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Robert B. Cialdini: 4 ideas worth knowing

4 ideas from Robert B. Cialdini, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Ask for something huge first, and the small ask lands easier

  Researchers asked students to volunteer as counsellors for juvenile delinquents two hours a week for two years — almost everyone refused. But when that huge ask was followed by a f…

  — Robert B. Cialdini et al., Reciprocal Concessions Procedure for Inducing Compliance: The Door-in-the-Face Technique

• "Most guests reuse their towel" beat every environmental appeal at changing behavior

  Researchers tested different hotel card messages asking guests to reuse towels. Appeals to protecting the environment barely moved behavior, but a card stating that most previous g…

  — Noah J. Goldstein, Robert B. Cialdini, Vladas Griskevicius, A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels

• Telling people a deal is almost gone made them want it more, not less

  Robert Cialdini's scarcity principle holds that things become more desirable the moment they seem limited or about to disappear, largely out of fear of missing out rather than the …

  — Robert Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

• Get a yes to a vague favor, then reveal the catch — most people don't back out

  Cialdini and colleagues asked students to join a 7 a.m. study, either naming the time upfront or only after they'd already agreed to take part. Revealing the costly detail after co…

  — Robert B. Cialdini, John T. Cacioppo, Rosemary Bassett & John A. Miller, Low-Ball Procedure for Producing Compliance: Commitment then Cost

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