"Influence", the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes" - and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book. You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader - and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of "Influence" will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.
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The material in Cialdini's Influence is a proverbial gold mine.--Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology
About the Author
Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. holds dual appointments at Arizona State University. He is a W. P. Carey Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Regents' Professor of Psychology, and has been named Distinguished Graduate Research Professor. Dr. Cialdini is also president of Influence At Work, an international training and consulting company based on his groundbreaking body of research on the ethical business applications of the science of influence.
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First Sentence
I GOT A PHONE CALL ONE DAY FROM A FRIEND WHO HAD RECENTLY opened an Indian jewelry store in Arizona. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I GOT A PHONE CALL ONE DAY FROM A FRIEND WHO HAD RECENTLY opened an Indian jewelry store in Arizona. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
83 of 85 people found the following review helpful
By William Cohen
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have been entertaining my friends at dinner parties with this book. Cialdini, who admits to being a bit of a sucker himself, shows all the ways we've been manipulated over the years by small gestures and situations contrived by salesmen.
There are so many good stories. The one about Joe Girard, a car salesman who sends out each month 13,000 cards every month to former customers with a card saying, "I like you". Surely people wouldn't fall for that? Yes they do, he made more than $200,000 a year selling cars. He's in the Guinness Book of Records.
There's the story of how the Chinese got the American prisoners in the Korean War to betray their country by setting them essay questions. There's accounts of the trouble we can get into when we insist on being consistent or make a vague commitment to supporting a cause.
Cialdini exposes loads of sales techniques and has some fascinating insights into what motivates us.
As a self-employed person I'm really grateful for this knowledge. This is a book that everyone should read.
There are so many good stories. The one about Joe Girard, a car salesman who sends out each month 13,000 cards every month to former customers with a card saying, "I like you". Surely people wouldn't fall for that? Yes they do, he made more than $200,000 a year selling cars. He's in the Guinness Book of Records.
There's the story of how the Chinese got the American prisoners in the Korean War to betray their country by setting them essay questions. There's accounts of the trouble we can get into when we insist on being consistent or make a vague commitment to supporting a cause.
Cialdini exposes loads of sales techniques and has some fascinating insights into what motivates us.
As a self-employed person I'm really grateful for this knowledge. This is a book that everyone should read.
142 of 151 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The human mind is a wonderful thing, capable of the most wonderful thought processes and ideas. Yet the brain is on automatic pilot for most situations. That allows the conscious mind to really focus. The drawback is that some people will use our conscious inattention to sneak one by us, like a fastball pitch to a hitter looking for a change-up.
Influence, the book, is very useful in this regard, because it uses interesting examples to help us be aware of our own tendency to let automatic pilot thinking take over.
Since I first read this book many years ago, I have been watching to see if the circumstances I see support or invalidate Professor Cialdini's points. By a margin of about 9 to 1, Cialdini wins.
Given that we are easily manipulated by our desire to be and to appear to be consistent with our past actions and statements, swayed by what the crowd is doing, and various other mechanisms, the only way we can be armed against unscrupulous marketing is to be as aware of these factors are the marketers are.
At the same time, I appreciated how the book explores the ethics of when and how much to apply these principles. Without this discussion, the book would come off like Machiavelli's, The Prince, for marketing organizations. That would have been a shame. By dealing with the ethics, Professor Cialdini creates the opportunity to educate us intellectually and morally. Well done!
I have read literally dozens of books about marketing and selling, and I find this one to be the most helpful in thinking about how influence actually works. Even if you will never work in marketing, you will benefit from reading this book in order to better focus your purchases and actions where they fit your needs rather than someone else's.
97 of 106 people found the following review helpful
By tomsk77
Format:Paperback
I bought this book for two reasons - one to make myself more alert to sales techniques, and two to see if there are any useful insights to glean that could be applied to other areas of life.
On both counts the book delivers. Having recently been pitched to at work by a media tracking agency and nearly taken the bait (didn't in the end) I immediately recognised the use of reciprocity and scarcity to try and harry me into signing up. That alone was worth buying the book for, and I will definitely use that insight in future.
In addition, the chapter on consistency is also very useful. I've been involved in trying (and failing) to get people behind certain campaigns in the past. As such the discussion about getting people to make small commitments to establish a self image which they then feel the need to act consistently with both rang true on a personal level, and seems like something worth trying out in future.
So why only three stars? For one I did not find elements of the book convincing. The section dealing with newspaper coverage of suicides is the bit that really troubles me. Some of the data seems both to be limited and have been interpreted quite loosely. I would need a lot more convincing that the stats are being interpreted reasonably, it looks far too rough and ready. Given that this book is really about behavioural biases surely it should be extra careful about interpretaion of data as this is something we humans tend to be very bad at, always looking for patterns that aren't there and so on. That then leads me to query the hypothesis built on top of the data and to be honest I find myself not buying it. That also makes me query whether other chapters suffer from similar flaws.... Read more ›
On both counts the book delivers. Having recently been pitched to at work by a media tracking agency and nearly taken the bait (didn't in the end) I immediately recognised the use of reciprocity and scarcity to try and harry me into signing up. That alone was worth buying the book for, and I will definitely use that insight in future.
In addition, the chapter on consistency is also very useful. I've been involved in trying (and failing) to get people behind certain campaigns in the past. As such the discussion about getting people to make small commitments to establish a self image which they then feel the need to act consistently with both rang true on a personal level, and seems like something worth trying out in future.
So why only three stars? For one I did not find elements of the book convincing. The section dealing with newspaper coverage of suicides is the bit that really troubles me. Some of the data seems both to be limited and have been interpreted quite loosely. I would need a lot more convincing that the stats are being interpreted reasonably, it looks far too rough and ready. Given that this book is really about behavioural biases surely it should be extra careful about interpretaion of data as this is something we humans tend to be very bad at, always looking for patterns that aren't there and so on. That then leads me to query the hypothesis built on top of the data and to be honest I find myself not buying it. That also makes me query whether other chapters suffer from similar flaws.... Read more ›
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Book! A book you will keep going back to again and again. Worth more than 5 Stars.
2 May 2007
By J. George
Format:Paperback
I've just finished this book. Wow it was mind blowing!
I'm not going to reiterate all the brilliant reviews made about this book, suffice to say it is a useful guide for going into negotiations and other situations were undue and unfair influence might occur. For example, how to deal with dirty influence tricks or even just pushy salesmen, estate agents or recruitment consultants - you can see the tatics that are being used and side step them or use their tricks against them for your own advantage.
An amazing book. Read it for your own sake.
I'm not going to reiterate all the brilliant reviews made about this book, suffice to say it is a useful guide for going into negotiations and other situations were undue and unfair influence might occur. For example, how to deal with dirty influence tricks or even just pushy salesmen, estate agents or recruitment consultants - you can see the tatics that are being used and side step them or use their tricks against them for your own advantage.
An amazing book. Read it for your own sake.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Influence- the Psychology of Perusuasion is a book should be read by...
It is a very inspiring book and it gives you an in depth understanding of how persuasion works, while the words used are simple and easy to understand
Published 18 days ago by Lai Kam Wah
5.0 out of 5 stars
Influence
Second time I have had this book. This time, you can rest assured that I won't be lending it out!
Published 1 month ago by alfie
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best book in the Field
Cialdini's Influence is the best book in the field of influence by an enormous margin. I particularly like the rigour and the practical applications. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jonathan Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
How to defend yourself against being influenced or manipulated
It is a book on defence. Now when I listen to a sales talk I recognise what they are designed to do. But the book has not made me more influential though.
Published 1 month ago by Viktar Zaitsau
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life of a salesman
I work in sales and whilst not a double glazing sort of chap, I found that this book was full of useful information. Read more
Published 2 months ago by P. J. Coffey
3.0 out of 5 stars
This is an okay read and sets out some good principles but a bit too...
I have been reading a number of books on NLP and non-verbal communications and this was mentioned in one of these. Read more
Published 2 months ago by G. Carson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly brilliant, if you run a business or are in sales you have to...
My business coach recommended I read this book, six truly brilliant concepts which when
applied work brilliantly. Read more
applied work brilliantly. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S_Rathling
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent conspectus of persuasion techniques.
A professor of psychology and marketing writes authoritatively, amusingly and informatively about techniques of persuasion surrounding us every day. Highly recommended.
Published 2 months ago by Crossbencher
5.0 out of 5 stars
We got the product that we ordered on time.
We got the product that we ordered on time. Need I say more? Actually I need seven more words - that should do it!
Published 4 months ago by Stephen Roper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great !
I am half way through the book and I still love it. The clear descriptions and the example help you see and understand the tools he is presenting. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pen Name
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