English 02
Professor Hawkins
15 April 2023
Extra Credit Podcast
The Hidden Brain ‘Persuasion’ podcast, featured Robert Cialdini, with host Shankar
Vedantam speaking about 3 major aspects of persuasion which he discovered in disguise. The
three major aspects of persuasion that I identified were the influence of the people we like, our
desire to return favors that were made for us, and the idea or experience of scarcity. He gives
many examples of what these ideas tie into in the real world. It is easy to apply these aspects to
the three modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. Although, it seems that they can be
applied to more than one.
The first idea Cialdini introduces is the idea of scarcity. Cialdini says that this is the
opportunity to make customers or buyers desire something that they believe the product amount
is scarce. It enforces buyers to come down with a choice. Would they rather give in now or run
the risk that when they come back, the product is no longer ‘available’? This helps with
competition to make customers give in buying as much as they can. This aspect applies to
pathos. Desire is a pathos tool and the idea of a scarce resource makes buyers have the desire to
buy an item.
The second idea Cialdini introduces is the obligation to give back when someone does
you a favor. He says this is an example of labor negotiations which means sellers will start at
their highest and proceed to go lower eventually pulling your tail and making you give in. At the
end of the day, they are still making a buck out of you. I was having a hard time deciding which
Professor Hawkins
15 April 2023
Extra Credit Podcast
The Hidden Brain ‘Persuasion’ podcast, featured Robert Cialdini, with host Shankar
Vedantam speaking about 3 major aspects of persuasion which he discovered in disguise. The
three major aspects of persuasion that I identified were the influence of the people we like, our
desire to return favors that were made for us, and the idea or experience of scarcity. He gives
many examples of what these ideas tie into in the real world. It is easy to apply these aspects to
the three modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. Although, it seems that they can be
applied to more than one.
The first idea Cialdini introduces is the idea of scarcity. Cialdini says that this is the
opportunity to make customers or buyers desire something that they believe the product amount
is scarce. It enforces buyers to come down with a choice. Would they rather give in now or run
the risk that when they come back, the product is no longer ‘available’? This helps with
competition to make customers give in buying as much as they can. This aspect applies to
pathos. Desire is a pathos tool and the idea of a scarce resource makes buyers have the desire to
buy an item.
The second idea Cialdini introduces is the obligation to give back when someone does
you a favor. He says this is an example of labor negotiations which means sellers will start at
their highest and proceed to go lower eventually pulling your tail and making you give in. At the
end of the day, they are still making a buck out of you. I was having a hard time deciding which
