Robert Cialdini’s book Influence was for a long time considered a marketing classic, and, to an extent, still is. Cialdini, a professor of psychology at the Arizona State University produced his seminal work in the year 1984 and the business world wasted no time in lapping up the six core principles of the book. Since then, the same six principles have been talked about and reproduced to such an enormous extent that to someone who reads up of marketing principles comes across this book, they’d find most of the principles to be hackneyed. Let’s talk about the six principles that thirty-five years of Cialdini’s research on the science of persuasion boiled down to and how they apply to marketing:
Social Proof: People are more likely to be persuaded of buying something when they see someone they can relate to narrate how they benefitted from the product or service. Most marketing professionals are now aware of this principle which is basically why we see them encouraging customers to write reviews, sometimes even providing verified customers with incentives for their reviews.
Authority: People are more likely to be convinced of someone who speaks from a position of authority, people trust them to know what they’re talking about. This principle too has been adopted by brands when they started to produce content on things they claimed to be experts in. The principle even gave rise to the practice of thought leadership.
Liking: People are more likely to listen to those whom they like. It sounds like common sense and to the most part it is. That is why since time immemorial, celebrities were paid to advertise for products and services. But times have changed and nowadays buyers are drawn more to people, brands and content that seem real and relatable. No points for guessing, influencer marketing is exploding.
Commitment: It is now relatively well-known that once people start identifying to an entity, they commit to them for life and their faith in the said entity then becomes unshakable. Political parties use this principle very successfully. Certain brands like a Harley Davidson find this cult following that no amount of controversy surrounding the brand can deter. Striking the right chord with the right audience is the key to such an incredible feat.
Reciprocity: People tend to return favours. This principle is so widespread that almost every subscription service now comes with a free trial. It simply signifies belief in the principle that if the customer benefits from the free service of the subscription they’d return the favour by opting for the paid version.
Scarcity: People are like to get hold of things that are scarce. But the principle shouldn’t be used as a trigger for customers. If things that are not low in supply are shown to be that, customers eventually catch on and that makes them trust less the brands who do this. But the principle is now used widely in almost all e-commerce sites- showing false messages like “Hurry! Only 1 left” are not hard to come by.
The book when it was first published may have been kind of a phenomenon but the core principles of the book have now become common knowledge since they’re so often talked about and widely practised. Ironically, that just adds to the phenomenal success of the book. I’d give the book 5 out of 5 stars.
Rummaging Ruminations 