This weekend I was out to buy two iPhones, ones for me and one for my better half.

After I saw a long line in front of the Store in Los Gatos, I decided to try the Apple Store in Oakridge Mall. It turns out, everyone was pretty much sold out and that there are no phones available for the next few weeks. I have to admit, that the longer I sought after that stupid phone, the more I wanted it. The harder it was for me to get my hands on it, the more I contemplated how to get it. I called all Apple stores in my neighborhood, but no luck. I called AT&T who told me that I could come in with my credit card and pay for the phone and that I could pick it up WHEN THEY GET IT?

WTF?

Then I began to realize what was happening and why Apple is once more short in supply, even after the disaster with the first incarnation of the apple cell phone.

I recently read a book on The Psychology of Persuasion (by Cialdini, PhD) who did an outstanding job on showing us all the buttons that we have and how easy it is to push them to get us to comply with a request.

After a while, you should ask yourself why you want that damn thing so much. If everyone is talking about it, it must be something worth owning right?

Apple skillfully employs five of the basic six principle of influence:

Scarcity: We are pre-wired to consider scarce things (items, information …) as more valuable. We will do everything we can to obtain these items. Apple even uses an availability widget on their website to keep us reminded of the exclusivity of the phone.

Social Proof: We are more pre-wired to consider the actions of a crowd as correct. We silently observe others and try to align our own behavior accordingly. By creating long lines of people in front of a limited number of stores, Apple gets a great deal of persuasion through masses.

Liking: Apple has carefully crafted their image. No other commercial entity has such a strong fan base.

Authority: Steve Jobs tells us what we need and what we don’t. We trust him, since he knows best. When he says buy, we buy.

Commitment/Consistency: Once you bought apple products, you start to convince yourself that they are truly superior. Our desire for consistency was used by Chinese to brainwash POW of the Korean war much the same way we are brainwashed now. We convince ourselves that our actions are correct after the fact, since we refuse being inconsistent (flip-flopping). Thus, we become true believers.

Reciprocation: This is the sixth pillar that isn’t as much used by Apple. Its the free sample principle. Most people find it hard to walk away after having a free sample in the super market and end up buying the product, even if they do not even like it very much.

Cialdini explains all of this much better in his book:

Influence: The Psychology of Persuation

or in his textbook:

Social Psychology: Goals in Interaction