Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Cialdini describes Amazon’s annual offer to buy out the contracts of its employees. While Amazon says their goal is to make certain those who work for them are happy in their jobs, Cialdini states that the actual motive is a desire to make employees commit to working for the company.

In “Streaming Along,” Cialdini talks about the fact that researchers have long studied the human tendency to value consistency. He writes, “[A] high degree of consistency is normally associated with personal and intellectual strength. It is the heart of logic, rationality, stability, and honesty” (295). Cialdini continues in “The Quick Fix” to say that consistency is a shortcut that helps us make decisions. He says that consistency becomes a luxury because once we have decided how to deal with something, we never have to think about it again.

In “The Foolish Fortress,” he lists a second attraction of continual consistency. He points out that if we did think about the decisions we have made—and cling to—we might discover new facts that challenge our thinking and make us uncomfortable. Being consistent means we never have to think about whether we are right or wrong. In “Seek and Hide,” Cialdini relates how he fell prey to the marketing schemes of toy companies by committing to buy certain toys that manufacturers intentionally held back until after Christmas, allowing toy companies to continue sales after the holidays.