Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Influence is one of the most powerful books on human behaviour that I’ve ever read. It’s easy to read and gives you a great understanding of how to influence people. The concepts that are presented in this book make a lot of sense. Dr. Robert Cialdini is an expert on persuasion. It is a must-read if you want to learn how to influence people and become a skilled persuader.

Book Summary of Influence by Robert B. Cialdini

In this summary, we’ll go over years of research on human behavior and the psychology of influence done by Dr. Cialdini. He has summarized them over six universal principles or weapons of influence.

This book will show you how to defend yourself against them, and how to have an irresistible impact on others. Perfect for people in all walks of daily life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and help you achieve success.

The 6 Principles of Influence

With everything going on in our lives, we do not have enough capacity to process everything that comes in our way.

To make decision-making as easy as possible, we use mental shortcuts to help us react to our environment faster in any given situation.

The six principles or mental shortcuts are:

Reciprocity - Make it easy for people to return the favour, and they will.

Consistency and Commitment - Smaller requests lead to larger requests.

Social Proof - People tend to refer to or follow what others are doing.

Liking - People will do more things for people they like.

Authority - Give people a reason to believe you, either through credentials, expertise or recommendations.

Scarcity - People want what they cannot have or have less of.

Reciprocity

If a friend does you a favour, then you will more likely do a favour for them later.

In other words, whenever someone does something for us, we feel a social obligation to do something for them.

The reciprocity principle states that people are more likely to say yes to those to who they owe favours to.

Handing out a small gift or free samples can be a gateway to ask for a request later.

Consistency and Commitment

We are often consistent with our past commitments. This is because consistency helps justify our decisions.

The consistency principle states that if we do a small action or accept a small commitment, then we’ll be more likely to do larger actions consistent with it in the future.

The best way to get someone to do something is to give make them do a small action first before asking them for the larger action that you actually want them to complete for you.

Research shows that when people agree to a smaller request, they are much more likely to agree to the much larger second request later.

Social Proof

We are social animals which means we usually do what others are doing.

If people are performing certain actions, then we surely can’t go wrong by doing the same, right?

For example, whenever you are researching an item to buy, you’ll feel more secure knowing that you bought the bestseller or a product everyone uses. It’s more likely to work because many people have used it before you did.

There are many more examples such as a laugh track used in sitcoms to make you laugh, pre-filled tipping jars to make you tip more, product reviews and testimonials to add more credibility to the course or service you want to purchase.

Another example these days are the big social media influencers on Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube, and more. They’ve built a community that will buy whatever product they recommend.

Liking

If we know and like someone, they’re more likely to get our attention and our approval.

So, when asking someone to do something, we should think about how to make them like us.

People generally like those who are like them, compliment them and share similar goals and values.

It makes sense, who would go above and beyond for someone they dislike? Unless they are paid or forced to of course.

Authority

People are more likely to accept information that comes from authority figures.

These symbols of authority include our parents, teachers, doctors, police officer, etc. This has been reinforced consistently since a young age by people around us.

Along the same line, we are more likely to follow credible and knowledgeable individuals.

This doesn’t mean we need to be one of those figures to build authority.

The way to build authority is by using recommendations and word of mouth to signal to others of your credibility.

A good example is if you’re selling a service, asking for testimonials and reviews will build your credibility.

Positive words coming from you won’t mean much to your audience; however, if others do it for you, it’s much more powerful.

Scarcity

The next time you’re online shopping, you’ll see everyone use the scarcity principle by showing you a fake countdown. As if you were going to miss out on their amazing deal.

That’s because it works. People want more of the things they cannot have.

The thought of missing out by not purchasing within the limited time can persuade someone to make the purchase.

This is helpful to know so you can be less susceptible to this common sales tactic. See it for yourself, these countdowns will refresh or come back finishing.

Notable quotes from Dr. Cialdini

“A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”

“We will use the actions of others to decide on proper behavior for ourselves, especially when we view those others as similar to ourselves.”

“There is a natural human tendency to dislike a person who brings us unpleasant information, even when that person did not cause the bad news. The simple association with it is enough to stimulate our dislike.”

“The idea of potential loss plays a large role in human decision making. In fact, people seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value.”

“Apparently we have such an automatically positive reaction to compliments that we can fall victim to someone who uses them in an obvious attempt to win our favor.”

“We like people who are similar to us. This fact seems to hold true whether the similarity is in the area of opinions, personality traits, background, or lifestyle.”

“We will use the actions of others to decide on proper behavior for ourselves, especially when we view those others as similar to ourselves.”