Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. CialdiniMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The title and the cover of the book have initially made me rather suspicious - I was not up for another self-help book with rather obvious "how-to" strategies for influencing people.
I was very positively surprised. Although I don't find the metaphor of "weapons of influence" a very good one (just like the term "compliance practitioners" - i.e. the ones using those "weapons"), the essence of the book is quite profound. It is the book on social psychology - and on why we make certain choices in interactions with the other people (particularly, when we make decisions fast, without too much considerations).
What influences our everyday decisions (sometimes in manipulative way when performed on us with someone else's goals in mind):
- Reciprocation: we feel entitled to return a favour (can be well used in negotiations)
- Commitment and consistency: we feel we have to appear consistent in our choices (the-foot-in-the-door-technique can well be used in corporate sales)
- Social proof: we mostly act in accordance to what is socially acceptable to do - and when unsure, we look at the others for clues (can be well utilised being a leader - to endorse and promote certain set of behaviour)
- Liking: we cooperate with the ones we like more and the ones who appear more similar to us (can be utilised in corporate sales to strengthen an image of similarity)
- Authority: we obey to someone's wishes more readily when they have some traits of authority for us (titles, clothes, expetise etc)
- Scarcity: we treat things as more attractive when they appear scarce to us
There was a lot of good research from the field of social psychology and some good (sometimes, sadly, horrifying) real-life stories cited there - to illustrate how these factors impact our decisions. Most of those stories and research are very revealing and well-placed.
Overall, a rather easy, a thought-provoking and well-researched read.
No comments:
Post a Comment