Persuasion Levers of Influence

1. What is the significance of the turquoise collection example Cialdini describes in Chapter 1?

A shop owner tried to lower the price of a turquoise jewelry collection to get it to sell. But her employee accidentally doubled the price instead of cutting it. And suddenly…the jewelry sold out. The turquoise example shows that people rely on the price–quality heuristic

 

What is a fixed action pattern?  How are fixed action patterns related to autonomous actions? 

example of autonomous actions — they show how our brains can act automatically based on certain triggers.

What is the main finding behind the Langer, Blank, and Chanowitz (1978) study?  How is it related to fixed action patterns?

We are more prone to comply with someone’s request if he or she gives us a reason, even if it is a bad or totally irrelevant or assumed reason.

According to Cialdini, what is a “click whirr response?”

“click whirr response” is an automatic, fixed-action pattern in human behavior where a specific trigger (the “click”) sets off a predictable, automatic reaction (the “whirr”) without conscious thought.

What is the perceptual contrast principle? How can a salesperson use it?

The contrast makes “less expensive” feel like a bargain