Influence
Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist who spent years inside car lots, charity call centers, and cult recruitment sessions, distills his findings into six levers of persuasion: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Each chapter pairs field observations with laboratory studies to show how compliance professionals exploit the mental shortcuts we use when we cannot evaluate every decision in full. Written with dry humor and a steady stream of real-world examples, the book has become a foundational text in marketing, behavioral economics, and the study of undue influence.
Where Influence keeps showing up
Five of our editors' lists feature this novel.
Also by Dale Carnegie
Books in conversation with Influence
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about Influence
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A social psychologist spent three years undercover with car salesmen, recruiters, and fundraisers and came back with six durable principles of influence. The book is still required reading in marketing classes.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion was written by Robert Cialdini and published in 1984, with revised editions through 2021. Cialdini is a social psychologist; the book draws on his academic research.
Yes. Cialdini's six (later seven) principles of influence (reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity, unity) remain foundational in marketing, sales, and behavioral economics. The 2021 New and Expanded edition added the unity principle.
Influence is 276 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Influence takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Influence is a standalone novel by Dale Carnegie, not part of a series.
Influence is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
