Influence: Science and Practice

Influence: Science and Practice (ISBN 0-321-18895-0) is a psychology book examining the key ways people can be influenced by "Compliance Professionals". The book's author is Robert B. Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. The key premise of the book is that in a complex world where people are overloaded with more information than they can deal with, people fall back on a decision making approach based on generalizations. These generalizations develop because they allow people to usually act in a correct manner with a limited amount of thought and time. However, they can be exploited and effectively turned into weapons by those who know them to influence others to act certain ways.[1] A seventh lever on "unity" has been added to the most recent edition.[2] To date, the book has sold over two million copies and been published in 25 different languages.[3][4][5]

The findings in the book are backed up by empirical studies conducted in the fields of psychology, marketing, economics, anthropology and social science.[citation needed]

The author also worked undercover in many compliance fields such as car sales and door-to-door sales.

  1. ^ Cialdini, Robert B. (2001). Influence : science and practice (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 0-321-01147-3. OCLC 43607370.
  2. ^ Robert Cialdini. "Dr. Robert Cialdini's Seven Principles of Persuasion | IAW". Influence at Work. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Goodreads". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  4. ^ Carrell, Bob (1986). "Review of Influence: Science and Practice". Journal of Advertising. 15 (3): 57–57. ISSN 0091-3367.
  5. ^ Boster, Franklin J. (August 1988). "INFLUENCE: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE (Book)". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 74 (3): 363–366.