Influence tactics are often viewed from an ethical perspective. Following this perspective, the influence tactics described here are classified into three categories: Those that are essentially ethical and honest, those that are essentially neutral with respect to ethics and honesty, and those that are essentially manipulative and dishonest.

The categorization presented here is far from absolute. Except for the extremes, most of the tactics could conceivably be placed in any of the three categories, depending on how they are used.