Robert Cialdini Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Robert B. Cialdini is a well known social psychologist, currently a professor of psychology at Arizona State University. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina.He is perhaps best known for his popular book on persuasion and marketing, Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion (ISBN 0688128165; also published as a textbook under the title Influence: Science and Practice), for which he spent three years going "undercover" applying for jobs and training at used car dealerships, fund-raising organizations, telemarketing firms and the like. The book also reviews many of the most important theories and experiments in social psychology.
In it he defines six "weapons of influence". They are:
- Reciprocation - the tendency of people to return a favor, hence the pervasiveness of free samples in marketing.
- Consistency and Commitment - akin to momentum, one example was that if people were offered an incentive to do something they were more likely to agree; however, if the incentive is removed after they have already agreed, they will continue to honor the agreement. For example, in car sales, suddenly raising the price at the last moment works because the buyer has already decided to buy. See cognitive dissonance.
- Social Proof - For example, in one experiment, one or more accomplices would look up into the sky; the more accomplices the more likely people would look up into the sky to see what they were seeing. At one point this experiment aborted, as so many people were looking up, that they stopped traffic. See conformity, and the Asch conformity experiments.
- Authority - in the Milgram experiments in the 1950s it was shown that test subjects would perform objectionable acts if asked to do so by authority figures. Cialdini cites other incidents, such as the My Lai massacre.
- Liking - Cialdini cites the marketing of Tupperware in what might now be called viral marketing. People were more likely to buy if they liked the person selling it to them. Some of the many biases favoring more attractive people are discussed. See physical attractiveness stereotype.
- Scarcity - Perceived scarcity will generate demand; saying offers are available for a "limited time only" encourages sales.
External links
- Cialdini's official web site
- Official site @ ASU
- 1999 Interview
- Summary of Cialdini's weapons of influence
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