One of my favorite non-fiction books is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini. It talks about how companies, brands, religions, politicians, salespeople, etc. use persuasion tools so that we buy, join, or do something they want from us, or conversely, how we can use those tools in our business to sell more (Up to a certain point, without ceasing to be ethical). It is a Psychology book that we who are not psychologists can put into practice. What I like most is that everything is backed by scientific studies that he cites throughout the book. The tools he talks about are six and I am going to summarize them here to remember them so that whoever reads this can be aware when they try to manipulate us. By the way, to remember the six principles I use the word PLACER (Pleasure) in Spanish, although the acronym works differently in English.

Social Proof

You see a full restaurant and you think it must be very tasty, this is called social proof. Humans have used it to survive, if no one eats those fruits they are probably poisonous, better not risk it, this is also seen when on a highway everyone changes lanes because the one in front did it and there is probably a crash ahead even if we don’t know for sure. Social proof is not bad in itself, but it is used by businesses and worse still, by politicians (through planted supporters) to make others think that society approves and likes what they are offering and thus convince more people to join. So the next time you see a crowd of people, before saying I want that too, think, Are they playing the social proof principle on me?

Liking

Liking simply means being liked. If someone likes you, it is much more probable that they will do you a favor or, applied to sales, that they will buy something from you. Many salespeople use this to their advantage by agreeing with you.

  • Does the dress fit me well?
  • Of course, you look very beautiful.

In sales, this is also known as rapport. I’m not saying that all salespeople do it with that intention but just be aware that if someone is selling to you they are not impartial with what they tell you.

Authority

You are watching television and a commercial comes on where an actor dressed as a doctor recommends a medicine, or it can even be a real doctor. They don’t do this just because; when someone has a uniform it is more likely that we obey them. An experiment was done where someone dressed as a doctor or police officer ordered someone else on the street to do something (Like picking up trash or helping an old lady cross) and it was much more likely that they obeyed than when someone without a uniform told them to. Here the dangerous thing is when the person attending you at the pharmacy wears a white coat; it is very likely that they know nothing about medicine and yet they usually recommend medications. At that moment we see them as figures of authority and we take things we don’t need. Be careful that a suit also functions as a garment of authority.

Consistency (Commitment and Consistency)

This is one of the most subtle ones. If an insurance agent tells you You care about your family, right? and you answer yes, they already have you in their hands. Human beings want to maintain consistency about what we say and reaffirm with facts what we assure so that they don’t treat us as fake. When we affirm I am an intelligent person or I am a sporty person we will do our best to comply with that affirmation. Be careful when you tell your children that they are dumb or lazy because it also works on the negative side. In a study, houses were visited at random and people were asked to sign a paper that said I support cycling, a few weeks later they returned to their houses to ask for donations for cycling, those who had signed donated more than those who had not done so. NOTE: Nothing against insurance, in fact, I recommend that you have medical expense insurance if you don’t have social security, and even if you do.

Scarcity

Of the most used by companies, when they tell you Hurry because they run out! they are playing the principle of scarcity on you. Most of the time it is not true, or it may be, but it is more for marketing than because they are actually running out. Did you know that there are companies like toy stores that cut the availability of their best-selling product at Christmas? For example the trendy toy. People are going to buy something at Christmas anyway, so they buy a “second best” product, maybe another less trendy toy so the child doesn’t cry. After Christmas, the company restocks its trendy toy and people buy it because they hadn’t managed to buy it at Christmas.

Reciprocity

You are driving and a windshield washer approaches, you tell him no, he gets closer, you tell him no, you wave your hand saying no with desperation and he cleans it anyway. You didn’t need him to clean it, you didn’t want him to clean it, you get angry because he cleaned it… And still, you give him money. Human beings do not like to owe (Most of us), whenever they give us something we believe that we must give something in return even if we didn’t want or need what they gave us. This is used by companies like Netflix or Spotify with their typical free month. Here it gets dangerous and is reaffirmed when governments give things away, whether so that you vote for them, so that you go to a rally, or to keep you happy. Have you wondered why if the vote is secret people still vote for them anyway? After all, they could keep the money and vote for another: that’s how strong the principle of Reciprocity is.

This book is genial, one of the best and I recommend it widely, I don’t give it more than 5 stars on Goodreads because I can’t.