The Psychology Influence of Persuasion

I just completed one of the Top 10 Books In My 2009 List - The Psychology Influence of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.

This is a classic book that I think all marketers around the world should be reading. And, I'm not the only one who said that. Even Journal of Marketing Research says...

"For marketers, this book is among the most important books written in the last ten years!!"

This is a no nonsense book. Here is what briefly entailed in the book & what I've learned with respect to the principles of persuasion:

1)Expensive = Good - Use to overcome the stereotype, who thinks expensive means good quality (So, who says, we should sell ourselves down or in business compete on price!!)

2) Contrast principle - Sell the high price item first, because when it comes to selling low price item later, it will not seems as high, in comparison (applicable in selling real estate by introducing expensive inflated run-down houses before presenting the actual house for sale, clothing and even automobiles, and also applicable reduce your parent's anger when you fail your exam - yes, it's on page16, attractive women magazines rated lower)

3) Law of reciprocation - get yourself a coke & get one for your friend too, free sample, offer coke then raffles tickets for sale, returning favors,

4) The power of the word "Because" when asking for favor

5) Rejection & re-treat techniques (submitting high proposal & lowering it down later)

6)Commitment & Consistency (Greet everyone with this.... "How are you feeling today?", and everything following the reply will be consistent, responsibilities when requested, consistency by action taken, how toy manufacturer get you to buy again after the Christmas or New Year season even after you've exhausted your budget for your children, how American POW claimed Communist is better, Amway "writing it down principles", public commitment = lasting commitment, lowball techniques)

7) Social proof (Canned laughter, watching group of peers reacting in a movie, influence by ppl just like you, courtroom, pluralistic ignorance phenomenon on the Catherine Genovese's story where she was attacked & stab 3 separate attack over 35 minutes watched by 38 respectable law abiding citizen but no one take action to call the policy, direct responsibility will get ppl to do the things he need to do, imitating behaviour of ppl just like you, the influence of headline story in newspaper on car & plane crash - calle dthe Werther effect

8) The Friendly Thief principles - physical attraction similarity in are of opinions, personality traits, background, or life-style & that explain why conjoint efforts toward common goals bridged rancorous rift between groups, weatherman pay price for nature curve ball due to the power of association, the use of word "We" and "They" changes to avoid association with public image)

9) Authority principles (Milgram's shock test 450-volt shock to audience, Dressing - clothes & trapping, Title (such as Dr., Judge, Professor or Commissioner, 12% daily-medication error happens given US Helaht Care Fianncing Administration estimate,

10) Law of Scarcity (rebellious action such as Romeo & Juliet and how the couple's feelings & devotion develop so quickily, also why young women date old man, how competition drive scarcity, psychoogical reactance words such as "censored, restricted availability, rare, banned, exclusivity", scare-supply news are not generally available information, ABC's Barry Biller (commonly known as the "miracle mogul" in the TV and motion-picture industry pay USD1 million for learning this principle, setting 5 appointments for a car sale

These are the 10 things I learned from this book that I could extract out. It's a 300 page book & I could list them all here. So, you can go and get yours at local bookstores.

I'll be back to amend this page for grammar error & to make it easier to read, when I have the time. I felt I remembered more when I write this down and recap it after reading the book. I think I should do this for the next 9 books that I'm going to read this year. So, not only I learned, but the reader of this blog will learn something too... without reading the book. :)

If you like the post, please leave your comment below because I read every comment posted here.

Cheers,
Kian

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