The issue: The “Liking” principle tells us that people are more likely to say yes to or do favors for people they know and like. Major Strength: One of the most powerful examples of the “liking” principle at work in this chapter is Cialdini’s anecdote about how Oprah Winfrey’s support of Barack Obama caused his approval ratings to rise. People … Continue Reading →

The issue:  Once individuals make a commitment they face personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with their decision. Major strength: Cialdini’s arguments for an individual’s behavior and actions to commitments are valid and can be proven true in situations like attending events if committing to the power of a written statement.  However, the part I most identified and found interesting … Continue Reading →

The Issue: People tend to respond differently to requests based on their relationship to the person, their physical attractiveness, and similarities. Major Strength: As usual, I enjoyed Cialdini’s examples in each section.  I liked his example of the successful car saleman that sent “I like you” postcards to his customers.  I never thought a simple card once a month could … Continue Reading →

The Issue: Cialdini discusses the concept of Liking in Chapter 5 of Influence. He discusses how things such as physical attractiveness, similarity and friendship can dictate how a person responds to a request. Major Strength: The section in this chaptered under “Why Do I Like You? Let Me List The Reasons” was very intriguing and very informative. I thought that … Continue Reading →

The issue:  People make decisions every day based on prior commitments and consistent ideas. Major strength: Cialdini undoubtedly makes valid arguments for why people do what they do in terms of the commitments they have already agreed to. It’s something we tend to not think about consciously (just as the American soldiers didn’t realize they were slowly committing to Communist ideas … Continue Reading →

The issue: In Cialdini’s book Influence he talks about the issue of commitment and consistency and how it affects us in our daily lives. Major strength: Cialdini’s major strength in this chapter is the example of the toy companies. I found this example to be an example that I could relate to and it really showed how commitment and consistency … Continue Reading →

The issue: In Asher’s book Polling and the Public, he talks about polls and elections. He goes into detail about the different polls used during elections. Major strength: Asher’s major strength in this reading is his section about focus groups. I had no idea that they used focus groups to help candidates with debates and seeing where they stand in … Continue Reading →

The issue:  Cialdini addresses how scarcity effects human thought process and decision making. When something is perceived as scarce, a higher value is placed upon it and are more willing to invest time/money for that thing. Major strength:  Overall, Cialdini frames the argument very well by starting on smaller topics and expanding outwards. The section on censorship made a very … Continue Reading →

The issue: Cialdini talks about the scarcity principle, which states that people place higher value on things that are more limited or rare. Major strength: As per usual, Cialdini’s greatest strength laid in his examples and providing ones that the reader can relate to. I immediately thought of some of the T-shirt websites I found earlier this school year that … Continue Reading →

The Issue: The seventh chapter of Cialdini’s book Influence discusses the principle of scarcity.  This is the idea that when there appears to be a limit of something, people will desire it more and perceive it to be better. Major Strength: A major strength in Cialdini’s argument of the principle of scarcity is his wide range of real-life examples. Rather … Continue Reading →