'Know Thyself' is not just a catchy cliché, it was for centuries a central spiritual imperative. Reading books like this only remind one of why it is so important. Even with modern psychology the average person understands so very little about themselves, their drives, why they do what they do, why they like what they like, that they are easily manipulated and exploited. You could say that it is even better if the person fallaciously believes they do know themselves and are confident in that understanding, these are even more gullible than the naiveté.

Robert Cialdini dissects all the different tactics that marketers have known for years on how to get people to do things they initially had no desire for. Through careful analysis and explanation he goes one by one over these techniques and how to counter them. The author's impetus for even conducting this study a sincere desire to understand himself better because of how many times he had been duped, sold, tricked, conned and convinced into purchasing/doing things against his true wishes.

These Weapons of Influence are

1- Reciprocation (feeling indebt to return a favor)
2- Commitment and Consistency (People naturally don't like change, they want predictability)
3- Social Proof (If everyone is doing it, that is proof enough)
4- Liking (We are more susceptible to being influenced by those we like)
5- Authority (Many are more than happy to put blind faith in authority)
6- Scarcity (Ahh the central tenet of Economics, also has a powerful emotional appeal)