Persuasion

“Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive” by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini. I picked this book up to see what insights it might provide on message design and decision making. The book is loosely organized around six principles of social influence: reciprocity, authority, commitment, scarcity, liking/similarity and social proof. The book uses stories and cites studies for each of the 50 persuasive techniques. A memorable sample: Social Proof – we look to what others do as guides to what our behavior should be. In the Petrified National Forest park visitors were stealing petrified wood. The Public Service Announcement (PSA) message in use was; “Your heritage is being vandalized…