6 Principles of Social Influence: 1. Norm of Reciprocity 2. Commitment & Consistency 3. Social Validation 4. Liking 5. Scarcity 6. Authority

1) Norm of Reciprocity Pay every debt, as if God wrote the bill. Ralph Waldo Emerson

1) Norm of Reciprocity

Reciprocity Beware free gifts Offer small gift, then make request Take advantage of “norm of reciprocity”

Reciprocity: Door-in-the-face technique

Reciprocity: Door-in-the-face technique Begin with a very large request (which will be refused), then make a smaller request Smaller request is what you want in the first place Why? Norm of reciprocity When one person makes a concession, other feels obligated to reciprocate

Reciprocity: Door-in-the-face technique EXAMPLE: Cialdini (1975) First (large) request: Counsel delinquent boys, 2hrs/wk/2yrs Second (smaller) request: Take delinquent boys to zoo? Experimental group Large then smaller Control group Smaller request only

Reciprocity That’s-not-all technique

Reciprocity That’s-not-all technique Begin with high-priced product, then improve the deal EXAMPLE: Burger (1986) Bake sale Control group: Cupcake & 2 cookies = $.75 Experimental group: Cupcake = $.75 Oh, we’ll throw in 2 cookies Results: Control: 40% purchased Experimental: 73% purchased

2)Commitment and Consistency It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end. Leonardo Da Vinci

Commitment and Consistency TACTIC FIRST STEP SECOND STEP Foot-in-the-Door Low-Ball

Gain Target’s Compliance With a Small Request TACTIC FIRST STEP SECOND STEP Gain Target’s Compliance With a Small Request Foot-in-the-Door Foot-in-the-Door Example: “Would you sign a petition to help feed starving children?”

Gain Target’s Compliance With a Small Request TACTIC FIRST STEP SECOND STEP Gain Target’s Compliance With a Small Request Make a Related, Larger Request Foot-in-the-Door Foot-in-the-Door Would you sign a petition to help feed starving children? “Would you work for 2 weeks in the local soup kitchen?”

Commitment and Consistency: Foot-in-the-Door EXAMPLE: Freedman & Fraser (1966) Went door to door First request: Sign petition Second request: Huge, ugly sign on lawn Experimental group: small then large Control group: large only

Commitment and Consistency: Foot-in-the-Door EXAMPLE: Freedman & Fraser (1966) Telephoned homemakers First request: Questions about household products Second request: Team of men to inventory house? Experimental group: Small then large Control group: Large request only

Get an Agreement to a Specific Arrangement TACTIC FIRST STEP SECOND STEP Get an Agreement to a Specific Arrangement Low-Ball Low-Ball Get the Customer to Agree to Buy a New Car for $15,000

Get an Agreement to a Specific Arrangement TACTIC FIRST STEP SECOND STEP SECOND STEP Get an Agreement to a Specific Arrangement Change The Terms of The Arrangement Low-Ball Low-Ball Get Customer to Agree to Buy a New Car for $15,000 “Oh, you wanted tires and seats? Then that’ll be $15,999.”

Commitment and Consistency: Low-Ball Technique EXAMPLE: Cialdini (1978) Initial request Participate in experiment on cognitive processes? Additional hidden costs: Start at 7:00am, will you still come? Experimental group: Initial agreement + full cost Control group: Full cost right up front

3) Social Validation Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. Walter Lippmann

Social Validation

Social Validation An interpersonal way of locating & confirming “correct choices” People look to similar others to decide what to do The more people who perform the behavior, the more convincing Most influential under two conditions: Uncertainty Similarity

Social Validation National Public Radio fund drives “Salting" the tip jar Amazon.com shows you list of books others with similar interests have purchased Canned laughter

Social Validation Example: Nosanchuk & Lightstone (1974) Is canned laughter effective? Procedure: Ss rated 10 jokes with laugh track and without laugh track DV: Private judgments and amount of laughing Results: Laugh tracks make people laugh longer, more frequently, and rate material as funnier Canned laughter most effective for poor jokes

Social Validation and Suicide

4) Liking The main work of a trial attorney is to make a jury like his client. Clarence Darrow

Liking: The Tupperware Party

Liking: Attractiveness Physical beauty engenders a halo effect to favorable impressions of other traits such as talent, kindness, and intelligence Study of the 1974 elections in Canada: Attractive candidates received more than 2.5 times the votes of unattractive candidates. Simulated employment interview Good grooming of applicants accounted for more favorable decisions than job qualifications Good looking people likely to receive highly favorable treatment in the legal system. Handsome men received lighter sentences Attractive defendants 2x as likely to avoid jail than unattractive people

Liking: Similarity Example: Emswiller, Deaux, and Willits (1971) Experimenters donned hippie or strait attire Asked hippie or strait college students for a dime to make a phone call. Results When dressed the same: Request was granted 2/3 of the time When dressed dissimilarly: They gave the dime less than 50% of the time.

Liking: Familiarity In elections people often just choose voters because the name looks familiar. Try this: Get a true and reverse image of yourself. Show it to yourself and your friends Gauge which picture you prefer Mita, Dermer, & Knight (1977) The human face isn’t perfectly symmetrical People prefer the way they look in the mirror, but their friends prefer their actual appearance

Liking: Compliments Flattery gets you everywhere… Example: Drachman, deCarufel, & Insko (1978) Ss (men) receive comments from someone who needed something 3 conditions: positive comments, negative comments, or both People who gave only positive comments were liked the best Even when the Ss knew that the flattery was motivated to gain something Even when the flattery untrue

Liking: Association

5) Scarcity The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. G.K. Chesterton

Scarcity

Scarcity Scarcity principle Opportunities seem more valuable when they are scarce Scarcity increases appeal! Why? Freedom of choice--don’t want choices taken away Scarce= valuable, popular ***************** Consumer Beware!!

Scarcity Example: West (1975) Procedures: Ss completed a survey, giving a rating of their cafeteria food. 9 days later they randomly received 1 of 3 communications: (a) elimination- eliminating their cafeteria use for 2 weeks due to fire (b) control- eliminating carbonated beverages; (c) control- announcing a movie presentation. DV: New ratings of cafeteria food Results: Although most rated food low, only the elimination condition showed a more positive rating of food

Scarcity: Limited Time

Scarcity: Limited Supply

6) Authority Follow an expert. Virgil

Authority

Authority: Milgram’s Experiment

Authority

Authority: Symbols

Symbols Clothing Example: Brickman (1974) Titles Stopped people on the street and asked them to comply with a small request  IV: Dressed either in street clothes or dressed as a security guard  Results: Many more people obeyed the man in the guard costume Titles Example: Hofling et al. (1966) Nurses were called, caller claimed to be a doctor, instructed nurse to administer a drug to a patient Nurses should not have obeyed: 1—phone prescriptions not allowed 2—medication was unauthorized 3—prescribed dosage was too high 4—nurse didn’t know the "doctor“  Results: 95% of the nurses complied