Six Universal Influence Principles
1) Reciprocity – the need to return a favor, gift, or service
2) Consistency – with a prior commitment
3) Social Validation (Consensus) – the behavior/opinions of
similar others
4) Liking – the impact of those who express liking for “targets”
5) Authority – the role of legitimate authority figures, expertise
6) Scarcity – the value/desire for things that are rare, less available
Reciprocity
• Restaurant servers: Give 2 candies to customers =
14.1% increase in tips
• Hand written Post-it note with survey = 2x more
likely to respond; returned survey quicker and gave
more information on survey
• Reuse towels (Hotels): Card that said the hotel had
already given money to an environmental organization
= 26% increase in reuse of towels by
customers
~ Door in the Face ~
Procedure: Very large 1st request = refusal (e.g., be weekly volunteer
for juvenile detention center for 2 years, followed by a smaller request
(e.g., 2 hours taking troubled kids on a trip to the zoo).
Key Points:
• Both requests must be made by the same person
• Perception of a concession/negotiation
• Feeling of satisfaction within target
Another example: Blood donation example – Sign up for
long-term plan (No); then ... how about once
Principle: Reciprocity (e.g., perceived concession)
That’s Not All
Procedure:
A) Give original cost ($1.25), then reduce (.75 cents) it
before the target responds
A) Give original cost, then add something “extra”
before the target responds
Principle: Reciprocity
+
That’s Not All in Action
Ingratiation (Use of reciprocity)
He did something that, on the face of it, seems foolish and
costly. Each month he sent every one of his more than
13,000 former customers a holiday greeting card
containing a printed message. The greeting card changed
from month to month (e.g., “Happy New Year,” Happy
Thanksgiving”) but the message printed on the face of the
card never varied. It read, “I like you.” (Cialdini, 1988, p.
166).
Consistency: People are willing to comply with requests that
are consistent with their prior commitments
~ Foot in the Door ~
Procedure: Small 1st request, followed by a larger 2nd request (e.g., Freedman
& Fraser study, 1966)
• 1st Request: Answer questions for few minutes over phone (series of 8 innocuous
questions dealing with household soaps, e.g., "What brand of soap do you use in
your kitchen sink?") 2nd Request: Survey team of 5-6 men to come into their
homes for 2 hours to classify the household products they used.
• 1st Request: Small sign (Be A Safe Driver or Keep CA Beautiful) in window or
sign petition; 2nd Request: Large sign on lawn (Drive Carefully)
Key Points:
• Requests can be made by a different people and/or organizations
• Requests can be on a different issue (e.g., Drive Safely vs. Keep California
Beautiful)
• Performing the 1st request is not essential. Just agreeing to do it is
sufficient
Summary of Freeman & Fraser
1966 Studies (1 and 2)
Study 1 (Household Goods)
Study 2 (Large Sign)
Consistency (continued)
Bait and Switch Technique – go to buy an advertised
product but it is of poor quality or “sold out”
•Heightened likelihood we will buy something (an
alternative)
Low Ball Technique - Gain a commitment at “low”
price -- Item then costs more than one that was agreed
upon (e.g., buying a car).
•Likely to still buy item
~ Social Validation (Consensus) ~
We are more likely to comply with a request that
everyone else is doing
Some Examples:
Reuse towels in hotels: Card that says the majority of guests reuse
towels during their stay = 28% increase in customers reusing towels
Social Validation (Consensus)
Authority/Expertise
We are more likely to be swayed by a legitimate authority figure, someone
who is an expert in a given topic
Winner of the 1961 National Book Award
Slogan: “Babies are our
business, our only business”
Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, "The Artist”
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, "The Artist”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist”
Best Picture: "The Artist"
~ Liking~
We are more willing to comply with requests by friends or those that we like
(or admire)
Tupperware party example: Use of both friends and “love bombing”
~ Scarcity (Perceived or Real) ~
We desire things that are rare or dwindling
Psychological Reactance Theory – threat to our personal freedom
Scarcity,
Psychological
reactance
Social
validation,
conformity
That’s Not All,
Reciprocity
Compliance in Action
Cialdini Quote
“We need to begin with a systematic observation of a
phenomenon that is effective, that works on people. The we
take it to the laboratory to examine its psychological
underpinnings, why it works the way it does. Then we take
the new information into the natural environment to see if
our new insights really represent the way the thing works in
the real world. (Robert Cialdini on Full Cycle Social
Psychology)
Strategy
Example
Positive Moods
Make a request in a nice setting (e.g., over a nice
dinner); Give feedback (e.g., you got the highest IQ
test score)
Ingratiation
[Reciprocity]
Say flattering things (‘those earrings are beautiful,”
where did you buy those great shoes?”)
Reciprocity
Favors
[Reciprocity]
Offer to carry a heavy object for someone
Reciprocity
Foot-in-the-door (FITD)
Follow a small request with a much larger one
Commitment
Door-in-the-face (DITF)
Follow a very large request with a smaller, more
realistic one
Reciprocity
That’s-Not-All (TNA)
“Improving the deal”
Original cost of item is $2.50 but will sell it now for $
1.50; Original cost of item is $2.50 and will add another
item for free
Reciprocity
Get a “yes” response to purchase a car at a given
price (e.g., $18,000), then come back with a final total
(adding in many smaller costs) of $19,500)
Commitment
Gaining commitment by limiting choice (real or
perceived)
Indicating that there is only 1 item left, that time is
running out (or both)
Psychological
reactance
Low Ball
Scarcity
Principle