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Influence: Science and Practice (4th Edition) (Paperback) (平装)
by Robert B. Cialdini
| Category:
Business, Sales, Influence |
| Market price: ¥ 248.00
MSL price:
¥ 228.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This is a superbly written treatise on the subject of influence! Robert Cialdini discusses six ways of influencing people - reciprocation, commitment, social power, authority, contrast, and scarcity. |
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AllReviews |
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JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
For marketers, it is among the most important books written in the last 10 years. |
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JOURNAL OF RETAILING (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
INFLUENCE should be required reading for all business majors. |
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Mollie Marti (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
It would be rare to find a social psychologist who does not view Cialdini as the master of persuasion and influence. I'm no exception. Not only is his knowledge comprehensive, but it is presented in an understandable and compelling way. This is why this book is in its Fourth Edition.
Any serious student of persuasion and influence, theoretical or applied, needs this book in their library. Becoming familiar with Cialdini's six principles of influence (reciprocity, consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity) will broaden your world . . . and when applied, increase your bottom line.
You also will want to read Kevin Hogan's books, including "The Psychology of Persuasion" and "The Science of Influence". I'd also recommend, especially for applied sales and influence practitioners, Dave Lakhani's more recent book, "Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want".
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
I read this book a long time ago for a Persuasion and Rhetoric class and it's still on my shelf today. If you ever think about going into conflict management, negotiation, or mediation, it's extremely useful to identify different "dirty tricks" that can be used to sabotage sincere efforts toward a common goal.
Ok, so that's for the academics. What about the common bystander? This book is imperative to understanding the little tricks of the trade that get you to buy that car, give that donation, or buy those Girl Scout cookies. It's written in a very easy, engaging way and is great knowledge for a smart shopper. Once you read the tactics in this book, you start to see them everywhere and look at sales tactics in a whole new light. Definitely a must-read for the educated consumer. |
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Joseph Davis (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
Polished and fine-tuned in its fourth edition, not a sentence or word out of place or without impact, Influence is packed with powerful facts and arguments relating to important areas of all of our lives. This book should be taught in high schools, perhaps as part of a course on smart, responsible consumerism. But it is about much more than how to avoid buying a vacuum cleaner or magazine subscription you don't need or want. At the foundation of the book is information and enlightenment about human psychology -traits, tendencies, susceptibilities and strengths, that we share with each other as a species. This knowledge applies to all areas of life, not just to our role as consumers. Think of a relative or friend who seems to have terrible luck with intimate relationships. This book will probably explain why. Think of that teacher in school who always was able to maintain control, but rarely had to raise his or her voice. Or think of the phonies, game players, sycophants and incompetents you may have worked with who survive or even prosper when you would be fired the first time you tried one of their antics. Influence can help you understand how they do it. It will also help you analyze your personal life situation and behaviours, and facilitate positive change if that is needed.
As the book entertainingly illustrates, we are all subject to various influences, whether we are aware of them or not, because of the vagaries of human psychology. For example, we all use shortcut thinking these days, almost by necessity. Cialdini shows how 'compliance professionals' feed on this, and how you can protect yourself against them without completely throwing out valuable psychological coping devices such as shortcut thinking. You will also become familiar with concepts such as the power of reciprocation, low-balling, rejection then retreat, the pressure to be consistent (the personality can be described as a power structure addicted to consistency), pluralistic ignorance (in an emergency situation the more strangers around, the less the chances are that you will be helped), and psychological reactance theory. There are also some great quotes (e.g. from Sir Joshua Reynolds 'There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the labour of thinking.') and great anecdotes (my favourite is about Joe Pine's encounter with Frank Zappa).
Some of Cialdini's knowledge was gained by going undercover in places like car lots, realty offices and restaurants. Much was learned through painful experience. Cialdini admits to being an enduring mark for confidence artists of all persuasions, and generously shares his 'fleecings' with the reader. All of his points and arguments are backed up with relevant examples and lots of data. Cialdini also invites the reader to share his or her own experiences that illustrate or contradict his findings, and the book is studded with instructive experiences we can all relate to. I am going to write to him with an example of bizarre 'hurry up or lose' tactics used by a famous cult that would fit in the chapter entitled 'Scarcity: The Rule of the Few'. I'll update this review when I get a response.
P.S. Prof. Cialdini responded to my feedback promptly and generously. He shared the following facinating anecdote concerning the Heaven's Gate cult: "Two months before the Heaven's Gate commune members committed suicide, they spent several thousand dollars for a high-powered telescope because they had heard rumors about a small object (which they suspected was a spaceship) that appeared to be trailing the Hale-Bopp comet. When they complained to the salesman that the telescope showed them no trace of the mysterious object, he explained that there never was a trailing object, only a rumor based on a blip of static in one very early and poor quality image of the comet. How did they respond to this direct evidence against their group's unanimous and firmly held beliefs about a spaceship carrying their extraterrestrial contacts? They decided to continue believing in the spaceship's existence but to stop looking at the evidence: They turned in the telescope for a refund."
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Robert Steele (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
I disagree with the complaints about this being a repeat of earlier versions. "4th Edition" is quite clear. This is an updated easy to read version of a highly-regarded seminal work whose value has been proven over time.
While intended for students of psychology and for practitioners of the black art of marketing (selling over-priced unnecessary "stuff" to the unwitting), I regard this text as a very helpful reference for the new warriors, the practitoners of Information Operations and within that larger discipline, Strategic Communication & Public Diplomacy.
The six "principles" of influence, reciprocation, consistency, social proof (e.g. canned laughter), liking, authority, and scarcity, each receive their own chapter with annedotes and study questions.
Most interesting to me would be an international variation of this book, one that discussed the nuances of influence in other cultures, inclusive of family ties and prevalent sterotypes.
This book is applicable to business, evangelism, foreign affairs, defense, homeland security, and just about any field where interaction with humans is called for, and the mission demands the elicitation of collaborative behavior from others.
Good index, notes, and illustrations. Well-presented. |
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J. Hoelscher (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
Right away, buyers should know that Cialdini has produced a less-expensive version of this book. "Influence: Science and Practice" is designed as a textbook for classroom instruction. So, it has things like chapter summaries and questions that can be assigned as homework. However, the other book "Influence: the psychology of persuasion," is designed for a more general audience. The content is basically the same, but it omits the classroom-oriented layout. It's also cheaper. If you are a student who is buying textbooks online, this is probably what you (or rather, your professors) want. If not, get the other one.
Both books focus on persuasive tactics. This is not a theoretical work trying to lay out a strategy of communication, like "Getting to Yes." This is a toolkit, designed to give the reader a selection of tools for specific circumstances. That is not to say that Cialdini lacks an understanding of more strategic thinking, just that it isn't the focus here.
The underlying theory is that people tend to be hardwired to respond to certain stimuli in predictable ways. The book tells you what those stimuli are, that is, how to push people's buttons. And it does a very good job, which is why Cialdini has demand for two versions of the same book.
I'm not going to list all of the tactics because the table of contents does that and, because they're detailed, they're difficult to understand without reading the book. But, they all have some basis in science and their effectiveness is empirically demonstrable, so you can trust that they work. The best part of this book, for me, was becoming more conscious of how others, including politicians, advertisers, and bosses, try to manipulate me. Cialdini deserves respect just for opening people's eyes, but he goes a step further by explaining ways to deal with the constant manipulation that is inherent in human communication.
The only problems I see are that the textbook version (this one) has a better index in the editions I compared, so it makes a better reference tool and that the book is written from an American cultural perspective. That's fine, as most of his audience is American, but, and this is my M.A. in Int'l Relations talking, I wonder how well some of these tactics would be recieved by people from other cultural backgrounds. In particular, notions of authority (which constitute a chapter) vary widely. Just a heads up. This is still a "must read" for people who want to know how to persuade or protect themselves against other's persuasion. |
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John C (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
Cialdini explains how we have become dependent on shortcuts to remain healthy and functional in a world of increasing complexity. Such shortcuts can work either for or against us, depending on the instigator. In particular, he outlines six or so of the most commonly manipulated varieties (fraudulently triggered, often by the marketing industry, but also by politicians or even inadvertantly by friends, or indeed ourselves). Examples abound, supported by well-documented studies and bringing the concepts gracefully to a practical level, ranging from eating cookies to buying vacuum cleaners to contemplating romantic rivals.
Advice for defending ourselves is also given, as summarized briefly here at the end of the book with a few (well, sorta smug in this case) examples:
"We should refuse to watch TV programs that use canned laughter. If we see a bartender begin a shift by salting the tip jar with a bill or two, that bartender should get no tip from us. If, after waiting in line outside a nightclub, we discover from the amount of available space that the wait was designed to impress passerby with false evidence of the club's popularity, we should leave..."
As far as the six main vulnerable points of influence are concerned, here is a summary:
1. Reciprocation. When a business gives us a gift (even a worthless little trinket), we are prone to an overwhelming feeling of obligation to return the favor with some sort of purchase. Or as a slight variation on this, the business might start out with an unrealistic offer and then apply a bargain, causing us to see this as a "concession" worth repaying in kind.
2. Commitment and consistency. If someone tricks us into committing to something (especially publically), we are likely to follow through, even if we realize soon afterwards that we were deceived. This tendency is especially strong if cancelling the commitment would violate a belief or reputation we hold tightly (i.e., force us to be inconsistent). The hazing process for fraternities operates by the same principle, making us feel guilty for leaving something that we overcame some ridiculous hurdle to achieve membership in.
3. Social proof. When we are unsure about the appropriateness of an action, we will often look to others to see what they do, assuming it's correct if (and only if) we see others doing it. Many crime victims are ironically _least_ safe in crowds, because passerby hesitate to act unless "everyone else" acts first. The tendency is stronger the more uncertain we are, and the more similar we are to those we are watching.
4. Liking. We are much more likely to comply to the wishes of someone we experience a positive feeling towards, even if this feeling is fake and fleeting. We are susceptible to such features as physical attractiveness, similarity, and associations (for example, connections with celebrities).
5. Authority. We will often blindly follow the advice or orders of someone we consider a superior in some way, in title or repuation or otherwise. This phenomenon explains why the majority of nurses fail to catch mistakes in prescriptions written by doctors. One amusing example offered is of a nurse who quite literally carried out orders to treat an ear infection by administering droplets to (abbreviated by the doctor) "R ear." The clincher here is that the patient was also neutralized by a sense of the nurse's superiority and failed to object!
6. Scarcity. We will lustfully pursue the most ludicrous things when they are in short supply, especially if they are in demand and reducing quickly in availability. For example, we will often buy something impulsively if we sense that a competitor is eyeing the same item.
So how do we know when and how to fight these tendencies? Sometimes they are working for our best interests, when they are correlated with actual desirability or utility. But often they are not, being concocted by someone wanting our money or time. Cialdini offers tips on how to distinguish between these two possibilities. Often it's as simple as learning to detect when one (or more) of these tendencies is triggered and using this chance to think twice, before we fall prey to a "click, whirr" response. With a wealth of real-life examples, this book makes it that much easier to get a head start!
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Donald Mitchell (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
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.
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Stephen Pletko (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-19 00:00>
This well-referenced book first published in 1985 and authored by Robert Cialdini, an experimental social psychologist, deals with the dynamics of interpersonal influence processes.
Specifically, this book deals with the compliance of "automatic influence" which Cialdini defines by a question: "Just what are the factors [or principles] that cause one person to say yes [without thinking first] to another person?"
The principles mentioned in the above question are the subject of this book and, in fact, this book is organized around them. There are six principles discussed. Cialdini calls these principles "weapons of influence."
Each principle or "weapon" has a well written and thorough chapter devoted to it. Parts of these chapters are occasionally humerous. As well, each chapter has plenty of examples to illustrate each principle.
However, just knowing these principles is not enough! You have to know the practical techniques or "compliance tactics" that are based on these principles in order to get the desired result of automatic compliance. This book is packed with these techniques as well as examples of how they're used.
Why bother to learn these principles and techniques? Answer: to protect yourself. Protect yourself? From whom? To protect yourself from "compliance professionals" (for example, sales people, fund raisers, and advertisers) who utilize these principles and their associated tactics to help them get their own way. Where money is at stake, having them get their own way could be costly. Cialdini suggests ways of thinking to defend yourself against such people after you realize a specific technique is being used on you.
Of course, the compliance pros aren't the only ones who know about and use these principles and tactics. We all use them and fall victim to them to some degree in our interaction with neighbors, friends, spouses, and so on.
A handy feature of this book is the summary sections at the end of each chaper. These effectively highlight the main ideas in each chapter.
After reading this book, you'll be able to answer questions such as these:
(1) Imagine you're a lawyer representing someone who broke his leg in a store and is suing the store for $25,000.00 in damages. What would you do during the trial to make the jury see that this amount is reasonable, even a small, reward?
(2) Why is the "free" sample really not so free?
(3) What is there about written promises that make them so effective?
(4) Which naturally occurring conditions of city life reduce the chances of bystander intervention in an emergency?
(5) What is the evidence that we tend to say "yes" to similar others in an automatic fashion?
(6) What is the relationship between size and status in our society? Why did this relationship develop in this way?
(7) During one mid-1980's Christmas season the most sought after toy in the U.S. and Canada was the Cabbage Patch doll, which was said to be in very limited supply. Why were people reported to have spent as much as 35 times the regular price for this doll at public auctions to own a doll that cost much less at department stores?
(8) How can each weapon of influence be used in an exploitive way and how can each be used in a non-exploitive way?
In conclusion, don't be easy prey to compliance professionals! Learn about the principles or weapons of influence and their associated compliance tactics. Most importantly, learn the ways to defend yourself against such weapons and tactics. This book explains all this and more!!
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