Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Influence describes the six categories of techniques that have the potential to influence us without our conscious awareness. These are called the 'Weapons of influence', which are: Reciprocation, Commitment and Consistency, Social Proof, Authority, Liking, and Scarcity. The book's chapters are organized around these areas and provides many examples and anecdotes with some research sprinkled in. I'm not sure if my undergraduate marketing classes taught me everything I needed to know about influence, but I felt like I didn't gain much new knowledge from this and more so new perspectives and some extra validation. I found parts of the book repetitive, dry and felt the examples were not strong enough. Even so, having these principles carried the book and are useful if you want to improve your understanding around marketing and sales.