Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Content Warning: This chapter contains references to summary executions performed in a Nazi concentration camp.

Cialdini describes a Nazi guard who decimates prisoners, shooting every 10th individual. However, he skips one 10th prisoner and shoots the 11th instead. Cialdini promises an explanation in the chapter.

In “Unity,” Cialdini says humans naturally divide themselves into groups, belonging in some and not others. People are more inclined to say “yes” to those in a “we” group. He writes about “tribe-like categories that individuals use to define themselves and their groups, such as race, ethnicity, nationality, and family, as well as political and religious affiliations […] put simply, the ‘we’ is the shared me” (364). Characteristics of “we” groups are (1) those within a group favor others in the group, (2) group members mimic the actions of each other, and (3) the goal of members is to preserve the group.

Writing about “Business,” in “Sales,” he describes Ali Reda, an Arabic car salesman in Dearborn, Michigan, who works closely with the Arab Americans in the Detroit area. His inclusion in that group has made him the number-one car salesman in the US. In “Financial Transactions,” Cialdini describes the success of Bernie Madoff, the Ponzi schemer who swindled $15 billion from his clients.