The science of persuasion
Robert Cialdini’s sequelis a testament to his talent of presenting complexmatters in an enjoyable and accessible manner.
IT was in 1984 that Robert Cialdini first published his highly acclaimed Influenc e. Three decades later, Cialdini has offered up his spellbinding sequel Pre-suasion, which look s at the science behind the art of successfully encouraging others to act in your fav our.
When I receiv ed my copy of Cialdini’s latest work , I was slightly apprehensiv e before turning to the first page. Hav ing enjoyed Influenc e so much, I wondered whether the sequel would pale in comparison. It was a trepidation ak in to when I first watched the opening scenes of The Godfather Part II.
It’s a strange way to feel about a non-fiction book geared primarily towards professionals, but if you hav en’t read Robert Cialdini’s work s, it should giv e you an idea of just how captiv ating his writing is. One might expect the work of a Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Mark eting to be dry and dense: Pre-suasion is anything but. It’s testament to Cialdini’s talent that he can present such a complex and nuanced subject in a way that’s enjoyable and accessible.
When it comes to influencing others, timing is k ey, according to Cialdini. And just to show how crucial it is, he offers up an amusing example where he himself gets caught out by the v ery principles he’s set out for millions of people throughout the world. Author: Publisher:
While v isiting another univ ersity, he had planned to use a semester to work on Pre-suasion. Since he had no major commitments, it was the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time on research and writing.
Just before he set off for the school that would be his home for a brief time, the dean called him up to tell him about the wonderful office space he would be afforded, the state-of-the-art equipment he’d be using, and the support that would be made av ailable to him. As you can imagine, the professor was both humbled and appreciativ e of the dean’s generosity.
But then, there came a request. Another professor had fallen ill, and the dean had wondered whether Cialdini would be able to teach just one class. Despite the time pressure this would place on him in work ing on the book , he agreed to the dean’s request and the book – for a time – slid down the to-do list.
Had the dean told his v isiting professor about the fav ourable conditions and then waited a couple of days or so to mak e his request, would Cialdini hav e been so agreeable? Probably not. When mak ing requests of others off the back of a fav our offered to them, they are more lik ely to agree if the request is made immediately. The longer it’s put off, the more time the person’s sense of obligation has to wear off.
In Pre-suasion, Robert Cialdini draws on a wealth of studies that suggest subtle primers help to increase the chances of a desired outcome. For example, in US hotels, guests are almost 50% more lik ely to reuse their towels if the hotel suggested it had already made a charitable contribution to an env ironmental group, than if the gesture were to be made after the towels had been reused.
Cialdini also talk s about the importance of unity when influencing others. Going deeper than the feeling that someone is “lik e” us, persuasion stands a bigger chance of succeeding if we feel someone is “one of us”.
Demonstrating the power of unity, an experiment is cited, whereby parents’participation in a surv ey rose from 20% to 97% when they were under the impression that a minor benefit for their child was at stak e.
Cialdini also mak es mention of one of Warren Buffet’s famous annual letters to his Berk shireHathaway staff, which talk ed about the company’s succession plan for life post-Buffet. “I will tell you what I would say to my family today if they ask ed me about Berk shire’s future,” writes Buffet, mak ing great use of the sense of unity in a letter that was praised by shareholders as being one of his most effectiv e.
The book is peppered with similar, relev ant examples that prov ide a look at how we might use similar approaches to our fav our – and also how we can spot such approaches being used on ourselv es before we commit ourselv es to any laborious requests that might come our way.
Pre-suasion offers a ton of enthralling insights into the world of influence and persuasion, and is yet another gripping, engaging read by Robert Cialdini, who has produced a sequel masterpiece to follow his first.
For me, it’s lik ely one of those book s that become so well-worn after a time that I hav e to buy a second copy. It will be money well and happily spent.