Influence - The Psychology Of Persuasion By Robert Cialdini

Laugh tracks on sitcoms (they tell you when to laugh). Yelp reviews. "Bestseller" lists. Crowdfunding campaigns that show "50% funded in 2 hours!" Nightclub bouncers making a line outside an empty club (to imply the club is popular).

If you are walking down a street and see five people looking up at a building, you will look up. If you are in a hotel room and the card says "75% of guests reuse their towels," you will reuse your towel. Cialdini calls this "following the herd." It is most powerful when we are (we don't know the best answer) and when the similarity is high (people just like us are doing it). influence the psychology of persuasion by robert cialdini

What he found were six universal shortcuts. These are mental autopilots that help us navigate an overwhelming world. But they are also levers that "compliance professionals" (the polite term for people who want something from you) pull to get your automatic agreement. Laugh tracks on sitcoms (they tell you when to laugh)