“How to get people to do things for you using reciprocation.”

Reciprocation works by offering something small in exchange for something more. It is a phenomena where someone gives you something, and you feel obligated to give something back, regardless of how small the initial offering was.

It is the psychology behind someone buying you a drink at the bar. It is to make you feel like you now owe that person.

From Cialdini’s (2017) book on influence, he provides the example of a guy called Joe, who, in an experiment at a gallery would greet and talk to the guests.

The experiment was then split into two motions. One was where, after greeting the guests, Joe would go and get two bottles of Coca-Cola, one for the subject and one for him. For the second motion, Joe would not get any bottles of Cola.
Later on in the event, Joe sold waffle tickets to the guests, stating that if he sold the most raffle tickets, we would win a 50 dollar prize.
The major finding of this study was that when Joe used the reciprocation of bringing a cokes to the guests, he sold more tickets than when he didn’t. And also making more money than what he spent on the cokes.
The power of this was that regardless of whether the guests liked Joe, they felt obligated to buy his raffle tickets after he had bought them a drink earlier on in the event.

So in theory, if you want to buy the cheapest round of drinks for your friends and have a cheaper night, offer to buy the first round.

To avoid being trapped by this phenomena, Cialdini (2007) states that the only thing you can do is to not take the initial gift and say no. Once you say yes and take the initial offering, your trapped with reciprocation debt.

References:
Cialdini, R. B., 2007. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. 8th ed. New York: HarperCollins.

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