Cialdini, Robert B., Influence: the psychology of persuasion

Cialdini, Robert B., Influence: the psychology of persuasion

Concepts

consistency

reciprocation

social proof

authority

liking

scarcity

Notes

Ch 1 Weapons of Influence

3  fixed action patterns--behaviors that happen in the same way in the same order every time

4  Request + reason = 94% effectiveness  Use “because”  in request

11 automatic influence--

• 1 nearly automatic process which will activate the power of the weapons of influence
• 2 shows how exploitable the power is by anyone who knows how to turn the process on
• 3 exploiters can start process expending very little energy

12 Contrast Principle  buying higher $ item first leads to spending more on smaller items right after

  Give Bigger/worse choice first--makes other option seem better later

Ch 2 Reciprocation

19  Human societies get competitive advantage from reciprocity rule--make sure members are trained to follow it--failure to follow and you are known as being cheap, or a mooch

27 Free sample is a gift which engages reciprocity rule  Giving free sample can start the deeply embedded reciprocity rule

31 Obligation to give, receive and repay--repayment is the essence of the rule

33 Strong cultural pressure to reciprocate even an unwanted gift

5 Say no to reciprocation

Ch 3 Commitment and Consistency

57  our nearly obsessive desire to be consistent with what we have already done

76-7 effects of writing  Chinese and American POWs

79 Set a goal and write it down

82  Whenever someone takes a stand that can be seen by others, they have a need to appear to be consistent otherwise they will be judged as fickle or uncertain and scatterbrained

83  Students who had not written choices least loyal to choices, s who had publicly written choices refused to change even after finding contradictory info

85  Greater the effort going into a commitment greater its ability to influence attitudes of people who made it

86 Severity of initiation ceremony increases commitment to group (hazing)

93 Social scientists--we accept inner responsibility for behavior when we think we have chosen to do it without outside forces---Small rewards convince the subject they really wanted to do it or they valued it

94  Raising children--bribing kids to get them to do what we want--we have to get them to accept inner responsibility for their actions and convince themselves not to do what we don’t want them to do  Threats don’t work in the long run--A reason must be given that is strong enough to be truthful most of the time, but not so strong so the kid sees the threat, or reason as who they are being truthful

97 public minded person--sign posted

99 Lowballing--an offer is made giving buyer a good deal,  after they decide to make the deal, but before deal is signed the terms of purchase are skillfully changed

100 Lowball --ability to make someone feel pleased with a poor choice

How to say no

103 Ralph Waldo Emerson “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” --be automatically and unthinkingly consistent

105 Be aware of the feeling in the pit of your stomach

120 we experience our feelings a split second before we can think about them--be aware of initial reaction

Ch 4  Social Proof

116 Social proof--one way we find out what is correct is to look at what others around us are doing

Canned laughter--causes mindless laughter because we are fooled by reflexive  

117  Bartenders-- start night with a few dollar bills in tip jar to simulate tips left by other customers

118 long lines outside of clubs create longer lines--the place to go

       91% of people are imitators--5% initiators

128  The greater the number of people who find the idea correct, the more the idea will be correct

132  Pluralistic ignorance effect--we prefer to appear poised and unflustered in front of others so we search for evidence of how to act by making quick glances at those around us.--strongest among strangers

136 Devictimizing Yourself--Call out if you know or think you are having a problem

139  First aid--pick one person and assign that person the job--call 911

142 We will use others response to guide our response if they seem to be like us

144-5 Suicides increase when someone of similar background commits suicide

156 The most influential leaders arrange group conditions to allow social proof to work maximally in their favor--get some members moving in desired direction and the rest will go along--e.g. youtube videos

157 How to say no--use social proof until we find inaccurate data and then take over--no longer leave it on autopilot

Ch 5 Liking

171 Physical attraction--grooming accounted for more favorable review from job interviewers than job qualifications

173 Similarity--We like people who are similar to us

174 Be careful of salespeople who seem to be just like you

175 We tend to believe praise and to like those who give it

176 We can have such an automatically positive reaction to praise even when it is obviously not genuine

177 We often don’t realize our attitude has been influenced by how many times we have been exposed to it in the past

198 Sports fans--root for teams like you

204  How to say no--When we feel ourselves liking the person more than we should under the circumstances

Ch 6 Authority

208-  Milgram study--subject shock and screaming but kept going

216 following orders

Ch 7 Scarcity

261 Freedoms once granted will not be relinquished without a fight

266 How to say no--the joy is not in experiencing a scarce commodity but in possessing it

268 Psychological benefits of possessing something rare scarcity pressures will give us indication of how much we would want to pay for it--less available--more we would pay

Used cars--create scarcity by having multiple people come at the same time