Robert B. Cialdini

Cialdini has contributed foundational research to the field of social influence. His empirical demonstrations establish the power of social norms or social proof, the importance of explicit initial commitment, the strength of the felt need to reciprocate, the role of interpersonal liking in social influence, and the impact of perceived scarcity on value. Much of his work demonstrates important empirical principles in the context of successful real-world interventions. For example, simply hanging a tag on doors saying people are consuming more energy than their neighbors has saved billions in energy costs and spared the atmosphere millions of tons of CO2.