Influence: The Science and Practice of Persuasion, 5th Edition

thmu80p: Really wanted to put a higher grade to this book but:
1/ Book presentation is quite bad. It is not a competition to put so much content in one page. Poor presentation is surprising on a book on persuasion!
2/ Overall it is very dry.

It is really a pity as content is very informative and examples are often entertaining. With a bit of editing work, I would have put 4 stars.

I went through the entire book and was happy when I finished it. I found out this book thanks to Scott Adams.

Singapore on Mar 18, 2021

Megan S: Came in perfect condition and on time. Exactly the version I needed for my university course.

Canada on Oct 07, 2020

Mahfuz Hassan: Really good book. Makes you aware of a lot of things, even if you don't actively use them yourself - helps you be aware of people using the same tactics against you. Very important skills to learn. I would highly recommend this book for everyone. It's written in an interesting way that makes you want to actually keep reading.

Canada on Aug 21, 2015

Gavin Radzick: If you are in the business of selling something or convincing others to take action, this book is invaluable. You will need to re-read it and make notes to get the full benefit of the book. Many internet gurus cite this book and it's easy to see why!

Canada on Sep 08, 2014

Aya: Had to use this book for class and it's amazing! The little things I didn't think of as influence is. The way you PHRASE a question or certain words you use can bend almost anyone to your will.

Canada on Sep 19, 2013

Pre-Paid Premium Shipping: This topic is just fascinating - the hidden pushes and pulls that affect our decision making, even when we believe we are reasoning. One such example (p.146) is the 1974 Canadian study that found politicians who were more attractive got 2.5 times the number of votes. Despite the evidence of favoritism, 73% of Canadian voters denied "in the strongest possible terms" that their votes had been influenced by physical appearance; only 14% even admitted the possibility! (See the study by Efran & Patterson, 1976 and another by Budesheim & DePaola, 1994.)

The book does a wonderful job of keeping the subject light despite that it is chock full of references to studies. There are even cartoons are scattered throughout the chapters. Pictures from real life also are mixed in. Included are "defenses" that are meant to help us avoid the pitfalls, but I'm not sure they'll be entirely helpful or not because I personally thought a lot of these tactics would be very obvious to me. Summaries of the chapters are included, which serve as good refreshers if it's been a while since you've read the book (and need to write an Amazon review :] ).

I think even anyone with a healthy...

United States on Jul 27, 2011

Fr. Charles Erlandson: "Influence" by Robert Cialdini is one of the most wonderful and influential books I've ever read! Other books have been written on the topic, but Cialdini's is the best and most influential of them all.

"Influence" deals with the study of persuasion, compliance, and change - a subject that has application for every area of life. Cialdini presents the latest research on influence in a compelling way, clearly stating the 6 principles of influence and providing wonderful illustrations of each principle from advertising, psychology and other fields. If we understood these 6 principles better, we would be less subject to manipulation from others (for example, the manipulation to buy things we don't need or to buy more than we need). We might, in turn, also be able to understand how to influence others for good.

The 6 principles of influence are:

1. The Rule of Reciprocation: "We should try to repay in kind what another person has provided us."

2. Commitment and Consistency: "Once we make a choice or take a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment."

3. Social Proof: "We determine what is...

United States on Oct 02, 2010

Jaewoo Kim: If you have never taken a Social Psychology class, then this book should be a must read. Even if you are not into psychological manipulations, you would want to be aware of when and how you are manipulated. Knowledge is power and knowledge of human psychological tendencies is as valuable as any.

Written by a PhD in Psychology, this book provides numerous examples of Psychological studies. Although lacking examples of cutting edge research, the book nonetheless provides a empirically tested and credible insights into human influence and behavior. Pop-psychology this book is not and NLP and its controversial methods, fortunately, are not even mentioned.

The Psychology researches are explained in layman's terms and the author purposesly wrote this book to be unlike Psychology textbooks. Nevertheless, this book isn't always interesting and can sometimes be pedantic.

The author seemed to have cherry-picked the best and most useful Psychology knowledge of influence and put them in a very readable format. The author spends 80% of the book on expounding 8-10 core concepts involving Psychology of influence.

I can't say, however, that I have read anything new in...

United States on Sep 19, 2010