Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)

A RULE, we most prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like.

if the second item is fairly different from the first, we will tend to see it as more different than it actually is.

reciprocation.7 The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us.

You and I exist in an extraordinarily complicated stimulus environment, easily the most rapidly moving and complex that has ever existed on this planet. To deal with it, we need shortcuts.

It is worthy of note that I have not included among the six principles the simple rule of material self-interest—that people want to get the most and pay the least for their choices. This omission does not stem from any perception on my part that the desire to maximize benefits and minimize costs is unimportant in driving our decisions. Nor does it

The truly gifted negotiator, then, is one whose initial position is exaggerated enough to allow for a series of reciprocal concessions that will yield a desirable final offer from the opponent, yet is not so outlandish as to be seen as illegitimate from the start.

We like people who are similar to us.

Although there are thousands of different tactics that compliance practitioners employ to produce yes, the majority fall within six basic categories.

social proof is most powerful for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure in a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside of themselves for evidence of how best to behave there.