Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (7Summits)

Publisher: Collins, 1998 | ISBN: 0688128165 | 279pages | PDF | 3.4MB


As the title suggests, Influence… is based around the psychology behind the tools used by what Cialdini describes as “compliance professionals” (from salesmen to fundraisers to advertising folks). Despite the potentially dense subject matter, Cialdini approaches it in easy-to-understand terms which you don’t need a Ph.D. to absorb.

The book covers six “weapons of influence” in turn, doing a deep dive on the variations and nuances within each before examining how to avoid their effects:

1. Reciprocation – giving a little in order to take more
2. Commitment and consistency – playing off our internal need to be consistent with ourselves
3. Social proof – the power of what other people are doing
4. Liking – positive associations
5. Authority – amazing what we’ll do for someone who appears to be in authority
6. Scarcity – we want things more when they are few