What Leads People to Change: Cialdini's 6 Principles of Influence

Every day we are either influencing or being influenced – it’s one of the many transactions we are having with life.

Persuasive practices rarely concern the merits of the request itself. Instead, they concern the ways in which the merits are presented. - Robert B. Cialdini, Six Degrees of Social Influence: Science, Application, and the Psychology of Robert Cialdini, Oxford Press

I came across the work of Robert Caldini through a presentation made by Gillian Ku, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School. Ku's research is in the broad area of negotiations, decision-making, and interpersonal relationships. Specifically, her research has focused on the dynamics of emotionally-charged decision-making - something I would like to know more about. Ku's videos on Youtube for LBS are around the topics of negotiation and influence and include a presentation of Caldini's 'principles of persuasion'.

Caldini's work, it is said, is a must-read for anyone in marketing and sales but these techniques should feel quite familiar to everyone, seeing as we are being sold to left right and centre, 24/7. The promise of familiarising oneself with Caldini's work is that anyone who deals with people will gain new insights into what makes others tick and how to influence them. The way I see it, if your eyes are open to these techniques, the better your resistance to being influenced using rudimentary levers.

Caldini is a renowned social psychologist who identified and articulated six (later expanded to seven) principles of persuasion in his famous book, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.".

The principles are:

1. Reciprocity: The tendency for people to return a favor.
2. Commitment and Consistency: The desire to be consistent with what we have already done or said.
3. Social Proof: The tendency to see an action as more appropriate when others are doing it.
4. Authority: The influence of experts and authoritative figures.
5. Liking: The tendency to be influenced by people we like.
6. Scarcity: The value we place on something that is in limited supply.

In a subsequent book called 'Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade', Caldini updated the list from 6 to 7 principles.

…now I believe that there is a seventh universal principle that I had missed – not because some new cultural phenomenon or technological shift brought it to my attention but because it was hiding beneath the surface of my data all along.

7. Unity: The shared identity and the sense of belonging to a group.

Update:

• Reflecting on Caldini's 'reciprocity' principle. A recent cafe experience vividly illustrated its dynamics. After casually mentioning my love for milkshakes to a waitress, a nearby customer overheard and kindly ordered an extra one for me. Grateful yet surprised, I hesitated momentarily, considering whether it would be rude to decline. With emails to catch up on and my laptop open, I sensed the customer needed more than just a milkshake—they needed empathy and someone to listen. In a spontaneous exchange, I accepted the milkshake. Whats interesting to me at this moment is how I felt compelled to then strike up conversation, offering time and attentive conversation in return for something I did not ask for but for which I felt indebted. Realising how reciprocity can lead to meaningful, albeit transactional, interactions, this encounter underscored the delicate balance of politeness and genuine connection, where declining could have closed off an opportunity for mutual understanding and support.