Book Summary: Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion By Robert B. Cialdini

Book Summary: Influence: the psychology of persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini.

The author of the book Robert B. Cialdini talks about various psychological tactics, used by salesman, dealers and other business representatives that force us to say yes. The main question that Robert B. Cialdini tries to discuss is: ‘why do offers that get rejected, when asked in a slightly different manner receive a positive answer?’. The idea of examining human behaviour more widely came to mind when the authors’ friend noticed strange human behaviour in her shop. When good quality items were on sale, no one seemed to take interest in them. But when by mistake all prices were two times higher, everything sold out fast. A conclusion was made that people expect to get what they pay for, so in their minds expensive equals better quality. The first chapter is named ‘Weapons of influence’ and starts with an A. Einstein quote that reads: ‘everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler’. Cialdini begins by discussing the motherhood instinct of turkeys. Mother turkeys are very protective of their youngsters, but their mother instinct is triggered not by the smell or look of the chicks, but by the ‘cheep-cheep’ sound they make. The polecat, however, is a natural enemy of turkeys. Even when a stuffed version of a polecat was placed in front of a mother turkey, she instantly attacked. But when a recorded sound was being played from the inside of the stuffed animal, the turkey instantly changes and starts acting with the polecat just like with her chicks. The important thing to realize, is that we have triggers for our actions too. An experiment by Harvard psychologist demonstrates that humans are more likely to be persuaded if they are provided with a reason for their actions.