Influence The Psychology Of Persuasion Summary

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The book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini illustrates the implementation of reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. The book identifies these six principles as weapons of influence in aiding with persuasion. The following explains and applies each principle. Although the principle of reciprocation is simple, it is very powerful. The rule of reciprocation is that people should try to repay what another person has provided. When the feeling of indebtedness is created, it usually bugs a person until they pay it back. Therefore, creating a weapon of influence over a person. The reciprocation principle can further a struggling organization with the objective of …show more content…

In a crowd, Gaby saw one man confidently sprint towards another side of the complex. Soon thereafter two, four, soon the majority of the crowd went in his direction. Gaby had been to the venue before and thought she was headed in the right direction. Sure that so many of them knew them couldn’t be wrong, she ignored her own judgment and followed the larger crowd instead. That decision cost her a concert. Leaving without tickets Gaby learned not to completely rely on social proof.
The liking principle explains that although true, it isn't surprising that people prefer to say yes to a request from a person they know and like. However, what is shocking is that strangers use the liking rule in many ways to coerce people to comply with their requests. Physical attractiveness, similarity, and compliments all attribute to the liking principle. People often fall victim when someone uses these attributes to win their favor.
A company that depends on successful cold calls for business could use the liking principle by instructing their employees to begin the conversation with a compliment. Calling …show more content…

Her mother advised her to get the newer, not sold out, cheaper, and waterproof Samsung phone that also had the better camera. This didn’t appeal to her. It wasn’t until she spent the whole day going to different carriers in search of the newest iPhone that she realized the iPhones scarcity is what appealed to her the most. Gaby ended up taking her mother’s advice, she saved hundreds of dollars and now takes the best quality pictures at parties. Gaby is now aware of the scarcity principle and will buy things for their usefulness not because of their scarcity

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