The Law of Reciprocity

The Law of reciprocity

As many students in our class are in the business program I thought that I would share some tips for persuasion. These tips have been proven by research in to human behavior  A good resource for more tips is Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

One of the first things to know when trying to trying to get to yes is the "law of reciprocity". Basically if I give you something you will give me something in return. Even if the thing I gave you have little or no meaningful monetary value. Think of fundraiser campaigns that mail out stamps or pads of paper when asking for donations. This works because of our ingrained social norms.

So how can you take advantage of this principal? Well do an audience analysis and your own needs analysis, and have a backup request. For example when selling something, say fundraiser candy you ask if someone would buy a case of chocolates  Probably they would say no, then asking them to purchase an overpriced candy bar and they probably would because they see you conceded the request to sell them the whole case.

The above example is also aided in the fact that the seller’s second request is much smaller than the first request. 

Good luck