Influencing with a purpose - a book based on behavioral economics and social neuroscience

Many people believe they are immune to being influenced by others. But the main paradox of being human is that a person cannot not be influenced by others neither can a person not not influence other persons.

Every day people influence other people or people are influenced by other people (conspecifics). For some people influencing other people is part of their job -- think about teachers, marketing professionals, politicians or managers – however everybody who wants to influence another person with his/her ideas or wants to change undesirable habits of another person tries to influence others. Subsequently the challenge then is how they can effectively influence others with a specific goal or purpose in mind? More specifically, how do you make sure that you influence the behavior, the preferences or the focus of attention of other people in ways that are desirable for you or that serves your purpose?

Willem Verbeke and Lamar Qayoumi developed the six building blocks of influence which can be used to influence individuals or groups in an effective way. These six building blocks of influence are discussed in much depth and are illustrated using examples from practice. In addition, the authors discuss in more detail three specific processes which affect the way in which influencing people works: sensory, cognitive and motivational processes. 

The insights shown and discussed in the book “Influence with a Purpose” not only is a book for practitioners who seek to improve their influence tactics, but the book also provide fascinating insights in the hidden influencing processes which occur frequently in our society.

Prof. Willem J.M.I. Verbeke Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, USA) is emeritus professor at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam and is co-founder and co-owner of Professional Capital and EMIC. Verbeke published many scientific articles in national and international journals, he published more than 10 books and trained more than 5,000 commercial professionals. Drs. Lamar J. Qayoumi graduated summa cum laude at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. In addition, he is an authority in database marketing.