Plenty of consumers sip Maxwell House coffee because it’s "good to the last drop," and would proudly answer "yes" if asked, "Doesn’t your dog deserve Alpo?" The brand-building punch of such slogans helps companies turn shoppers into customers. But if brand equity boosts sales to consumers, doesn’t it make sense that it also affects relationships with resource suppliers, corporate partners, government bodies and other constituencies? Cheryl Burke Jarvis, professor of marketing at the W. P. Carey School of Business, thinks that companies are undervaluing brand equity in their financial calculations.

In the digital age, more information is available to more people than ever before. But not all the information. Truly unique and rare information — a hot stock tip, for instance, or a warning of an impending market shift — remains a near-priceless commodity. Smart businesspeople want the inside edge, and they’re willing to pay to get it. In the final installment of a six-part series on the science of persuasion, psychology and marketing Professor Robert Cialdini discusses how the principle of "scarcity" can be leveraged to convince people to buy into our suggestions, heed our advice or accept our business proposals.

People trust experts. In courtrooms, expert witnesses sway the views of jurors. On television, expert analysts shape public opinion on everything from politics to sports. And in the real world, people give their trust — and their money — to experts every day, says psychology and marketing Professor Robert Cialdini. In the fifth of a six-part series, Cialdini discusses the principle of "authority" — one of the six basic principles of persuasion.

Nobody likes being known as a liar or as wishy-washy or erratic. So, when people make public commitments or promises, they will almost always want to back up those words with action. They have little choice: For reputation’s sake, they must do so. In the world of psychology, this is a principle known as "consistency," and according to Robert Cialdini, it’s one of the six key principles behind the science of persuasion.

Social psychologists have long known that human beings often make choices about what to think, and what to do, based on the thoughts and actions of others. Simply stated: We like to follow the crowd. As a psychological phenomenon, it’s called "social proof." And according to Robert Cialdini, the Regents’ Professor of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and Distinguished Professor of Marketing in the W. P. Carey School, "social proof" is one of the six key principles underlying the powerful science of persuasion.