The World's Best Book Summaries
Why are sports fans so devoted to their teams? What is it about the psychology of sports fandom that leads to such visceral responses? The association principle plays an important role in sports fandom. People try to associate themselves with the achievements and victories of others. See how the psychology of sports fandom demonstrates the association principle and how it’s used for marketing.
When you take a free sample at the grocery store without buying something, do you feel a twinge of guilt? The Reciprocity Principle explains how getting something for “free” creates future obligations. We feel like we have to buy some cheese if we took a free cube because of the reciprocity principle of persuasion. Learn about Cialdini’s Reciprocity Principle definition and understand how the principle of reciprocity came about.
Have you ever noticed how some people are gifted in the psychology of persuasion? Without even realizing what’s going on, you’re convinced to buy, join, or do something. Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence identify the six key parts to the psychology of persuasion. We’ll cover the basics of Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion and how each one can be used to manipulate us.
Have you ever been persuaded to purchase something that you later regretted? A fixed action pattern probably influenced you. Have you ever been manipulated into contributing money to a charitable cause that you didn’t actually support? Again, this is another fixed action pattern example. Fixed-action patterns are the mental shortcuts and assumptions that we use to fill in the blanks of our everyday experience. They are also known as modal action patterns. A lot of persuasion rests on the manipulation of human fixed-action patterns. Learn about fixed action patterns in humans and how they make us like turkeys.