Johnny Malloy's Reviews > Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Robert Cialdini's latest book brings the subtle, almost subliminal concept of *context* to the foreground in a concise and enlightening way. Cialdini, well known for establishing his six key principles of influence, develops these same concepts further by examining the contexts within which these influential moments happen. Specifically, that the contexts / conditions can be carefully constructed with purpose ahead of time, leading to more effective influence or "pre-suasion" as he calls it.

Initially I did have some concern about the direction that Cialdini was headed, but he almost immediately addressed the ethics of manipulation and negative consequences that manipulation can have.

Probably the most enjoyable aspect of the book is the repeated examination of various studies and/or anecdotal examples of how outcomes can be altered by creating initial conditions in various ways. Cialdini makes a convincing case that even if you aren't interested in taking advantage of the powers of influence and persuasion you might be well-served to be aware of how they work, as these ideas are certainly being put into use all the time, possibly to pre-suade you.