** spoiler alert ** With the sophisticated mental apparatus we have used to build world eminence as a species, we have created an environment so complex, fast-paced, and information-laden that we must increasingly deal with it in the fashion of the animals we long ago transcended.
Another fascinating book, this time provided by the "Influence Without Authority" class I took through Deere back in April.

An overarching idea of the book is that people don't always use all the available information to make a decision - somtimes they use shortcuts. The book explores many of these shortcuts and those that exploit them in great detail. The shortcuts are as follows.

1. Reciprocation - There are two types of reciprocation. Type 1 - Giving a "free sample" - This kind is used by Hare Krishnas in airports. They pin a flower on a passerby before asking for a donation. People feel more obligated to give a donation since they already received a flower, even if they throw the flower in the trash 3 steps later and are even angry about it.
Type 2 - Making a big demand, then conceding, getting the target to reciprocate a concession. He used an example where a Boy Scout initially asked him to buy a box of cookies for $5 or something, then after declining, the Boy Scout said, "Well, we have these chocolate bars for only $1." The Boy Scout conceded the larger sale, and the customer felt obligated to "concede" by buying the cheaper option.

Committment and Consistency - This was perhaps the most fascinating chapter. It's quite simple: people want to be consistent with their past actions. Once people admit or make a declaration, it may even "grow legs to stand on" in their mind as they justify their actions. Some of the fascinating examples:

Retailers advertised certain toys like crazy for Christmas, but deliberately didn't supply enough. They got parents to promise their kids the toy, but then the parents couldn't buy it. Then the retailers would advertise it again in January, and there would be plenty available. This was a way to pump up sales during a normally dead time for stores, and cash in on parents' promises to their children.

Signing petitions is extremely dangerous! There was a story about people who signed a petition about traffic safety. Then, 6 weeks later, they were asked to put an ugly "Buckle up" billboard in their front yard. The people who signed the petition were far more likely to allow the billboard. Another study was done where people were asked to sign a petition totally unrelated to traffic safety. Then 6 weeks later they were asked to put the same ugly "Buckle up" billboard. The results were the same - even though the petition was in no way about traffic safety! Why? Because by signing the petition, people "saw" themselves more as the type of person who would take action for public causes like traffic safety.

The Chinese used simple tricks on prisoners. They'd get them to admit that America has problems, and then get them to write about America's problems. Putting it in writing has a powerful effect to make the writer believe it even more. They'd also get them to admit that Communism wasn't "all bad" for China, and get them to write about that. Pretty soon, they'd have essays on the subject which appeared damaging to the USA, and made the prisoners look brainwashed.

Social Proof - Everyone is doing it, especially people just like you! If you go stand on a street corner, and stare up at a point in the sky, people might think you are nuts. If you and 3 of you friends go to a street corner and do the same thing, passers by will be far more likely to look up to see what "everyone" is looking at. We are far more likely to just "do what everyone else is doing" when there is uncertainty about what the best course of action is.

In this chapter, he goes through the whole ordeal about the woman who was killed in New York, where there were 32 witnesses that never called the police. They were confused because it was happening in broad daylight, and because no one else was panicking. You can cut through this mob mentality by grabbing someone and giving the, specific instructions - "Call the police!"

He also went through the story about the cult that moved to Jonestown, Guyana and "drank the kool aid" in a mass suicide. By moving to such a remote area, there were no other people like them anywhere. It gave their leader more influence over the group - the only people "like" them were themselves. When one woman "drank the kool aid", it was a snowball, because she was just like the others.

He also went into detail about how suicide rates dramatically increase when a highly publisized suicide occurs in an area. He even went so far as to blame an increase in car accidents and plance crashes on them - and had the data to back it up! Fascinating. His contention is that this increase in car accidents and plane crashes aren't accidental, but are fake suicides.

Liking - Tupperware parties are so successful because they are using your friends as their salespeople. These parties also use social proof and reciprocity (by giving prizes, guests feel obligated to buy more). They also use commitment by getting people to say publicly how they will use the products.

But liking is a big category. He reviewed how attractive people get a "halo effect", where we believe them and like them better, and are therefore more likely to buy from them. Serving people lunch before asking for a contribution also works! We also like and follow people we perceive as similar to ourselves.

Authority - Just the appearance of a business suit or a doctor's lab coat can make people believe them more. He told a story where nurses have been found to obey doctors (and ignore their own training) just because doctors have authority over them. He also told the infamous story where people would continue administering shock therapy to "subjects" because the professor told them to continue - despite people screaming in the other room. Beware of people in business suits!

Scarcity - By making something scarce, people want it more, and even like it more. Taking it away makes people want it even more. There was an elaborate study where they gave one set of people 10 cookies, another set 2, and then a third set initially 10, and then took away 8 and left them with two. The people who thought the cookies tasted best were the 3rd set. The people with only 2 to begin with ranked #2, and the people with 10 rated the cookies the least tasty. The moral of the story is that we value things more when we have less, and we value things the most right after they were taken away from us.

This is why "first come, first serve" works so well. It's also why having multiple people competing for the same thing works so well.

Cialdini closes the book by saying that we humans have created an insanely complex world that is getting incomprehensible - we call it the "Information Age" not the "Knowledge Age". In this context, we are more likely than ever to use these shortcuts to help us make decisions quicker and easier. Using these shortcuts isn't always a bad thing, but we need to be more aware of when they can be exploited by others. There is more opportunity than ever for exploitation. I agree 100%.