Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition)

Influence: Science and Practice is an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say “yes” to another's request).

Written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research, Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and in other positions inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say “yes.” Widely used in classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion.

Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.

Persuasive speaking is an important part of what I do and I am very successful at it. The ability to persuade others has been very hard to pass on to employees and other speakers who have asked me how I do it. This book allowed me to look at what I do and see how I can transfer that ability to others. It has also helped me see some of the tricks of persuasion that snare the unwary and how they are used by unscrupulous people.
Cialdini not only makes his case by carefully presenting the techniques and the experiments on which they are based, but also details how they are used and how you can use them. For each technique he also indicates how to know when it is being used against you and how to resist the influence.
A highly recommended book and one of the best on this subject, Cialdini's work is often quoted in other books on influence and persuasion.


Influence: Science and Practice, is a must read!   August 2, 2003
Peter A. Schaible (Brewster, MA United States)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. has sold over a quarter million copies and has been published in nine different languages. Perhaps not surprising for a psychology book, but this is neither a dry college text nor a "pop" how-to book.

Cialdini is a professor of psychology at Arizona State University. He has studied why we buy things, often without much thought, and has broken down our "short-cut" (read knee-jerk) actions into six categories: Reciprocation, Consistency, Social Proof, Liking, Authority and Scarcity.

Reciprocation is the experience we have when a member of a religious sect hands us a flower in an airport and then asks for a donation. We don't really want to, but we feel a social obligation to reciprocate. Same thing happens whenever we get an unsolicited gift.

Consistency is about behaving in a way that is congruent with the expectations of others. What those around us think is true of us is enormously important in determining what we ourselves think is true.

Social Proof is the influence that peer groups have on us. Cialdini quotes Cavett Roberts's advice to sales trainees, "Since 95 percent of people are imitators and only five percent initiators, people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof we can offer."

Liking is demonstrated by several traits and behaviors, but the bottom line is this: people have to buy into you personally before they buy your product. People do business with people they like.

Authority is the demonstrated influence of anyone who sets himself up as knowing more than we do or having greater experience. This can be an Army general or a crafty restaurant waiter or any other self-proclaimed authority figure.

Scarcity is demonstrated by the greater desirability of the product when it is harder to get or more exclusive.

As Cialdini says, "The joy is not in experiencing a scarce commodity but in possessing it. It is important that we do not confuse the two." Hence the scarcity tactics used by many sales people.

Cialdini devotes a lot of space to explaining both how we can use these principles to influence others, and how, jujitsu style, we can defend ourselves against all this.

I hope this influences you to read this amazing book.


Outstanding   January 31, 2001
Kevin Hogan (Minnesota)
62 out of 71 found this review helpful

Edition after edition. They all sell. Why? Because this is a superbly written treatise on the subject of influence. This book and Aronson's Social Animal both rate among my 50 favorite books of all time. Cialdini's influence was enormously influential in my work in the field of persuasion and you can't say enough wonderful things about this text. Cialdini writes with clarity and authority about one of the most important subjects in the world today. A mega-winner. I have bought dozens of copies of this book for clients. It sets the standard. Kevin Hogan, ...