Cialdini's Six Principles of Persuasion

Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion

• Reciprocity is one of Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion, which is the desire to return a favor or gift.
• The principle of reciprocity can be used to influence the behaviors of others by giving them a personalized and unexpected gift.
• The value of the gift is less important than the act of the gift itself.
• Examples of using reciprocity include waiters providing mints with the bill, workshop facilitators providing cookies as they ask for feedback, and leaders providing a team day out just before issuing the annual engagement survey.

Reciprocity in the Workplace

• In the world of work, reciprocity can be used by doing favors for others, helping people, and publicly praising others.
• These actions build up a bank of social obligations owed to you, which will be settled at some point, probably to your advantage.
• However, if you're too over the top with this type of behavior, it will cease to work.

Scarcity

• Scarcity is the second of Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion, which means that the less of something there is, the more people tend to want it.
• This principle can be used to increase interest in a product or service by reducing its availability or creating a sense of scarcity.

Cialdini's Six Principles of Persuasion

• Robert Cialdini published his book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" in 1984, which explores factors that affect the decisions that people make.
• His work is an influential precursor to Nudge Theory and Sludge.
• Cialdini's six core principles that affect decision-making shortcuts are reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment and consistency, liking, and consensus (or social proof).
• Understanding these six principles can help individuals use them to their advantage when trying to persuade others to take a specific action or buy a specific product.