The Psychology of Persuasion and Buying Rugs in Turkey

I wanted to pass along an inspiring article on the psychology of persuasion which came to my inbox recently.  Mitchell Weisburgh at the PILOTed blog wrote the story after he visited Turkey.  He encountered several rug vendors, and one of them managed to successfully close the deal even though Mitchell had no intention of buying one in the first place.  After the purchase, he reflected on what had happened and how it relates to basic psychological principles.

According to author Robert Cialdini, there are 6 weapons of influence. We can all use them, and they are used on us, either knowingly or by accident:

1. Reciprocation: we try to repay what another person has provided us
2. Commitment and consistency: we desire to be consistent with what we have already done
3. Social proof: we tend to rely on what other people are doing to determine our own actions
4. Liking: we tend to go along with and follow people we like
5. Authority: we feel a sense of duty to follow someone who has authority
6. Scarcity: opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited

See the original blog post: What I Learned Buying a Rug in Turkey.