In "The Psychology of Persuasion", Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology, presented six psychological principles that people can use to influence others in their behavior.
The follow-up, "Pre-Suasion", is about the moment before persuasion – and how to use it effectively to create a psychological frame in which the other person becomes particularly receptive to the message being conveyed.
This frame is created by an atmosphere (e.g., posters and photos in the background, music and scents, demeanor and word choice, creating a sense of familiarity or community) that draws the recipient's attention to the benefits of the message being conveyed so that the recipient forms positive associations with both the messenger and the message.
For example, French background music in a wine store leads to an above-average number of shoppers choosing a French wine. Photos of people standing close together make people more willing than average to help. Pictures of athletes winning lead shoppers to be more likely to buy high-performance products, while images of money lead them to be more likely to choose low-cost alternatives.
The author backs up his statements not only with vivid examples like these but also with numerous fascinating scientific studies.
The book is easy to understand, even for psychology laypeople, and is absolutely worth reading. After all, knowledge of this considerable power enables us to pay particular attention to where our attention has been directed and how this might influence our decision when making important decisions.
🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? Yes!
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