Episode Details

A little over a year ago, in episode 157 of The Brainy Business, I was honored to have Dr. Robert Cialdini join me on the show to talk about the new and expanded version of his book Influence, which has sold many, many millions of copies around the world, and it is so impactful even nearly 40 years after its original publishing date. The new version added 220 (pure gold!) pages and a whole new seventh principle of persuasion – unity – which is of course the focus of today's episode.

The six original principles of persuasion include reciprocity, liking, authority, scarcity, social proof, and commitment/consistency. Most of those already have their own episodes of the podcast, which are linked for you in the show notes along with my interview with Bob when he was on the show. So, why unity? As I said, while I've dedicated episodes to several of the initial six principles, including scarcity, social proof, reciprocity, and precommitment…I haven't done them all yet…so why jump to the end with Unity before "completing the set" so to speak? Listen in to find out why and learn more about the amazing principle of unity.

• [00:07] Today's behavioral economics foundations episode is all about Cialdini's new 7th principle of persuasion: unity.
• [00:48] In episode 157 of The Brainy Business, I was honored to have Dr. Robert Cialdini join me on the show to talk about the new and expanded version of his book Influence, which has sold multi multi multi million copies and it is so impactful even nearly 40 years after its original publishing date.
• [03:36] Unity is an underlying principle that runs through all the others. If you have unity, everything else can come easier, so understanding this technique can be impactful in most any approach. (A great reason to jump here first! It also has less info on it when you search since it is new, so I wanted to contribute there, and it has a big feature in my new book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You).
• [04:54] Melina shares an overview of the first six principles. Reciprocity: when given a gift, even something incredibly small, people feel compelled to give back to the gifter.
• [05:51] People are more likely to do business with people they like. We are also influenced by people in authority even when they don't have any expertise in the area we may be asking about.
• [06:28] Because we are a herding species, we are very influenced by social proof. We also are very influenced by items that are scarce. We find them more valuable, our FOMO and loss aversion are triggered.
• [07:04] People like to be consistent and do what they have said they will do. They also like to do business with people who do what they say they will do. Showing that you have done this is powerful.
• [08:02] If people aren't buying what you have to sell, whether it is an idea or a physical product or service or anything else, it doesn't necessarily mean the idea is wrong or bad. You can often change the way you are presenting the information and enjoy a different result.
• [08:35] Unity goes beyond liking or social proof and is in the space of how we are the same. It's not just that I like you, but we are (as they say) cut from the same cloth. When you are part of my tribe, when we are a WE, I become more compelled toward whatever it is you are asking for or offering up.
• [09:36] We all have a lot of identities that we flow between throughout the day; they don't have to be weighty to create that connection.
• [10:54] It is pretty easy for people to come up with 20 self-defining things pretty quickly off the top of their head.
• [12:32] The way we identify with a group can shape the way we see the world around us and the decisions we make.
• [14:31] A key to unity is finding what is central, core, or defining to both people.
• [16:25] When you find something that