---
title: Influence (Cialdini) — the book | RGM® Glossary
url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/glossary/influence-the-psychology-of-persuasion/
updated: 2026-06-10
source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/glossary/influence-the-psychology-of-persuasion/
---

# Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

/ˈɪnfluəns: ðə saɪˈkɑlədʒi əv pəɹˈsweɪʒən/proper noun

Three years undercover in sales jobs produced the seven levers every marketer now pulls — knowingly or not.

Author
:   Robert B. Cialdini

Published
:   1984 (expanded 2021)

Principles
:   6 original + unity (2016)

Sales
:   5M+ copies, 40+ languages

## Forms & parts of speech

Influence · title

Shorthand for the principles canon.

"Straight out of **Influence** — the free sample IS the strategy."

## What the book says

*Influence* answers one question — what makes people say yes — with evidence from experiments and Cialdini's three years working undercover in sales, fundraising, and ad organizations. The answer: compliance runs on fixed-action shortcuts. Reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity — six levers (unity arrived in 2016) that work because they usually point at truth, and misfire spectacularly when exploited.

## The ideas people quote

The rejection-then-retreat move (big ask, then the real ask); the Chinese POW essay-writing studies of commitment; social proof's dark side (the more bystanders, the less help); the $75 towel reuse sign beaten by 'most guests reuse'; scarcity's deadline math; and the book's quiet ethical spine — each chapter ends with how to DEFEND against the lever.

## How to read it now

Read it twice — once as a marketer (which honest signals is your funnel hiding?), once as a citizen (which levers are being pulled on you?). The replication era trimmed some studies but the core principles held. The practitioner's test for every application is Cialdini's own: if the signal is true, surfacing it is service; if you must fake it, you've left marketing for fraud.

**Worked example.** A B2B trial-to-paid flow converts at 4%. The Influence audit surfaces what's true but hidden — 'teams like yours' usage stats (social proof), the founder's actual credentials on the onboarding note (authority), a real pilot deadline (scarcity), and a one-click commitment question on day one ('what do you want to achieve?') that consistency then honors. Conversion doubles. Nothing was invented — the truth was just finally visible.

**Failure modes to watch.** Faking the signals (manufactured reviews, fake countdown timers) — the book's own definition of malpractice; stacking all seven levers until the page reads like a infomercial; and skipping the defense chapters that keep your own judgment clean.

## Synonyms & antonyms

### Synonyms

Influence (book)The Psychology of Persuasion

## Origin & history

Grew from Cialdini's three years of participant observation (1970s) inside sales-training programs, fundraising operations, and ad agencies — he enrolled undercover to learn compliance from its professionals. Published 1984 by William Morrow after a slow start, it compounded into the best-selling social-psychology book ever.

Etymology: [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence:_Science_and_Practice).

## Usage trends

Search interest for this term over the last five years:

[View interest-over-time on Google Trends →](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=influence%20cialdini%20book&date=today%205-y)

## Common questions

Who wrote Influence?
:   Robert Cialdini, Arizona State social psychologist, published 1984 — expanded with new data and the unity principle in 2021.

What are the book's principles?
:   Reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity — plus unity, added later.

How should marketers use Influence?
:   Surface honest signals of each principle. The book itself teaches readers to detect and resist faked ones.

## Related tools & calculators

- tool[Experiment planner](/tools/experiment-planner/)
- tool[Funnel drop-off analyzer](/tools/funnel-drop-off-analyzer/)

## Resources & people to follow

- book*Influence* — Robert Cialdini (the subject)
- book*Pre-Suasion* — Robert Cialdini
- referenceInfluenceAtWork.com — his research site

Curated, non-competitor resources verified per term.

## Related training

- module[CRO & experimentation](/training/cro-experimentation/)

## Disciplines

Areas of marketing where influence: the psychology of persuasion is a core concern:

[Growth strategy](/training/growth-marketing-foundations/)[Analytics](/training/marketing-analytics/)

## Read next

## Related terms

[Robert Cialdini](/glossary/robert-cialdini/)[Daniel Kahneman](/glossary/daniel-kahneman/)[Cognitive bias](/glossary/cognitive-bias/)[Conversion rate](/glossary/conversion-rate/)[Jonah Berger](/glossary/jonah-berger/)

## Sources

1. trends[Google Trends — "influence cialdini book"](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=influence%20cialdini%20book&date=today%205-y)