To leverage reciprocation, always give value first without expecting an immediate return. Studies show that giving something upfront (like a balloon at entry) can significantly increase subsequent purchases or compliance.
When offering a gift or favor, ensure it is tailored to the recipient’s needs, preferences, or current challenges. This creates a more muscular sense of obligation, as seen when a small cup of yogurt increased food purchases more than a generic keyring.
To increase compliance, ask people to take a small, active, public, and voluntary step in your direction. This makes them significantly more likely to take a larger, congruent step later, as demonstrated by a restaurant reducing no-shows by 67% just by asking ‘Will you please call?’ and pausing for a verbal commitment.
When presenting an idea or product, emphasize not just what will be gained, but also what will be lost by not choosing it. The idea of missing out or losing something is twice as powerful as gaining the same thing, as shown by Bose’s ‘hear what you’ve been missing’ campaign increasing sales by 45%.
To increase compliance, arrange for the communicator to be seen as ‘one of us’ or ‘of you,’ sharing an important identity. A college student asking for donations saw a 400% increase by simply stating, ‘I’m a student here too.’
In negotiations, start with a larger request and then retreat to a smaller one. This acts as a concession that the other party feels obligated to reciprocate, increasing compliance with the smaller request.
To build rapport and increase liking, point to commonalities that genuinely exist between you and the other person. Negotiators who exchanged personal information and found similarities reduced deadlocked negotiations from 30% to 6%.
To foster liking, offer sincere praise or compliments to others. The world’s greatest salesperson, Joe Girard, consistently sent cards saying ‘I like you,’ reinforcing that people like those who like them and say so.
When people are uncertain, they look to what others like them are doing. Highlight the popularity of an item or choice, such as marking ‘most popular items’ on a menu, which increased purchases by 13-20%.
To encourage action, show that people similar to the target audience are already doing it. Informing residents how much energy their comparable neighbors used led to significant energy reduction, as it demonstrated feasibility.
To harness the authority principle, position testimonials from legitimate experts at the very beginning of your communication or advertisement. This infuses the entire message with an aura of credibility, increasing purchases by 15% in one case.
Highlighting limited availability, either in quantity (‘only a certain number’) or time (’limited time offer’), is a powerful motivator. These were identified as the top and third most effective A-B tests for e-commerce conversions.
If your offering has a feature or combination of features that none of your rivals can match, emphasize this uniqueness. People desire what they cannot obtain elsewhere, making it a powerful scarcity appeal.
In a managerial context, when assigning tasks, ask team members, ‘Will you be able to complete this by our next meeting?’ and pause for their verbal ‘yes.’ This active, public commitment significantly increases the likelihood of task completion.
If someone offers a ‘gift’ that is clearly a device to get a much larger request, reframe it as a trick. In such cases, it is advised to keep the ‘gift’ and reject the request, as ’exploiters should be exploited.’
When you find yourself liking a salesperson or individual inordinately, pause and ask what they have done to cause that liking (e.g., gifts, compliments, claimed similarities). Then, separate the person from the product or deal and make your decision based on the merits of the offer.
When evaluating online reviews, look for signs of inauthenticity, such as excessive personal stories or verbs instead of nouns. Be wary of perfect 5-star ratings, as a range between 4.2 and 4.7 is often more credible.
If a company is caught providing phony information about their popularity, market share, or ratings, actively expose their cheating on social media and other platforms. This penalizes them at their bottom line and discourages manipulation.
When encountering an authority testimonial, ask two questions: Is this person truly an expert in this matter? And is there a reason for them to recommend this product/service other than its merits (e.g., paid endorsement)? If the answer to either is concerning, unhook their perceived authority.
When you or others have made a commitment that might no longer be valid, introduce new information and suggest re-evaluation. Frame it by asking if the original choice would have been the same if this new information had been available, allowing for a change without admitting a ‘wrong’ past decision.
When someone does you a favor, you are obligated to give back at the same level, but you might go higher if that’s the only option. The closer to the favor the request for return is made, the more willing people are to comply.
Instead of just stating a large number of people have done something, highlight a positive trend (e.g., market share increasing from 30% to 35% to 40%). This is more powerful as people project the trend into the future.
True influence involves pointing to naturally existing principles where they genuinely exist, informing people into assent. Manipulation, conversely, involves the fabrication or counterfeiting of these principles, which should be avoided.