Influence: Science and Practiceis an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say "yes" to another's request). Written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research, Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and in other positions inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say "yes." Widely used in classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion. Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.

The book is very infomartive and is a great easy read. If I had not need it for class I would not have known it existed. I normally sale my books back, but NOT this time.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, but it almost felt like two separate books to me: chapters 1-3, then chapters 4-8.

The first three chapters were very interesting and, in my copy, are covered in sticky notes, underlines, and highlights. It's not that the book shared anything particularly new, but it presented it in an organized fashion that directly related to many of my current business endeavors. If you have any project that involves selling/marketing - whether writing web copy or attending networking events - there will be some good tips, or at least friendly reminders, in these first three chapters.

The rest of the book was pure pop psychology, along the lines of "Stumbling on Happiness" - well-written, with many illustrative examples, but not all that useful. I only highlighted three phrases in all of chapters 4-8. If you like pop psychology, the rest of the book is an easy and enjoyable read, but hard to justify as work-related research.

I purchased this title for an MBA course, 'The Causes of Corporate White Collar Crime'. It, along with quite a few case studies, makes up our reading content for this course. Cialdini does a thorough job of focusing on a number of topics of influence: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity. For each of these topics, Cialdini successfully incorporates many real life examples to help flesh out and explain each of these. Instead of some hard to read textbook, it is an enjoyable read and easy to get into and follow.

What lets some people be listened to while others are completely ignored -- despite saying essentially the same thing? "Influence: Science in Practice" has sold over a million and a half copies is an examination of the concept of Influence and its effect in the world of business. The new and improved fifth edition adds more supportive anecdotes, the effect of popular culture, technological advances, and cultural issues that appear. Now in a newly updated and expanded fifth edition, "Influence" is a must for anyone who wants to be heard in the world of business.

Its an older book so the information might be a bit dated. Its a lot of what you will learn in an intro psych course or soc psych course.

Good book for lay person though. Its entertaining and well orgainized.