Undue Influence: Definitions and Applications - California Courts ...

• Liking. People are more likely to comply with people they like. Enhancing influencers’
likeability can therefore, increase their effectiveness. Research shows that physical
attractiveness has a “halo” effect that leads people to believe that attractive people are also
talented, kind, and intelligent. People also tend to like people they perceive as similar to
themselves and who praise and compliment them. Repeated contact and positive associations
(the person is associated with favorable people, places, or activities) also contribute to
likeability.
• Authority. Socialization instills in people the belief that obedience is “correct” and that
people who have achieved authority have done so because they are knowledgeable, wise, and
powerful. Compliance can therefore by achieved when requests are made by figures of
authority. Authority can be demonstrated symbolically by symbols like titles, dress, and
possessions.
• Scarcity. People assign greater value to opportunities and objects that are less available. This
belief is exploited when salespersons claim that there are only a limited number of products
available or there is a deadline for purchases. The scarcity principle further applies to the way
that information is evaluated. Research indicates that the act of limiting access to a message
may cause individuals to want it more and to perceive it as more persuasive.
Personal Fraud
Fraud refers to crimes that involve issues of trustworthiness and honesty. The term
“personal fraud victims” distinguishes individual victims from governments, corporations, or
other institutions that are also likely to suffer losses from fraud. The types of fraud that
individuals commonly fall victim to include scams, telemarketing, fraudulent financial advice, or
fraudulently gaining access to victims’ property or assets.
Jonathan J. Rusch (1998, 1999), a litigator with the U.S. Department of Justice and an
expert in telemarketing, cites social influence theories and motivation research to explain the
“sustained psychological warfare” used in telemarketing fraud. Drawing from Cialdini’s
principles of social influence, Rusch describes how those experienced at deceiving others
gradually gain the compliance of people who have little experience or skill in recognizing and
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