Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion is a powerful book with a powerful message. We are "hard wired" to respond in certain ways to certain stimuli. This is no shock to anyone reading this review. The shock comes from how we respond to those stimuli, that they are used routinely by salespeople and marketers to persuade us to behave in ways we wouldn't otherwise behave, and to make "stupid" decisions that are against our self-interest.
Because of the volume of natural stimuli and our need to be able to make decisions quickly and in a risk averse way, we are naturally hard wired, just like turkeys and dogs, to behave in certain ways when confronted with those situations.
We naturally tend to reciprocate behaviors with others, and cannot easily take a gift without reciprocating in return. Once we make a commitment, we tend to need our behaviors to remain consistent to it, whether it makes sense even in light of new information or not. We use social queues and a need to blend in and be accepted to drive decisions. We want to like and be liked, and will behave more agreeably towards those who are most like us, or who act the most like us. We respect authority, and will tend to both admire authority as well as occasionally reject it. Finally, the concept of scarcity plays a role in that we will tend to want what we cannot have, and will tend to but what will no longer be available for fear that the future will not hole the opportunity.
By understanding these influences, we are able to then be aware of them when they are being applied to us,and also have them in our tool chest when we are managing or marketing. A profound, frightening and enlightening read.
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