Influence Psychology

Influence Psychology Framework

Apply six decades of persuasion science — Cialdini's research into why people say "yes" — to product, copy, and sales, ethically.

Core Principle

People don't make decisions rationally — they use mental shortcuts (heuristics) that can be triggered to influence behavior. These shortcuts evolved because they're usually reliable, but they can also be exploited. Understanding them lets you design products, messaging, and experiences that align with how people actually decide.

Scoring

Goal: 10/10. When reviewing or creating persuasive elements (features, copy, flows, campaigns), run the Quick Diagnostic, then score against the bands below and apply the ethics gate. Always report the current score and the specific change needed to reach 10/10.

• 9-10 — Multiple principles deliberately layered; every claim truthful; users can reverse the decision; passes the transparency test (still works if the user knows the strategy); safe for vulnerable users.
• 7-8 — Principles deliberately layered and honest, but one gap (e.g. weak reversibility, or a single principle where layering was possible).
• 5-6 — One principle present but generic, or leverage left on the table.
• <=3 — No principle deliberately designed (relying on luck), OR any tactic is deceptive/coercive. Any fabricated proof, fake scarcity, or hidden-cost dark pattern caps the score at 3 regardless of other strengths.

The Seven Principles of Influence

1. Reciprocity

Core concept: People feel obligated to give back to those who have given to them first.

Why it works: Humans are wired to avoid being indebted — the obligation to repay can overpower personal preference, and the return favor often exceeds the original gift.

Key insights:

• The gift must come first (before the request)
• Unexpected, personalized gifts beat expected, generic ones
• Even small gifts create obligation

Product applications:

Copy patterns:

• "Here's a gift for you..." (before asking)
• "As a thank you for signing up..."
• "We noticed you needed help with X, so we..."

See references/reciprocity.md when building free trials, lead magnets, or referral rewards — gift tiers, email templates, day-by-day reciprocity-stacking, and A/B variables.

2. Commitment & Consistency

Core concept: People want to be consistent with their past statements, beliefs, and actions.

Why it works: Inconsistency is psychologically uncomfortable; once we take a stand, personal and interpersonal pressure pushes us to behave consistently with it.

Key insights:

• Small initial commitments lead to larger ones (foot-in-the-door)
• Public > private; written > verbal; active (user-generated) > passive
• Self-perception: we infer our attitudes from our behavior

Product applications:

Copy patterns:

• "What's your biggest challenge with X?" (commitment to a problem)
• "How much would you like to save per month?" (numerical commitment)
• "You said you wanted to achieve X. Let's start with..."

Onboarding sequence: micro-commitment ("What brings you here?") → small action (click, choice) → public/written commitment (goal) → reinforce ("Based on what you told us...").

Ethical boundary: Make every commitment freely chosen and easily reversible — no trick opt-ins or locked-in defaults the user can't undo.

See references/commitment-consistency.md when designing onboarding or goal-setting flows — foot-in-the-door sequences and public-commitment tactics.

3. Social Proof

Core concept: People determine what's correct by finding out what others think is correct.

Why it works: When uncertain, we use others' behavior as a guide — "if everyone's doing it, it must be right."

Key insights:

• Most powerful when observers are uncertain; similar others = stronger proof
• Negative social proof backfires ("9 out of 10 don't...")
• Specific numbers beat vague claims ("2,347 users" > "thousands")

Types of social proof:

Product applications:

Copy patterns:

• "[X number] of [similar people] are already..."
• "[Name/Company] increased [metric] by [%]"
• "Don't take our word for it. Here's what [users] say..."

Ethical boundary: Disclose when proof is curated or cherry-picked (e.g. "selected reviews") rather than presenting it as representative.

See references/social-proof.md when building testimonial sections or trust bars — proof types and implementation patterns.

4. Authority

Core concept: People follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts.

Why it works: Obedience to authority is deeply ingrained — following experts is an efficient shortcut when we lack expertise ourselves.

Key insights:

• Titles, credentials, even symbols (lab coats, official-looking design) trigger automatic compliance
• Admitting a weakness paradoxically increases authority (trustworthiness) — lead with it before strengths
• Expertise doesn't transfer across domains, but people assume it does

Sources of authority:

Product applications:

Copy patterns:

• "Trusted by [authority figure/company]"
• "Research shows that [cite source]..."
• "Our team includes [credentials]"

See references/authority.md when writing About pages, bylines, or trust badges — credential framing and thought-leadership strategies.

5. Liking

Core concept: People prefer to say yes to those they like.

Why it works: Each liking factor (similarity, compliments, cooperation) is a separate lever that independently lowers a person's resistance to a request — they stack.

Factors that increase liking:

Product applications:

Copy patterns:

• "We're [similar trait] just like you"
• "We built this because we were frustrated with..."
• Casual, warm language ("Hey", "Awesome!", "We got you")

See references/liking.md when setting brand voice or writing support replies — liking factors and tone guidelines. For ready-to-adapt persuasive copy across all seven principles, see references/copywriting.md.