Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition)

Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition)

By: Robert B. Cialdini  

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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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.

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Marketing Distilled so even Experts can understand it - This is the second time I've read this book. I still take issue with some of the examples Cialdini employs, because (I say) - its not that simple, or there's much more going on here than that. You can't make that claim about this incident - kind of thing. But I love all the examples, the stories, the strategies, the experiments, the studies. And I love the organization. Basically, he boils down marketing into types of influence. There are six:

1. Reciprocation
2. Commitment & Consistency
3. Social Proof
4. Liking
5. Authority
6. Scarcity

And no surprise here - those are the chapters, with an intro and an extro to complete the sandwich.

My personal favorite story concerns a Transcendental Meditation recruitment seminar, in which a uninitiated logic professor debunked absolutely everything, right in front of everyone. Solidly and totally shredded everything. This resulted not in a rush for the exits, but rather in a rush to sign up. (I call this the Uncertainty Certainty. When uncertainty is removed, people are empowered to do the wrong thing - and they do. Consistently.) People had excuses like - if I didn't sign up right then and there, I never would. So they did.

For our society, in our age, this book covers the gamut. With these tools, you can influence behavior. And for all those who still believe we know nothing about advertising - you clearly haven't read this book.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Very inspiring - I bought that for organizational behavior class. It turned out to be a good book that I read it without any reading assignment. The theory is practical and easy to understand.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Great book with ideas that anyone can benefit from. - This was a great book. I come from a technical background, and as most people know engineers are horrible at influencing others. But this book taught me a lot of simple ideas that are applicable in helping to motivate others to my point of view and also how to recognize when others are using these techniques and how to defend against them.

The book has 6 different concepts and it goes into the psychology of each (at a high level), some examples of it, and a few testimonials from readers. It was a quick read and held my attention throughout.

As a side note, in case you are comparing editions. The "Influence Science and Practice" seems to be the most recent version. The "Influence psychology of persuasion" book looks like the same book with an earlier copyright. Skimming through the chapters of both they look like the exact same text, so you probably don't need both.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Influence - Science & Practice 5th ed - so far a very good book that was used and in very good condition as explained.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Excellent guide for marketers and consumers alike. - Influence was rated by one business publication as the "top marketing and sales book of all time"-and with good reason. Dr. Cialdini provides us with solid scientific research that was previously available only to social psychologists and Madison Avenue advertising executives. As a marketer, I have used the principles Dr. Cialdini outlines and achieved some outstanding results. As a consumer, I am glad that someone has explained so clearly the psychological levers that others might try to use on me. I think of this book every time a charity calls and asks me to write letters in their behalf rather than make a donation. Based on what I've learned from Dr. Cialdini, I'll gladly make the donation instead.

Larry Rondeau, Senior Director of Research and Business Development
The Allied Group

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