Unity
People say yes more readily to those they see as one of us, sharing an identity rather than just a similarity.
How it sounds
- You I ran a three-person agency for years, I know that cash-flow month feeling.
- Buyer Feels you're genuinely one of them, not an outsider pitching.
- You Only use a shared identity that is real and honest, never fabricated
- Result Your recommendation is treated as insider advice, not a pitch
The full entry
Unity is Robert Cialdini’s seventh principle of influence, added in Pre-Suasion (2016) after the original six. It goes beyond mere liking or similarity: it is the sense of shared identity, being of the same category, family, region, profession, or team. When a buyer feels you are genuinely one of them, your recommendation is treated less like a pitch and more like advice from an insider. “I ran a three-person agency for years before this, so I know exactly what that cash-flow month feels like” invokes a shared we, not just a nicety.
Use it where a real, honest shared identity exists between you and the buyer. It works because people extend trust to their in-group by default. It backfires, badly, if the shared identity is fabricated, because claiming a we you have no right to reads as manipulation the moment it is exposed.
The principle is Cialdini’s; the underlying group-identity research he draws on predates him.