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Of tricks and tumors: Some little‐recognized costs of dishonest use of effective social influence
Author(s) -
Cialdini Robert B.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199903)16:2<91::aid-mar2>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - profitability index , psychology , marketing , focus (optics) , public relations , social psychology , business , political science , finance , physics , optics
Although the question of which social‐influence principles and practices are most effective has long been a central focus among marketing professionals, an equally important question has received much less attention: What are the circumstances under which the use of an effective influence principle is ethically acceptable? Consideration is given to one system for determining such acceptability. It is then argued that the failure to use powerful principles of influence in ethical ways has deleterious practical consequences for both individuals and organizations. In the case of marketing organizations, the consequences take the form of tumorlike costs that are difficult to detect by standard accounting methods as the causes of poor organizational performance and profitability. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.