Reciprocity: An Evergreen Influence Principle

TLDR:

People feel obligated to return favors. Businesses can use this by giving something of value first (free samples, helpful content, great service) to create a feeling of indebtedness, making customers more likely to buy from them, recommend them, or leave positive reviews. It's a simple "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" approach to building positive relationships.

✍️ A favor for a favor - The unwritten law

You are at work and want to get a coffee. Before going down to grab one, you notice that a colleague has sleepy eyes because she pulled an all-nighter for her presentation. So you decide to also bring her a coffee and she’s extremely grateful and happy, which also makes you happy.

The next day at the office, you walk to your desk and find a small thank you note with your favorite chocolate. You go to her desk and say thank you and she thanks you again for yesterday’s coffee. Your colleague just replied to your gesture by giving you a small gift. This is reciprocation.

However, this is not just a normal “favor for favor” kind of thing. It’s quite a powerful influence principle that can be used also in business contexts. Today, you’ll learn how.

🧠 We like settling our “social” debts

The rule of reciprocity says that we should pay, in a similar manner, what someone else has given us. So basically, we feel an obligation to repay favors, gifts, invitations, and stuff like that, after someone has done something for us. And this is true for every culture and in any context you might think of. At work, with friends or family, with complete strangers, and even online.

On top of that, we also know what happens if we don’t follow the reciprocity rule. It’s viewed badly by our peers and society. Reciprocity is so engrained in our way of thinking and behaving, that if you don’t stick to it, you might get shame and weird looks in social contexts. But think about it. Who likes someone who takes, takes, and takes, but never gives anything in return? No one.

💡 Many companies apply reciprocity

One example we all know is the free food samples in supermarkets. You are shopping around and one friendly-looking person offers you to try the new cookies they just got. You take one and then she sees that you like it, she’ll ask if you want to buy a package. Since you already took one, you might be inclined to purchase one box.

Another one is online marketers selling any kind of products. They will lure you in using a free “lead magnet”, like an ebook, an online course, a free consultation call, etc. You, of course, take up the offer since it’s for free and if you get some value out of it, you will again be more likely to do business with them or make a purchase.

In a real-life example, researchers found something interesting. The Disable American Veterans state that in a normal campaign asking for donations, they get an average response rate of about 18%. However, when they decided to include a small “unsolicited” gift, like a small bracelet, responses went up to 35%. So practically double the amount of donations with a small change that costs practically nothing. Nice, right?

✅ How to apply reciprocity in your business

There are many ways of using this influence principle for your marketing campaigns. Here are some examples:

Helpful Content & Resources: Create valuable content (blogs, guides, videos, webinars) that educates your audience. By providing free solutions, you build trust, and authority, and encourage them to reciprocate by considering your paid services.

Free Consultations or Demos: Offer free consultations or demos for your services or even physical products. This allows potential customers to experience your expertise or the value of your products firsthand and builds trust, making them more likely to choose you for their needs.

Small gifts: You can give your customers small gifts that won’t cost your business much but will go a long way because of the “gesture” it represents. For example, giving your customers at a restaurant a mint after they pay the bill. Or offering your patients in the waiting room some coffee or cookies.

As you see, the possibilities are endless. These will trigger the reciprocity feeling. “I do something for you, then you should do something for me”. Whether the goal is for them to do business with you for the first time or make them more loyal customers, the reciprocity principle will help you achieve this.

📖 Further information for you to dive deeper

• Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini

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Thanks so much for reading,

Juan Diego

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