Author: Robert B. Cialdini
Robert B. Cialdini
Reading time: 29 minutes
Synopsis
The Psychology of Persuasion (1997) gives a deep look at how people convince others. How do people make us say yes? How do salespeople, advertisers, and tricksters manipulate us? Knowing this psychology helps us to become better at convincing people. It also protects us from people trying to trick us.
Learn why people are so easy to influence. And how you can best protect yourself from manipulation.
What you will learn: How to spot manipulation – and fight back.
Have you ever bought a vacuum cleaner at your door that you didn’t really need? Have you extended your phone contract even when you didn’t want to? Have you given money to a cause you don’t understand? These things happen. Salespeople, agents, and charity workers know how to trick and influence us. We often don’t even notice it.
Robert B. Cialdini knows this problem well. He always felt that he often fell for other people’s tricks. So, he decided to study why people do what others want them to do. He did some experiments himself. But he also wanted to see manipulation from the other side. He spoke to experts in getting people to agree, like salespeople. He even secretly joined ad agencies and sales companies. He learned their methods there.
These summaries explain six basic psychological rules of manipulation. They also show the main persuasion methods based on these rules.
You will learn:
- what to do about salespeople who are too friendly,
- why 38 people watched a murder and no one called the police, and
- how scouts can trick you by selling cookies.
Blink 1 – Our brain likes shortcuts and uses automatic actions.
We buy things we don’t need just because they are on sale. We let people talk us into helping them move, even with a backache. We take on tasks even when we don’t have time.
Why are we so easy to influence? Our world is very complex. This is a big reason why. To handle this, our brain has developed certain automatic ways of working. This means we don’t have to think through every situation again. We can make decisions quickly. These methods act like shortcuts for our brain. They help it reach a goal faster. Our world is getting more complex, with more information available. So, these automatic reactions will become even more important in the future.
We can see a clear example of this in animals. When a young turkey in North America makes its special ‘cheep-cheep’ sound, the mother turkey cares for it automatically. The ‘cheep-cheep’ sound makes the mother turkey care for her young without fail. This action is very important. If the young ones do not make the sound, the mother turkey turns away. She might even attack her children. In an experiment by animal researcher M. W. Fox, even a stuffed skunk – normally an enemy of the turkey – was cared for gently. This happened if a speaker inside it played the ‘cheep-cheep’ sound loudly enough.
So, scientists can make the turkey act very strangely by using a specific trigger. People who want to make us say ‘yes’ do similar things. These are experts like salespeople and advertisers. For example, they make us agree to things that are not good for us. Or they make us buy products we don’t need.
People often misuse the quick idea that ‘expensive means good’. Most people think expensive things are better quality than cheap ones. But this is only partly true. For example, souvenir shops sell cheap jewelry better by raising the price, not lowering it.
Life is complex and needs us to make quick judgments. This means we can easily fall for manipulation. So, we must learn to spot these tricks to protect ourselves. Otherwise, we might end up looking as foolish as the turkey. The next summaries will introduce six basic psychological rules. They are meant to be shortcuts for our brain. But they can also be easily misused: Reciprocity, Scarcity, Consistency, Social Proof, Liking, and Authority.
Blink 2 – We really want to pay back others for what we get from them.
Has anyone ever given you a flower on the street? Have you received free perfume samples at a drug store? Or candy with your restaurant bill?
All of these are simple tricks to influence you. They use the first basic rule of manipulation, called the Rule of Reciprocity. This means people feel they must return favors. If someone does us a favor and we don’t give anything back, we feel guilty. This is partly because society frowns upon those who don’t return favors. We see people who don’t return a favor as freeloaders or ungrateful. We don’t want to be seen that way.
Because of this, people often return small favors with much bigger ones. In 1971, psychologist Dennis Regan did an experiment. Some people were given a 10-cent cola by a man named Joe. Then Joe asked these people to buy lottery tickets worth 25 cents. On average, they bought tickets worth 50 cents. The group that got cola was twice as willing to pay compared to others who did not get a cola. Even people who didn’t like Joe bought tickets from the cola group. So, the wish to return the favor was stronger than how much they liked Joe. This feeling of owing someone can be easily misused. In the experiment, Joe tricked them into buying. He made them feel they owed him a favor because of the free cola. He also clearly showed them how they could pay him back. This payback is often bigger than the original favor.
The Hare Krishna group also used this reciprocity rule in the 1970s. Members went into the streets and gave flowers to people walking by. Most people who got a flower gave some money to the group to thank them. This happened even if they didn’t like the group at all.
Of course, we cannot completely avoid this rule. Our society and social connections are built on it. But we can protect ourselves from people misusing our feeling of reciprocity. Just ask yourself often: Is this favor truly kind? Or is someone trying to trick me? And think: Do you really want to give money to a charity? Or are you just paying them back for the small gift in their letter asking for donations?
Blink 3 – If you want to win, let others say ‘no’ first, then negotiate again.
It’s not just favors that make us feel obliged. If someone you are talking to makes a concession, they can quickly get you to agree. Imagine a scout wants to sell you a lottery ticket for five euros. You are not sure. But then he asks for something smaller: ‘Could you buy a candy for one euro instead?’ You will probably agree to this smaller offer and buy the candy, even if you don’t really want it.
This method is called the Rejection-then-Retreat tactic. This tactic is very good at getting others to agree. Here, the basic rule of reciprocity is at work again. The other person makes a step towards us. So we feel we must also move towards them. The Rejection-then-Retreat tactic uses our love for compromises. It also uses the contrast principle. This means if someone shows us two things one after another, we see the difference between them as bigger than it truly is. The candy seems very cheap to us if it’s offered after the lottery ticket.
The Rejection-then-Retreat method has even led to presidents falling from power. A famous example is the Watergate scandal. In 1972, G. Gordon Liddy convinced the Committee to Re-elect the President to give him $250,000. This money was for spying on the Democrats’ campaign office. This was to help President Richard Nixon win again.
Liddy’s plan was very risky. But he used this method to get it approved. First, he suggested a plan that would cost one million dollars. It included kidnapping, robbery, and prostitutes. Liddy’s next ideas were still shocking and badly planned. But the committee felt they had to give him something in return for his ‘smaller’ ideas. Also, the $250,000 spy plan seemed much cheaper and better value compared to the first $1 million idea. The plan led to a scandal. The burglars were caught, and Nixon’s time as president ended early.
So, don’t be fooled if a salesperson shows you a very expensive suit first, then a medium-priced one. Try to judge the price of the second suit on its own, not compared to the first.
Blink 4 – The rarer something is, the more we want it.
„Today only!“, „Last chance!“, „Sale ends in two days!“ – Special offers usually have a time limit. This is always made very clear. You have probably rushed to buy something and then regretted it later.
This is because choices and products seem more valuable to us when there are fewer of them. People don’t like to miss out on chances. Advertisers use this fact.
In 1982, one of Cialdini’s students did a study in his own company. It showed that people were twice as likely to buy a product if the sale was for a limited time. This effect became even stronger when people were told that only a few others knew about the offer. Both the limited supply and the secret information made people six times more likely to buy.
Two things must be true for this second basic rule, the Scarcity Principle, to work strongly on us. First, we tend to want things more if their availability is going down. We want them less if they have always been rare. This also explains why revolutions usually happen when living standards suddenly get much worse. They don’t happen when living standards have always been bad. The sudden lack of good things makes people wish for better. This makes them take action.
Second, competition makes our hearts beat faster. Whether it’s at auctions, in love, or when buying a house – the thought of losing something to a rival turns hesitation into great eagerness. That’s why real estate agents tell their clients that other people want to buy the same property. Even if it’s not always true.
So, always ask yourself: Do I want this thing for itself, for example, for a special feature? Or do I want it only because of an unreasonable greed? We tend to feel this way when something is rare. By the way, scarcity becomes even stronger when things are completely forbidden. The next summary explains why.
Blink 5 – Things that are forbidden seem especially desirable to us.
People often say you always want what you cannot have. This is true, it is even proven by psychology.
Things become more desirable when they are forbidden. Parents often see this with their children. Children find any toy they are not allowed to play with especially appealing.
This also happens in interesting ways in the adult world, especially with censorship. Forbidden information is generally seen as more valuable than information that is freely available. A study at the University of North Carolina in the 1970s showed this. College students were told that a speech against mixed-gender dorms was banned. They then had more understanding for the speech’s content, even if they had not heard it.
Studies of court cases show similar results. In the USA, jurors can be strongly influenced by „forbidden“ information. It’s known that jurors often award more money to the person suing if they know an insurance company will pay. Even more interesting, they give an even larger amount if the judge tells them clearly to ignore whether the defendant is insured. The „forbidden“ information seems more important to them. They react to it just like children reaching for forbidden toys.
Here is another example of this effect from Dade County, Florida. When washing powders with phosphates were banned there, people started to smuggle and hoard them. They even thought these banned powders were better than before.
Like the scarcity effect, bans work well because people hate missing out on chances.
Blink 6 – If we promise something, we want to keep that promise.
You finally have a day off and are relaxing by the lake. It’s very hot, and you want to cool down in the water. But what do you do with your phone, wallet, and sunglasses? You should not just leave them on your towel and expect other beach-goers to watch them.
Why? Psychologist Thomas Moriarty from New York University showed this in a study. Only 20% of people on a beach reacted when they saw a staged theft of a radio from a nearby towel. But things were very different if the person on the next towel had promised the owner they would watch their things. A full 95% of people chased the thief to get the radio back.
Here, the third basic psychological rule of manipulation, Consistency, comes into play. Once we commit to something with words or actions, we try to act in a way that matches what we said or did. This means the beach-goer does everything to keep their promise and act consistently.
There’s a simple reason for this. When we are consistent, we don’t have to rethink our views and actions every time. Instead, we simply act as we promised or as we always do. This automatic behavior makes life easier for our brain in this complex world.
This can even change how we see ourselves. For example, American soldiers in the Korean War. Chinese troops captured them. They made the soldiers write and sign seemingly harmless statements like „America is not perfect.“ The goal was to turn these prisoners of war into helpers for the enemy. These anti-US statements were then spread around the prison camp. Because of this, other American soldiers called the writers „traitors.“
Surprisingly, after this first commitment or agreement, the prisoners actually started to see themselves as helpers for the enemy. Then, they even willingly helped the Chinese. They changed how they saw themselves to match their past actions.
This is called the Foot-in-the-Door technique. It works because even small commitments affect how we see ourselves. Salespeople like to use it to make customers buy big things. First, they sell small items that change how customers see themselves. Then they suggest bigger purchases.
Blink 7 – The longer and harder we work for something, the more we want it.
Think of street gangs or student clubs. When a new member joins, the entry rituals are often painful and humiliating. Sometimes, they even lead to death. But efforts to stop these harsh practices meet strong resistance. Why?
Things you have to work hard for are valued more. So, if new members had to put in a lot of effort to join the group, they see their membership as very valuable. They feel a stronger bond to the group.
Also, it’s very important that decisions are made without outside pressure. This makes it more likely that they lead to lasting inner changes. For example, student clubs resisted efforts to change their entry rituals. These changes would have made them do charity work, like changing bedpans in hospitals. This kind of entry test would be seen as good by society, from the outside. But student clubs want their members to change internally for the good of the group. For example, they want members to believe in the greatness of their club themselves. Simply put: The harder the entry ritual you willingly take part in, the more you change inside. And the more you want to be part of the group.
The Lowball trick uses a similar method. It can also cause inner changes. Car salespeople, for example, use it by making customers a surprisingly low offer. This makes customers decide to buy the car right away. The salesperson knows that customers, during the test drive of the „bargain,“ will find other reasons to buy the car, besides the price. For example, low mileage or a nice color. So, an inner change process is happening.
But at the last minute, the salesperson takes back the low offer. They say there was a „mistake in the calculations“ and ask for a higher price. By then, the customers have already convinced themselves that they want the car – and they buy it. This trick also relies on the basic rule of consistency.
Here’s a small trick to avoid being fooled by this tactic. Before you buy something, just ask yourself: ‘Would I have made this deal if I had known the new price from the start?’ If your answer is no, then don’t buy it.
Blink 8 – When we are unsure, we follow others.
You are finally on your dreamed-of trip to Asia. You enter a grand temple. Everyone else takes off their shoes as they go in. Do you do the same?
Probably yes. This is because of the Social Proof principle. This means that when people need to decide, they often look at what others are doing. But this tendency can be easily manipulated. For example, TV shows use laugh tracks to make jokes seem funnier to us. Also, church collection plates sometimes have some money in them before the service. This makes people think everyone is giving a donation. Many products are also advertised with phrases like „1 Million happy buyers“ or „Germany’s most popular washing powder.“
Social proof is most powerful when we are unsure. A common example is the murder of Kitty Genovese. This young woman was stabbed to death near her home in New York in 1964. Some neighbors heard her cries for help or saw something happening outside. But the murder lasted over half an hour, and no one stopped the killer or called the police. At first, the news reported that the neighbors simply didn’t care.
Later, it was found that some neighbors did shout from their windows and contact the police. Still, psychologists have studied the Bystander Effect since this murder. It happens mainly when two things are true. First, when many people are present. Because then, each person feels less responsible. Second, there must be uncertainty. For example, the situation might not be clear. This uncertainty is common in cities, where there are many strangers and unknown things. When people are unsure, they watch what others do and follow their lead. If each witness in a group sees that no one else is reacting, then probably no one will act.
So, if you see an emergency in a large crowd, talk to individual people. Ask them for help. Clearly tell one person to call the ambulance. This way, that person cannot look at others or disappear into the crowd. They will help you. And if you see someone lying on the street, but everyone else is walking past: Don’t think you have to do what everyone else is doing. Just go and see what’s wrong.
Blink 9 – Belonging to a group and how others look affects how we think.
We just saw that we often copy others in our decisions. This is especially true when the people we watch are like us. For example, teenagers often copy the opinions and clothing style of their friend group.
But this urge to copy also leads to sad statistics. When suicides are in the news, more people die in unexplained accidents in the weeks after. It seems that news about suicides makes some people want to follow that example and take their own lives. Studies actually show that every front-page story about a suicide leads to the deaths of 58 other people. These people would otherwise have lived.
This is called the Werther Effect. It is named after Goethe’s novel, which caused a wave of suicides across Europe when it was published in the 18th century. It happens mainly when people who copy are similar to the person whose suicide they hear about. For example, young people at risk of suicide are more likely to copy the suicide of another young person. Older people at risk of suicide are more likely to copy the suicide of other older people.
Also, we are easily swayed by flattery. And we like people who are similar to us. This explains why salespeople love to give us compliments and point out similarities. They might say, „That’s a nice tie you have. Blue is my favorite color too!“ Our buying choices are also affected by whether we find the salesperson attractive. If they are, we are much more likely to buy their products. Why is this so?
The Halo Effect means that if we see one good quality in someone, we also think they have other good qualities. So, if you see a very attractive salesperson, you automatically think they are smart, honest, and good – and you buy their product. The same idea works in advertising. The good looks and likeability of models on huge billboards are meant to be linked to the products they are photographed with.
Weather reporters often experience the opposite. They sometimes get death threats because they predict bad weather. This makes people link them to negative feelings.
As you can see, Liking is the fifth important rule of manipulation. So, be careful not to fall for salespeople’s tricks that try to make you like them.
Blink 10 – Our obedience to authority can stop us from thinking for ourselves.
From childhood, we learn to obey authority figures. These include kindergarten teachers, doctors, teachers, or police officers. But this can make us stop thinking about what these authorities tell us. We might not question their orders. For example, the famous psychologist Stanley Milgram showed that people are ready to give deadly electric shocks to others. This happens if the order comes from a recognized authority.
Nurses also tend to blindly obey doctors who are above them. If a nurse receives an order from a doctor to give medicine for pain in the right ear rectally, they will likely follow it exactly. Neither the nurse nor the patient will dare to question the doctor’s order.
If it’s unclear if someone is truly an authority figure, people usually look for certain symbols. Titles, for example, are a powerful tool to gain such a status. If you stand before a professor, you automatically show respect. You often accept their opinion without question. You even see them as physically taller.
Clothes can also show authority in a very strong way. In Milgram’s experiment, the researcher wore a white lab coat and carried a clipboard. This made the participants believe they had to obey the orders of this authority figure. Tricksters use the power of authority symbols. They wear uniforms, suits, or even priest robes. This helps them gain more influence over others and sway them.
Of course, we must take the opinions of authority figures, like judges, seriously. But this does not mean we should follow them blindly. So how can you protect yourself from being misled and manipulated by Authority, the last basic psychological rule of manipulation?
It’s simple: Ask yourself two questions when you face someone who seems to be an authority. First: Is this person really an expert, or are they just pretending to be one? Second: How honest can you expect this authority to be in this situation? Or are they trying to push their own agenda instead?
Summary
The main message of these summaries is:
In certain situations that need a decision, people tend to follow automatic ways of acting. Advertisers, salespeople, and tricksters constantly try to misuse these „pre-programmed“ reactions. We cannot completely stop using our automatic behaviors. But we can protect ourselves from their manipulation and misuse. We can do this by becoming aware of these patterns and by often checking our decisions carefully.
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For further reading: Persuade Like Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo
Persuade Like Steve Jobs shows how any speaker can be as convincing and inspiring as the famous Steve Jobs. From planning and practice to the actual talk: Carmine Gallo shares the secrets of amazing presentations, step by step.
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