing out on the opportunity). This is also true in the converse – if you ban something, you increase its desirability.

Related Articles
  The World Doesn't Need Another Bad Book
  How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie - Book Review
  The Value of Amazon Reviews
  Get Them Nodding Because You Need a Sale
  Getting Rich Is An Exact Science

Article Tags: belief system, canned laughter, consistency, fad, hazing rituals, influence techniques, intention, marketing, mentality, prospective buyer, punch, robert cialdini, rsquo, salespeople, social proof, sophisticated version, strong commitment, testimonials, value purchases, vested interest



Related Forum Posts
Re: Top 50 Lists - Hi Evan, How about "Top 50": -Inventor Blogs To Watch -Franchising Blogs To Watch -Business Book Review Blogs -Women Entrepreneur Blogs -Young Entrepreneur Blogs
My reading log - Hi OmnivoreInk, Before starting my business, I read the following books as research: -"The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki -"The AdSense Code" by Joel Comm -"Don't Think Pink" and "Mind Your X's and Y's" by Lisa Johnson And since then I've continued my "research" by reading (in this order): -"Technical Tennis" by Rod Cross -"For One More Day" by Mitch Albom -"The Twits" by Roald Dahl -"Little Black Book of Connections" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne -"The Profitable Retailer" by Doug Fleener -"Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell -"Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis -"Little Green Book of Getting Your Way" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling And I'm currently reading and am in the process of finishing the following: -"There's No Such Thing as Public Speaking" by Jeanette and Roy Henderson -"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell -"The Book of Tells" by Peter Collett -"Little Red Book of Sales Answers" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience" by Jonathan M. Tisch -"The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron -"The Inner Game of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey
Favourite Business Books - The November PROFIT magazine looks at the favourite business books of Canada's most successful entrepreneurs. The top 4 are: 1) Good to Great by Jim Collins 2) The E-Myth by Michael Gerber 3) Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne 4) How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Re: Significance of Review Sites - Exactly! Review sites are very helpful for providing better understanding to a product or service.
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Life, Conflict and Work

THE “SECRET RECIPES” OF LEADERSHIP

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.