Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: Science and Practice, shared six different principles he termed ‘Weapons of Influence’. These weapons are as follows: Reciprocity, Commitment (and Consistency), Social Proof, Liking, and Scarcity. In the book, he gives extensive examples of each principle and how powerful it is in influencing the minds of people. In the following paragraphs, I will describe each one of these principles, provide common everyday examples and explain in detail which two principles are not only the most widely used but also the most effective. To begin with, the first principle is ‘Reciprocity: The Old Give and Take… and Take’. This is very similar to the norm of reciprocity. It entails a person to feeling obliged to do …show more content…
For example, let’s say you’re running in marathon that supports Leukemia and you need to look for sponsors. A few weeks before the marathon you ask your friend if he/she would support you and donate some money. Your friend then agrees that he/she will donate a certain amount. So a week before the marathon you go to your friend’s house and ask for the money but they tell you that they’re running low on money right now. So you gently remind them that you asked them a few weeks before and they agreed to donate money. Chances are that they will feel somewhat guilty and will be able to put together at least a little bit of money in order to support the Leukemia marathon. Commitment and Consistency usually have to do with a person fighting themselves on whether they should go through with something or not but eventually end up doing it because they remember that they committed to it initially and backing out now would not only make give others a bad impression of them, but it would also not feel right to themselves for going back on their word. A personal experience of a commitment would be the CCE (Clinical Care Extender) program that I volunteered at for three years. There were many days that I did not want to show up because of too much school work or just simply being exhausted from the day before, but I would show up regardless for my …show more content…
This weapon basically states that the less quantity of something that is available will make a person want it more. This could partly be due to the fact that the person is probably scared that if they don’t grasp the opportunity then somebody else will take it. For example, if you are offered a job that you know many people have applied to and you are given 5 days to decide but you’re waiting to hear back from another job interview, you will most likely start to become nervous when those 5 days are up and you haven’t heard from the other job. Your nervousness at losing the job offered to you, to someone else, you will probably take it. Another common time this happens is during Black Friday. When there is a set of six 70” televisions on sale for $950 and you’re sitting there pondering if you should buy one, people are already starting to load the televisions into their cart. By the time you have almost made up your mind, there is only one left and all of a sudden your mind is made up and set in stone. You want that last television. Because the television was scarce and well priced, you desired to have it. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had the habit of buying something if it’s the last item. For example, when I was 18 years old, I went out shopping with a friend on Black Friday. I was shifting through some clothes and found a dress that had “Last Item” marked on it. I thought the dress was cute but