Robert B. Cialdini Quote

By no means is my friend original in this last use of the expensive = good rule to snare those seeking a bargain. Culturist and author Leo Rosten gives the example of the Drubeck brothers, Sid and Harry, who owned a men’s tailor shop in Rosten’s neighborhood while he was growing up in the 1930s. Whenever the salesman, Sid, had a new customer trying on suits in front of the shop’s three-sided mirror, he would admit to a hearing problem, and, as they talked, he would repeatedly request that the man speak more loudly to him. Once the customer had found a suit he liked and had asked for the price, Sid would call to his brother, the head tailor, at the back of the room, Harry, how much for this suit? Looking up from his work—and greatly exaggerating the suit’s true price—Harry would call back, For that beautiful all-wool suit, forty-two dollars. Pretending not to have heard and cupping his hand to his ear, Sid would ask again. Once more Harry would reply, Forty-two dollars. At this point, Sid would turn to the customer and report, He says twenty-two dollars. Many a man would hurry to buy the suit and scramble out of the shop with his expensive = good bargain before Poor Sid discovered the mistake.

Robert B. Cialdini

By no means is my friend original in this last use of the expensive = good rule to snare those seeking a bargain. Culturist and author Leo Rosten gives the example of the Drubeck brothers, Sid and Harry, who owned a men’s tailor shop in Rosten’s neighborhood while he was growing up in the 1930s. Whenever the salesman, Sid, had a new customer trying on suits in front of the shop’s three-sided mirror, he would admit to a hearing problem, and, as they talked, he would repeatedly request that the man speak more loudly to him. Once the customer had found a suit he liked and had asked for the price, Sid would call to his brother, the head tailor, at the back of the room, Harry, how much for this suit? Looking up from his work—and greatly exaggerating the suit’s true price—Harry would call back, For that beautiful all-wool suit, forty-two dollars. Pretending not to have heard and cupping his hand to his ear, Sid would ask again. Once more Harry would reply, Forty-two dollars. At this point, Sid would turn to the customer and report, He says twenty-two dollars. Many a man would hurry to buy the suit and scramble out of the shop with his expensive = good bargain before Poor Sid discovered the mistake.

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About Robert B. Cialdini

Robert Beno Cialdini (born April 27, 1945) is an American psychologist and author. He is the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and was a visiting professor of marketing, business and psychology at Stanford University.