Power of Reciprocation

     When someone does some good deed for us, we always have an urge to do something in return for them as well. This is known as reciprocity. This concept of human nature is used in many ways, depending on the intention. The need for returning a favor is hardwired into our nature. There are two ways this is used by people in the field of sales and other related fields of work. One is by using a "gift", and the other is by using and indirect method of reciprocation.

    This first way of using reciprocation is by using a "gift". A gift need not be some huge favor or costly items.  It can be as small as a flower. These harmless little gifts will eventually plant a seed of reciprocation that will compel you to remove any kind of guilt birthed when you accept it. These gifts will be offered, sometimes may even be forced onto you. This is so powerful that even some random stranger can use it to get something from you, which is in most cases, money. We will look at examples that can explain this better.

    A common example which everyone would relate to is when it comes to birthday gifts. Anyone who  has received a birthday gift would have experienced an obligation to gift something back to the other person, and this is usually done by gifting them back when their birthday arrives. Mostly this kind of reciprocity is done in friendships, and doesn't have any kind of evil backstory to it. But this may be also used by organizations to trick you into buying from them or donating for their cause. These organizations usually get your information from various places, for example you may have logged onto their website during some promotional offer, sometimes it may be through their partnered organizations as well. They will text you on your birthday, wishing you for the same along with some "birthday special" offers, which is apparently "only for you". This may seem stupid, but subconsciously, our reciprocity gets triggered, and we will end up spending our money with that organization with reasons that our brains will create.

    Free samples are another way of getting us to buy products, especially when it's just being introduced into the market. Usually a small stand is placed in malls and shops. Most of the time, the product is a food/ drink. The product is displayed on the stand, in small plates or glasses. The person handling the stand offers you to sample the product free of charge. After you are done savoring the product you are given a sales pitch on it. They also ask you to fill their feedback forms along with personal details (which may be used as other tools of influence like social proof, commitment, consistency, etc).  When a customer is offered a "free" sample, their reciprocity switch is triggered. Subconsciously, they feel they owe the salesman something in return for the "gift" given to them. And thus end up buying it.

    In the 80s, a group of worshippers of Lord Krishna 'Hare Krishna group' used the power of reciprocation to get donations. They would stand at various locations where a lot of foot traffic is expected, such as airports, train stations etc., and hand out flowers to the people passing by. Even if the person refused to accept the flower, they were compelled to do so by considering it as a gift and nothing more. Once the person takes the flower, the person from the hare Krishna group would suggest a donation to be made to their foundation. Even though the flower usually ends up in a garbage can, it was still seen as a gift. A majority of those who accepted the flower, also ended up making a donation.

    An experiment was done by Dennis Regan, where he interviewed various people in groups of 2 for the topic "art appreciation". One of the two people was Regan's assistant. During a short break given to them, the assistant would go out and get 2 bottles of soft drink, one of which he would offer to the other person. After the interview, the assistant asks the other interviewee if he could buy some raffle tickets off of him since it would help him in reaching a target. Most of the time the other interviewee would end up buying raffle tickets whose price was more than that of the bottle of soft drink that was offered to him as a 'gift'. Similar experiments were conducted where the other interviewee wasn't offered a bottle of soft drink. In this case lesser number of raffle tickets were sold. 

    We all must have come across the term "much obliged" which is  widely used as an alternative for "thank you". This says a lot of how reciprocation works. When someone does something for you, it forms an obligation for you to do something back for them. This is also noticed in the opposite scenario, that is, when someone does some harm to us, we tend to take revenge. Certain phrases such as  "an eye for an eye" is an example. Reciprocation is a lot similar to revenge. Our ego is swayed and we tend to act in a manner as to reach an equilibrium. This is why sometimes people go above and beyond while returning back a favor. Its the sense of obligation towards the person giving the gift.

    Another indirect way of using reciprocation is with the help of contrast. The person will ask for a huge favor (which he knows will get rejected) after which they will ask for the favor which they intended to ask. For example, Robert Cialdini, an author, experienced this when a small scout approached him and asked him if he could buy some tickets that cost 5$ to a circus. The author clearly did not want it, so he politely refused. The scout then asked if he could at least buy a few 1$ chocolates from him, which Robert did. He bought 2$ worth. Later he realized how he was tricked, since he did not even like chocolate.

    Robert also tried an experiment, posing as representatives of "country youth counselling club". They approached college students and asked them if they would be willing to supervise a group of juvenile delinquents for a trip to the zoo, with no pay. Obviously most of the people would not be ready to do so (83% refused). He then tried another approach by asking another set of people for an even bigger favor before asking the first favor that was asked previously. He asked if the college students were willing to spend 2 hours every week as a counsellor for juvenile delinquents for minimum of 2 years. After they refused such a crazy task, they were asked if they would go for the zoo trip as a supervisor. It was observed that the number of people who were willing for the task, tripled. 

    Door to door salesman would use the trick of referrals. They will try selling their product and if they are not able to sell it to them, they will ask for contacts who may be interested in the product. Most of the time they would give them the contacts. This contact will act as a lead for the salesman. They can use this further including the use of the trick of social proof (which i will dedicate another post for) when selling to the contact.

    Now that you have an idea of how the trick is used, it will become easier to spot it when it is being used on you. Always remember that the only reason they are giving you the gift in the first place is to manipulate you. But of course this does not mean you can't take the gift. Gladly do so, thank them and walk away before they can get to do their mojo. As for the indirect method of  reciprocation, try to understand when the contrast is being used on you. Try to understand when an absurd request is used, just to get you to do something simpler. Try to take a step back and analyze in your head whether you would have accepted the smaller second task if the first humongous task was not even mentioned. 

     Do check the book "Influence the psychology of persuasion" by Robert Cialdini since most of my references were from this.