Robert Cialdini Six Weapons Of Influence

People tend to wonder what compels them to comply to others in everyday settings. Robert Cialdini, Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Arizona State University, was intrigued by this very question and dedicated his entire career to understanding the art of influence and persuasion. His research in the field of Social Psychology led to the discovery of six weapons of influence that have become essential principles in psychology and can be applied in marketing as well. Reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity are the leading factors of persuasion and when fully understood, help one to combat avoid being taken advantage of. Robert Cialdini (2006) acknowledged that the rule of reciprocity

This weapon is the idea that, “We most prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like” (Cialdini, 2006, p. 126). We feel uncomfortable turning down someone who we know well or who we like as a person. Robert Cialdini’s best example of this is Tupperware parties. When one receives an invitation to a friend’s Tupperware party at their home the feeling of obligation to purchase an item sets in. Home parties are single-handedly the most effective marketing technique for the Tupperware company. Cialdni (2006) noted that the Tupperware company made upwards of $2.5 million dollars per day utilizing this technique. The concept of bringing a product into the home to sell to friends is much more effective than the door-to-door salesman approach because the weapon of liking is involved (Cialdini 2006). This weapon is difficult to combat, but there are ways to get around it. If this situation occurs it is important to think about the product being sold and whether or not it is in one’s best interest to purchase that product at that particular time. This is similar to the ways in which people avoid the weapon of social proof. It is necessary to, “Separate the dealer from the merits of the deal and to make considerations related only to the latter,” in order to fend off the weapon of liking (Cialdini, 2006, p.

The most famous example of this is when catalogs, commercials, and other ads promote a product and include a phrase like, “limited number available,” or “limited time only.” These phrases are usually in bold or repeated numerous times. The idea behind the use of such phrases are to get people so interested that they drop whatever they are doing and run to the store to get their hands on the scare product. These marketing slogans also bring out the competitive side of people. For example, those interested in Black Friday deals usually wait in extremely crowded and long lines prepared to sprint when the door is opened. They may not need another pair of boots or a new flat screen TV, but the idea of being one of the few who gets to purchase a highly sought after product intrigues people. Cialdini explained that, “Knowing the causes and workings of scarcity pressures may not be sufficient to protect us from them” (Cialdini, 2006, p. 200). In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, it is crucial that one stops themselves when they feel a rush of excitement due to the scarcity tactic (Cialdini 2006). This concept will create more time to think through the decision. Also the realization that the real excitement behind a scare sale is the idea of owning a certain item. It is not the case that one is thinking clearly enough to ask whether or not the