If you want to know how "mechanically" we react to things without "thinking" about them; you want to understand why humans can only function in a hierarchical system (wether military, political or social system), then this book will bring you some insights about it.
You can see why Communism is not applicable to humans, why we are sold things we don't want to, why we react in a pre-determined way to basic situations (that override the reasoning and "thinking" processes).
All other reviews of this book talk about the ways you can use (or that someone can use in you) to force someone to buy things they don't want to. I think this book goes way beyond that... Psichology and Sociology students can get quite of good insights from this book also.

This well-referenced book first published in 1985 and authored by Robert Cialdini, an experimental social psychologist, deals with the dynamics of interpersonal influence processes.

Specifically, this book deals with the compliance of "automatic influence" which Cialdini defines by a question: "Just what are the factors [or principles] that cause one person to say yes [without thinking first] to another person?"

The principles mentioned in the above question are the subject of this book and, in fact, this book is organized around them. There are six principles discussed. Cialdini calls these principles "weapons of influence."

Each principle or "weapon" has a well written and thorough chapter devoted to it. Parts of these chapters are occasionally humerous. As well, each chapter has plenty of examples to illustrate each principle.

However, just knowing these principles is not enough! You have to know the practical techniques or "compliance tactics" that are based on these principles in order to get the desired result of automatic compliance. This book is packed with these techniques as well as examples of how they're used.

Why bother to learn these principles and techniques? Answer: to protect yourself. Protect yourself? From whom? To protect yourself from "compliance professionals" (for example, sales people, fund raisers, and advertisers) who utilize these principles and their associated tactics to help them get their own way. Where money is at stake, having them get their own way could be costly. Cialdini suggests ways of thinking to defend yourself against such people after you realize a specific technique is being used on you.

Of course, the compliance pros aren't the only ones who know about and use these principles and tactics. We all use them and fall victim to them to some degree in our interaction with neighbors, friends, spouses, and so on.

A handy feature of this book is the summary sections at the end of each chaper. These effectively highlight the main ideas in each chapter.

After reading this book, you'll be able to answer questions such as these:

(1) Imagine you're a lawyer representing someone who broke his leg in a store and is suing the store for $25,000.00 in damages. What would you do during the trial to make the jury see that this amount is reasonable, even a small, reward?

(2) Why is the "free" sample really not so free?

(3) What is there about written promises that make them so effective?

(4) Which naturally occurring conditions of city life reduce the chances of bystander intervention in an emergency?

(5) What is the evidence that we tend to say "yes" to similar others in an automatic fashion?

(6) What is the relationship between size and status in our society? Why did this relationship develop in this way?

(7) During one mid-1980's Christmas season the most sought after toy in the U.S. and Canada was the Cabbage Patch doll, which was said to be in very limited supply. Why were people reported to have spent as much as 35 times the regular price for this doll at public auctions to own a doll that cost much less at department stores?

(8) How can each weapon of influence be used in an exploitive way and how can each be used in a non-exploitive way?

In conclusion, don't be easy prey to compliance professionals! Learn about the principles or weapons of influence and their associated compliance tactics. Most importantly, learn the ways to defend yourself against such weapons and tactics. This book explains all this and more!!

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Psychological studies in the past century have shown many things that were not evident to intelligent people. A lot of studies that seem to be "obvious" at first sight actually do generate counterintuitive results that contradict common sense, and most people tend to overestimate their conscious powers of free will and underestimate the strength of "subconscious" factors like the ones described in this book, when considering their actions. Yes, psychology is a new field and there is a lot of bad science out there. But it is still a growing area of study and combined with neuroscience it will definitely uncover many more revelations about the human mind.

If you want to live your life in the "best" possible way, you would do well to read this book to try and free yourself from the auto-pilot reactions that are governing your behavior. It might seem "right", but really you're just a slave to your impulses. Of course many people deny the influence of factors like looks/reciprocation/liking etc. but that just means they're more inclined to act on those principles - they just rationalize them away as something else. That's not necessarily a bad way to go, but you're only deluding yourself. Others, like me, are fully aware of these subconscious influences but act on them anyway because it's the most convenient way - it just "feels right". In the end the choice is yours - to try and base your actions on rational thought rather than passive emotion.