58 Wisdom Filled Robert B. Cialdini Quotes

He doesn’t really talk about himself, so I don’t really know what his favorite quotes are. But he does have a few that stand out. One is: “People don’t buy what you think they should. They buy what you lead them to think they should.” Which is also one of the reasons why good brands need to think about what they’re saying and what they doing.

Dr. Robert Cialdini is the Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and was a visiting professor of marketing, business, and psychology at Stanford University. His work has focused on how we think about and behave in the world. In particular, his recent work focuses on how our thoughts and feelings influence our decisions, whether in our personal lives or in our jobs.

I think it is very simple – we need to give the customer what he or she wants. We can use different techniques to get them to purchase a product or service; a simple survey can help us understand what the customer wants.

The more you can do to persuade people to follow your recommendations, the better chance you have of getting them to act on them.

58 Robert B. Cialdini Quotes

Having reasons to do things builds confidence in the other person. People want to know if you are going to do things for them, or if you are just going to do things just because you want to do them.

In order to be more influential we need to be kind, pleasant, attractive people. We should be likeable, likable and attractive.

The customers who were told about the future scarcity will be more interested in this information and this may affect the decision-making process that causes people to buy more beef than other customers.

Sometimes good things don’t come for free. Don’t give up on your dreams.

The definition for correctness is used by the author to introduce and define a novel psychological principle.

“What other people think is correct is what is correct” (Cialdini).

By defining correctness as the opinion that is shared by others, this is a way to introduce the concept in a nonthreatening manner. This is because the reader or listener is not threatened by this concept, as it is something they will understand.

Obedience to authority is a form of addiction, like gambling or pornography. We know it’s bad for us, but we do it anyway. And the consequences of breaking free are worse than the problem.

Your reputation is the reason your customers will do business with you. You must ensure they know what they’re buying, their expectations and what they can expect from you.

While I prefer the “Subjects became more accepting of people”, I can see using “Subjects became fonder of the people and things they experienced while they were eating” if you were talking to someone about their eating.
This sentence is in the “What-to-say-next” section. I suggest you use it in the “How-to-say-it” section.

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When we are competing with others we feel more positive in general than when we are just working for ourselves.

Negotiating with someone who starts off thinking they know what they really want is tough and is not necessarily effective. You want to make them think that their demands are unrealistic or even impossible. If you are lucky you will have a window into their core wants and needs before they get there. I would try not to let on how much you know about what they think and how they really feel.

Robert B. Cialdini makes a good point about reciprocity in business interactions. When you meet with someone to exchange your money for their money, you also need to show some reciprocity. If they don’t meet your expectations, you probably won’t meet their expectations either.

You can establish a bond with a customer by interacting with him/her on a regular basis or interacting with them in a particular way.

The weapons mentioned in the book work better in some conditions than in others. If we want to defend ourselves adequately against any such weapon, it is vital that we know its optimal operating conditions in order to recognize when we are most vulnerable to its influence.

There are two kinds of people and they are:
People who want to hear something and people who want to believe something.

Experts are also influential because people have a fundamental need to be believed. They trust those who they believe have a high level of expertise and experience and so they tend to listen to them.

The crowd might be mistaken because they are not acting on the basis of any superior information but are reacting, themselves, to the principle of social proof.

I don’t believe I know what choice I would make. I do, however, know that I would make different decisions about the consequences of those choices.

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There is a way to know what people are truly thinking and feeling by observing their behavior.

Having a hard time getting something done? It’s tempting to say that you don’t care. But to be honest, you probably value it more than someone who easily attains it.

When it comes to buying things, people only want limited quantities of them. They don’t want to buy two or three. They want to buy a lot.

People seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing less than by the thought of gaining more than equal value.

The same basic principle exists in terms of why we don’t get too upset over situations where we have a chance to make more money, get a new house, have a better job, etc., etc.

I think the way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.

Although thinking is important, effort and time will usually be the best resources. It can be distracting and a time saver not to have to think.

We might decide to act in a certain way only when we see someone else in a certain context. We might decide to behave in a certain manner only when we see someone else behave that way.

People will generally root for what they believe is in their best interest. You will want to root for things that are in your own best interest. When you root for team A, you are likely to experience more enjoyment than when rooting for team B. When you are rooting for your own side you experience more satisfaction than when rooting for the other side.

The leader should recognize a situation in which a group is making bad decisions and take action to help make things better.

There is more to us than just our own individual selves. We are social beings and we need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. If you need help becoming a leader or you need to be around the right people, then you need to be part of something larger than yourself.

When you aren’t entirely sure about something, a lot of times you’ll go to the authority figure and ask for his or her advice. Of course, you don’t want to blindly follow the advice of what other people think. A better way to make your decision is to be the one to lead the way.

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It is not always obvious by looking at a person what they are like. There are many ways to determine this, both externally and internally.

People often are influenced in our daily decisions when they do not have enough resources. This results in people not taking action in some situations.

The power of consistency is a very important principle to remember. Consistency is so important because it forces people to act.

A good aim for a marketer is to get somebody to want to buy something in a hurry without thinking too much about it.

In the world of selling, the joy isn’t about getting, it’s about sharing. The joy isn’t about having more, but in spending time with your customers.

The world is full of cults that are populated by people who are lead by a charismatic figure.

People love simple answers to questions because simple answers give us peace of mind and make us feel that we understand the world. It’s the search for the simple explanation that drives us mad. There is always an easy way to view the world.

In certain times of the year, older drivers are at higher risk of accidents and deaths than young drivers. One of the main reasons why older drivers are at higher risk of accidents and fatalities because of the lack of experience and skills. They are more prone to making mistakes or getting distracted which can lead to accidents. However, with proper training and preparation, things like this can be avoided.

Don’t fall prey to the “Compliment Trap” by making someone feel important who isn’t. We are a lot more comfortable with someone who has no interest in us.

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Make sure you have a good idea what you want your users to do. Be specific about the problem you’re trying to solve.

This is a quote from Robert Cialdini, an American psychologist and author of “Influence: Science and Practice.” It refers to the embarrassment that we feel when we are exposed as having something wrong about ourselves.

In this case, because we know that the hardest, most difficult things to attain are often also the best, we can often use an item’s availability to help us quickly and correctly decide on its quality.

People can find objects or opportunities more attractive to the degree that they are scarce, rare, or dwindling in availability.

As the number of people who follow the latest trends and take action increases, so does the number of people who follow the actions of others. This is also true for other topics, like political beliefs and religious preferences.

Most people believe that the expensive items are more valuable. They are, but you shouldn’t give up on buying cheap products because there are not any expensive ones that are worth the money.

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This shows the power of obligation in the relationship. When you are obligated to receive, you don’t have a say in who you take on this obligation. You are obligated to receive.

There is a group of people who know very well that they have the capacity to get what they want and they employ their skills to get what they want. If the method of getting what they want is social interaction, their frequency of success is dazzling.

The law of Reciprocity states that if you do someone a favour that they are more likely to return the favour to you. This means that I might give you a gift when you are in need, and you might also give me something I need.

There are a couple of different versions of this quote, but they all basically say the same thing. Now consider the following.

If we find losers looking and speaking like winners (and vice versa), we should be especially wary of the conditions that kicked up the dust in the first place.

This is not an easy task. It is much easier to focus on the end result of the behavior instead of on the psychological influences behind it. This is because the psychological influences are difficult to detect and deflect.

If all the people in a certain group are doing the same thing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are all doing the same thing (or, more importantly, that they are doing the right thing). By observing a group doing a certain task, or by observing that many people in that group are doing a certain task, you are not necessarily getting a good measurement of what the real situation is in that group.

The research showed that when people were primed to think about a luxury item first, they were more likely than
any other shoppers to buy it, while shoppers primed to think about a
cheaper item were less likely to buy it. Presenting a luxury first is more
effective because it triggers a response from people that makes them think
and feel that the product is more important than a more ordinary one…

It is quite clear, once again, that social proof works better for those who have a lack of confidence in a specific situation in which they need to learn or make a decision.

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I find it hard to believe that people are more motivated by the thought of losing something than the thought of gaining more. I doubt that most people even care about not losing anything of any consequence. I would like to say that most people just like to win something.

I have been away from home for four years now. My thoughtlessness resulted in my being remiss in writing and I will bring you up-to-date with my school work to show that I am doing well.

When a paraphrase is used, it’s generally a good idea to keep your phrasing the same as your original for clarity.

How to use the “Use a paraphrase, not a direct quote” technique:

Use a paraphrase, not a direct quote.

There was a dramatic drop in the consumption of chocolate when we tried to make it scarce by telling everyone about it. However, when we had people in constant scarcity, they still wanted chocolate, but there was a greater sense of scarcity and this increased the level of desire significantly.

A good rule to remember from Robert Cialdini, one that helps you build stronger friendships.

There is a natural human tendency to resent a person who brings us unpleasant news, even if that person didn’t cause the bad news. The simple association with it is enough to stimulate our resentment.

In the world of advertising, what we have already done and decided is how we approach our targets and clients; so we fool ourselves with the thought that if we just continue to do what we’ve been doing, then we will keep getting the results that we do.

Advertising is more than just a tool to build a relationship with the potential client. It must also be a tool for the client to be able to make a decision to purchase the product or service being offered.

Summary

Robert B. Cialdini, PhD, is a leading authority on influence and persuasion. He is affectionately known as “The Father of Influence” and his books are bestsellers around the world.