Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion By Robert B Cialdini

I recently read Influence (The Psychology of Persuasion) by Robert B Cialdini. Oftentimes, people behave a certain way and the author details the reasons for the same. If we are able to  understand this well, we can also influence others to behave the way we want. 

Levers of Influence: 

Reasoning for a request helps us get the task done. When we are in a line and if we want to use the copier machine, ‘May I use the Xerox machine, because I am in a rush’ helps you skip the line as opposed to ‘May I use the Xerox machine, I have five pages’ – More people tend to respond if you have a reason for your request. The author also writes that higher price is usually perceived as higher value. E.g. half the people were told that the pain reliever cost is $0.10 per unit and the other half $2.50 per unit. Although the same pain reliever was administered, those who paid $2.50/per unit thought that  their pain reliever was more effective. The author also writes about contrast principle and shares an example of a letter a daughter wrote to her parents. The daughter got poor grades, however instead of starting with the grade she got, she wrote a letter which started with, please read the letter sitting down and then outlined a whole list of bad things that happened to her body, hospitalization and more and later ended saying all this is not true. She just got poor grades. If you take things into perspective, poor grades are not that bad. The author also shares another example of a real estate agent who shows a couple of bad houses before showing the one he wants to sell so he sets the mood and communicates the value of the house he wants to sell. 

Reciprocation: 

If someone does something good to us, as humans we usually want to reciprocate it back. I could relate to this. When we were on a boat ride with a few unknown families  the folks running the boat offered everyone some fruits to eat. We were a little late to get on board and one of the families had saved some fruits for us and offered them to us. We were thankful because we thought the fruits would be over by the time we got back in. We had some cookies and this time, we reciprocated and returned the favor – we provided cookies to the family who had saved the fruits for us. They also accepted the cookies. 

On the business front free samples lead to more sales. When you provide someone with a free sample, they become obligated to buy. Though everyone may not buy, this does help improve the overall sales numbers. (e.g. Costco free samples. The data shows that people buy the product because of free samples) 

On the political front, the author writes about President Lyndon B Johnson getting a lot of bills passed when he was a President. The key reason for this is he was able to do a lot of favors when he was in power in the US House and Senate. Later when he became President, people wanted to return his favor. Political contributions by businessmen in hundreds of thousands of dollars also get their favors reciprocated.

Japanese proverb – ‘There’s nothing more expensive than that which comes for free’. Some people refuse to accept gifts as they need to return the favor. 

Liking: 

The author shares examples of a patient – doctor relationship. Only when a patient dislikes a doctor and if things do not go well, there is a likelihood of a doctor being sued by the patient. However, in a great relationship, this seldom happens. There are many reasons for us to like something. For example, we will like the person we are buying from. One key factor for liking a person is physical attractiveness. Though this is something we do not control, this plays a major role for us to like something. This is one reason why attractive people get hired when it comes to places where influence is needed (almost all).  

The second reason is similarity (e.g. if two people play golf or have similar interests, there is Liking and it helps exert influence. The author advises special caution in the presence of requesters who claim ‘Just Like You’ 

Compliments are another way to exert influence. I recently experienced this – when I visited a dentist, I did like his work and complimented him. He did not hear me and asked me again. I told him that he did a very good job. The next time he worked on me, he paid even more attention. Give a compliment behind a deserving person’s back. At a restaurant we hear things like ‘You made a good choice’ or a Hairstylist say  ‘Any hairstyle will look good on you’.  The author shares an example of how his newspaper was delivered by the carrier on the drive-way. The author wrote a note thanking Carl (the person delivering it ) for being conscious of his work and ensuring that the paper did not get wet when being delivered on the driveway. In the previous years, Carl hit the driveway (without the newspaper getting wet) about 75% of the time. This year, it became close to 100%. Compliments work.

Contact and Cooperation: 

The more times we get exposed to something, the more we get influenced by it. A quote attributed to Joseph Goebel , Nazi Propaganda Chief ‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes a truth’. When the classroom is divided into houses  (Blue , Green, Red, Yellow) and students begin rivalry just because of the division. However you put all of them on the same bus, they start cooperating. Research tells us that the bargainer who initiates the handshake is more willing to cooperate , leading to better outcomes for all parties. The author also shared a Good Cop / Bad Cop example, where the Bad cop is very harsh on the guilty , being very rude, beating him up and the Good Cop trying to exert influence over the bad cop requesting him not to be rude – and in turn bargaining with the guilty to make him accept the crime. This strategy works. 

Conditioning and Association: 

We like to be associated with winners. E.g. When our Home team (football / cricket) wins, we say, we won, However when they lose , we say, ‘ They lost’ and we try to disassociate ourselves from the home team. This also applies to political parties/winners. When a particular political party or leader wins, you will see a lot of people being associated with the winner. You also condition. For example, you condition a dog for food. Every time the food is being served, you ring a bell. So when you start ringing the bell, you can measure the saliva on the dog’s mouth. The dog is being conditioned for the food by ringing the bell. We can also see this in schools. We are conditioned for lunch breaks.

Defense: How do we protect ourselves from being influenced? If we like the salesman more than we normally should, we should take a step back and evaluate the merits, circumstances and make an informed decision.

Social Proof:

The author shares the example of ‘Most Popular’ dish or a combo in a restaurant. We as consumers tend to buy this, especially if it is an unknown territory. People are more likely to follow others especially when there is uncertainty.

When we are in danger, sometimes people may not come to help. This is because there is not enough social proof that we are in danger. The best thing to do in such situations (e.g. if we have a Stroke) is to ASK FOR HELP explicitly. If a person is wearing a blue shirt, ask- The person with a blue-shirt- This is an emergency, Can you call the ambulance? This way the request for help is pointed, the person helps and more people follow suit. 

The Story of Shopping Cart:  

Sylvan Goldman acquired several small grocery stores in the year 1934. However he noticed that customers stopped buying when their shopping bags were full.  This inspired him to invent the shopping cart (the earliest form was a folded chair with wheels and a pair of heavy metal baskets). However people were still not using the shopping cart and were using their shopping bags. This did not solve his problem. He then hired shoppers to wheel the carts through the store. His true customers soon followed suit. 

The author also shares similar stories. You go out to a busy street and look at the sky one day, not many will take notice. However the next day, you go to the same street, take 3 other people along with you and all the 4 of you look at the sky, you will have more people around you looking at the sky. The principal of ‘The Many’ works. 

The People Temple: 

The author writes on ‘The People Temple’ a cult-like organization from San Francisco which recruited people from the city’s poor.  In 1977, the group’s undisputed leader Reverend Jim Jones moved the organization from San Francisco to Guyana, South America. The temple was operating out of obscurity. On November 8, 1978 when Congressman Leo R. Ryan of California and three members went to Guyana to investigate the outfit, they were killed. Jim Jones realizing he will be arrested sought to end the temple in his own way, by self destruction of himself and his followers, resulting in a mass suicide. A young woman administered a strawberry flavored poison to her baby and herself. A great majority of the 910 people died this way. The incident at Jonestown resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life, prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This would not have happened in a place like California. People were in isolation in Guyana and they followed the action of others.  The most influential leaders know how to apply the principles of social proof to work in their favor. 

How do we defend ourselves against social proof? The author writes that most of the time we do not want to guard against the information that social proof provides. It is usually valid and valuable. However we need to be cognizant of inaccurate information or data being used. For example, if product reviews lack detail, a lot of first person pronouns and more verbs than nouns. Actors may also be hired across stores to drum up interest for the product (iPhone queues)? This may not be the most relevant example, however this may have been how it started. 

Authority:

Authority is a good way to exert influence. It works and people listen. For example, even at school, if someone is a class monitor the class listens to him/her (though people are all of the same age).  

Chris Robinson played Dr. Rick Webber in the popular daytime TV drama General Hospital during the 1980s. They cast him for  Vicks 44 formula cough medicine ad. The commercial began with the line ‘I am not a doctor, but I play one on TV’ and then offered Robinson’s advice to buy the medicine. The sales for Vicks 44 soared. We also see a lot of doctors in ads these days. The authority of a doctor works. 

Doctors, Police officers all exert authority. When someone is in a Uniform, there is respect created. The author also shares the art of telling a story. He quotes Warren Buffet where he in most of his annual letters starts with a mistake he made and then shares the positive news. It is authentic. When you are vulnerable and share your mistakes (in an honest way), it creates trust. It is important to build that credibility and this is one of the big reasons for Buffet’s success. He just knows how to communicate. The author also shares an example of a waiter (Vince) at a restaurant. Vince is so good at his job that he collects the maximum amount of tips from the restaurant customers. When a customer orders a dish, he says, that dish may not be that great, and recommends something similar (at a cheaper price). This also saves customers money. The trust is built. Then. Vince slowly buys them in and serves wine , desserts and other expensive stuff.  The customers when they leave, tip him generously. A good way to communicate is to share a mistake or also tell the not so good news first, build the trust and work your way through. This can be manipulated, however one has to be genuine. 

The author also writes that appearance , height and more play a role in authority. If a man is well dressed (in a suit) and he jay walks or crosses the street, people tend to follow him. However if the same is done by someone with torn clothes, there is not so much following.

In terms of defense against authority, the author writes that as a general rule, we should trust the authority. They offer value, however we need to make sure we ask if the person is an expert in what he or she is talking about or doing. Do they have credibility and trust? This inner questioning will serve as a good defense.

Scarcity: 

When people find out that something they want to buy is rare or scarce, they are more interested in it. Retailers limit the number of items that will be sold. E.g. Apple iPhones. People stand in long lines because of the fact that they may lose out to buy a new iPhone (because of limited availability during launch). This is the only corner lot available or one of two available corner lots. This is something that we will hear when we purchase real estate lots. “We have a deal, all you have to do is agree to the proposal” is bound to have a better acceptance rate. The author writes that when something becomes less available, our freedom to have it is limited and we experience an increased desire for it. If you tell a child not to do something, they are more inclined to do it (because of the restrictions you impose). Students who learn about age restrictions to read a book are more likely and interested to read it compared to those whose access is not restricted.  ‘But you are free’ technique is a better way to approach things. E.g- But you are free to decline/refuse/say no or do as you wish. 

New Scarcity & Civil Conflicts: 

When something is available and it becomes a new scarcity, there is a normal tendency from people to want more. This is also the reason why we have civil unrest and conflicts. E.g. After World War II, the life of black population in the US improved compared to what it was earlier. However leading to the 1960s , new restrictions were put in place (specific housing for Black etc) and this caused the civil unrest in the 1960’s. I could also relate to this with the conflicts in Sri Lanka. Prior to the 1960s the restrictions for the Tamil Communities in the region may not have been high as the British were ruling. However once Sri Lanka got independence and the British left , new restrictions were imposed. This ended up in a Civil War. We can also relate this to kids. When kids always have something, and we take it away , this leads to a revolt from them.  Research shows that parents who enforce discipline inconsistently produce more rebellious children. The author also writes about an experiment where scarce cookies were rated higher than the abundant cookies and newly scarce cookies were rated even higher. Cookies that became scarce by social demand are rated even higher than those that become scarce by mistake. Let’s say we are buying a house, the seller may say a new physician and his wife may be moving into the neighborhood or are interested in buying this place. Suddenly we became more interested in the place in the fear of losing out.  Competition could make a resource scarce. 

On June 14, 2001 almost all US soldiers changed their standard field headgear to black berets previously worn only by US Army Rangers (which was an earned distinction for them). This was done in a well-intentioned way by the then U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki to unify the troops and boost morale. However this backfired as the U.S Army Rangers did not appreciate this as the color was their earned distinction. To resolve this, Eric came up with a brilliant solution. He allowed Rangers to select a new color of their choice and they chose buckskin tan that would be unique to Ranger Berets and they proudly wear until today.

In terms of a strategy against Scarcity, we need to understand that our typical reaction to scarcity hinders our ability to think.  We need to recall that the scarce cookies weren’t any tastier.

Commitment & Consistency:

When people commit to something, they usually want to stick to it and want to be consistent with it. The author also writes about the foot in the door technique. You get in a small way and slowly grow (Land and Expand in Sales). We also see this in filling out web forms. E.g In the first page, they do not ask a lot of information. You are just given 2-3 fields to fill and when you click next you are presented with more information. Written declarations are used as commitment devices. When we write down something, we tend to stick to it. 

We can use the foot in the door technique to manipulate a person’s self image or you can use them to turn citizens into public servants or prospects to customers and prisoners to collaborators. E.g. Many prisoners expressed antipathy for the Chinese Communists but at the same time praised them for the fine job they had done in China. Others stated that though communism won’t work in America, it is good for Asia. You slowly change beliefs. 

When it comes to goals, when we write down our goals, we tend to be more focussed on them. The author also writes about sharing goals publicly. When we share goals publicly we know that more people are watching it and we tend to stick and focus on achieving our goals. This is also a tactic used in Weight Loss Programs. 

The author also shares a note from one of the readers who asked Fred DeLuca the Founder and CEO of Subway Restaurants on why he wrote and publicly shared the prediction of 10,000 stores by 2001. – Fred responded, If I put my goals down in writing and make them known to the world, I am committed to achieving them. Needless to say, he has exceeded them (Subway today has over 38,000 stores).

When you get people to commit to things you are bound to have better results. (e.g. If we sign up for a doctor’s appointment and we are told that if we are not coming, we should cancel it as it will help other patients, and if we commit to the same when making an appointment, we tend to call back or make an effort to cancel the appointment). The author also writes that when we go through a great deal of pain to attain something we tend to value it more.  Reminders of commitments can also spur people to be consistent with their past commitments.

If we want our children not to lie, a strong threat that if you lie I will tape your mouth shut will work only when parents are around. However it needs to be done in such a way that the children need to understand and have the belief that lying is wrong. This way, even when parents are not around, they do not lie.

Low-Balling: The author writes about Low-Balling where we are low-balled (provided a lot of advantages) to buy something and then as we are closer to the purchase, the advantages are removed. You could also call it ‘Give It and Take it Away’ strategy. When such a thing happens, we need to be clear that we have been low-balled and be prepared to walk out of the deal. However this can be effective for Public Goods or to create public spirited citizens. For example, people may agree to save energy and their names and pictures be published in newspapers in return for the same.  They are low-balled into the conservation commitment. Later when it is taken away, they still want to conserve energy and feel good about their public spirited efforts. 

As a part of defense, we need to make sure we are not foolishly consistent if we had given prior commitments and we do not want people to remind us of our foolish commitments and take us for a ride. We also need to ensure that we are not low-balled and need to be very clear about our needs and wants. 

Unity:

We influence (That person is one of us) – could be from the same neighborhood, same village, town and city. This causes Unity and also makes people react in a favorable way. Shared identity creates influence. The author also writes about Unity in politics and Unions. By being a part of a certain group or union , causes people to behave a certain way. They want to protect their interests and protect the members of their group or Union even if they have made mistakes. Unity also works in sports where we cheer for a team because it is our home team. If people live in the same house, or are together for a long time, Unity is created and we tend to care for them more. Being in the same bloodline, same family is an ultimate form of Unity. Power of kinship also exerts influence. People will vote a certain way because their grand-kids want them to do so. Local or direct contacts with people could shift elections significantly. When people act in Unitary ways they become unitized. Mother Teresa saw her mother help a lot of people. Her mother would feed people in need at their homes. She would do it selflessly. This served as a big inspiration for Mother Teresa later to serve the world. People learn by seeing things.

Music is something that unites a lot of people. When there is music, there is influence exerted and people tend to do things that they would otherwise not do. Rarely do people think analytically while music is prominent. A trick – If you can’t make your case to your audience with facts, sing it to them. You get acceptance. This is also one of the reasons why a lot of advertisements have music.  This works well for products where less thinking is required (e.g food products, snacks). However when it comes to safety , medical and other products music may not work that well. If there is suffering together , it also causes unity (if people were in the jail together) or they had to go through hardship. Walking, Running, and shared suffering also create Unity. If we co-create something, we tend to get more attached to it (e.g IKEA Furniture). You get people to co-create with you and create ownership, there is unity and great work.  However the experience of threat causes Unity to break.

Instant Influence:

The author writes that oftentimes when we make decisions, it is not based on complete analysis. Sometimes, we do not also have the time for detailed analysis and we need to make decisions based on what is available at that point in time. There could be a big queue to enter the night-club, however once you get in, there may not be a lot of people. We just make a decision based on what we see. Compliance practitioners could trick us and we got to be wary of the same. 

My Take on the Book:

Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion was a great read. One thing I did love about this book is that the author shared common occurrences we deal with on a daily basis and analyzes the reasoning for the decisions we make. This way we understand the Psychology behind those decisions. I think we can also apply these in Business and Marketing. When someone tries to influence us or forces us into a decision, we can take a step back , think and decide if that’s the path we want to take.  Thanks Dr. Robert B Cialdini for your great book.