Influence

Route  ·  14 chapters

Someone is selling you something

High-pressure selling is a small set of compliance techniques applied in a predictable order. These chapters follow that order, then give the counter to each.

1 The Debt You Never Agreed To: Reciprocity as an Involuntary ReflexChapter 1, part 1  —  Reciprocity is an obligation-generating reflex, not a calculation: Alvin Gouldner argued the norm of…
2 The Door in the Face: Retreat as an Attack FormationChapter 2, part 1  —  The technique exploits reciprocal concessions: when the requester visibly retreats from an extreme demand,…
3 The Foot in the Door: How Small Yeses Become Total ComplianceChapter 3, part 1  —  The first trivial yes edits the target’s self-concept — Daryl Bem’s self-perception theory holds that people…
4 Scarcity: Why the Last Cookie Tastes BetterChapter 5, part 1  —  Scarcity converts availability into a value signal by two routes: an availability heuristic in which rarity…
5 Anchoring: The Number That Poisons the WellChapter 14, part 1  —  Anchoring-and-adjustment means a numeric starting point captures subsequent judgment because adjustment from…
6 Framing: The Asian Disease ProblemChapter 16, part 1  —  Framing works because preferences are constructed at the moment of choice against the reference point…
7 Sunk Cost: The Ski Trip You Do Not Want to TakeChapter 18, part 1  —  The sunk-cost effect is a desire not to appear wasteful: past irrecoverable investment should be irrelevant…
8 Law 1 — Control the Frame Before You Argue the FactsChapter 271, part 10  —  Preferences are not retrieved, they are constructed against whatever reference point the frame supplies, so…
9 Law 4 — Ask For Too Much So the Real Request Feels Like MercyChapter 274, part 10  —  The extreme opening bid triggers reciprocal concession: when the requester visibly retreats, the target feels…
10 Law 8 — Impose a Deadline and Deliberation DiesChapter 278, part 10  —  Time pressure suppresses the systematic processing route in Petty and Cacioppo’s elaboration likelihood…
11 The Countdown That Never Ends: Spotting Manufactured Scarcity and UrgencyChapter 303, part 11  —  Artificial deadlines and low-stock claims exploit Cialdini’s scarcity principle and Kahneman and Tversky’s…
12 The Right to Walk Away: Defeating the High-Pressure CloseChapter 304, part 11  —  High-pressure closing works by compressing decision time so that commitment is made under emotional arousal…
13 The Gift With Strings: Neutralizing the Reciprocity TrapChapter 307, part 11  —  Cialdini’s reciprocity principle creates an obligation to repay that operates below awareness and is…
14 Consider the Opposite: Disarming Anchors in NegotiationChapter 309, part 11  —  Anchoring works through selective accessibility: an initial number makes anchor-consistent evidence…

Start at chapter 1