Principle of Persuasion and Elements Supporting the Principle of Necessity - Essay Example

a) Describe a principle of persuasion Persuasion is one of the most salient aspects in marketing. It is the art of changing a person’s attitude towards something. According to Dr. Robert Cialdini, there are six principles of persuasion. They are namely reciprocity, liking, authority, social proof, consistency, commitment, and scarcity. This case study will mainly emphasize on the principle of reciprocity. The Principle of Reciprocity This is a basic term in psychology of relationships. This principle defines human tendency and needs to always want to give back when something is received (Cialdini, 2007). This necessitate is strongest in cases where the gift is presented without expecting anything in return. This feeling not only compels us to give back, but also makes us want to be least indebted to others. This principle applies in interpersonal relationships where people feel obliged to each other. One good instance is that between a seller and buyer. Before putting this principle into application, you need to ask yourself two basic questions. First, do your customers feel like you are giving them something of good quality? Secondly, how do you let your customers know the most beneficial way of thanking you for whatever things you provide? These two questions can help you develop strong marketing ideas. When applying this principle, you need to take extra caution- this principle can easily be used to mislead or deceive people. Such instances include when selling product at prices that are unfair, or when intending to exert undue influence on people. Honesty must also be maintained, trying to persuade people into doing things that are wrong is manipulative as well as unethical. Elements supporting the principle of necessity Always be the first person to give; do this without the perception of getting something in return. Offers include discounts, bonus points or something that is specially offered to the customer alone, and not the public. Your gift should come first ahead of the buyers’. To make this principle more effective, you can give another offer when the sale has been made to earn mutual friendship with the customer. Try to offer your customers ways of showing their support. This can be achieved by informing them on the various means of contributing to your business growth. Examples include, “kindly tell your friends about us...etc. Certain companies have gone as far as opening blogs and web forums where happy customers rate and post their experiences with your business. Keep the friendships going by appreciating your customers in a significant way; this can be achieved by always including a thank you whenever an order is sent. Be the final giver: in the first instance, you gave an incentive and the customer gave you business. You therefore need to give the customer an option of staying in touch and give their support by accepting to be added on your mailing list for product updates. This allows your customers to always stay connected. b) Describe how you put this principle into practice The principle of reciprocity is one of the most important skills in marketing. It explains why the use of free samples can be very effective in marketing. One of my best experiences with this principle was 4 years back when I use to sell blended avocado and mango juice. As always, gaining market for new products is very difficult, it requires a lot of advertising and creation of rapport with customers before establishing a stable ground for good business. For this reason, selling of our juice was a bit difficult and hectic. We decided to run an offer on a particular day whereby we offered passerby is a small glass of juice at a specific time of the day. The glass was a small one and could hardly contain three sips of the juice. We had a big banner with a “special offer” notice written on it, we also packed the juice in small disposable containers. On the banner, we had the health benefits of the juice indicated. There were also agents directing people to the place and reminding them of the free offer that was being given. As the people passed, we gave them a glass of juice each to have a taste. Later on that evening after the promotion, a good number of people came back to buy they juice. The people who came back to make purchases were mostly those that tasted the juice. We also gave them our business cards to enable them reach us for large order quantities in future. c) Evaluate the success of your attempt To achieve the best result, the reciprocity principle warrants application under perfect conditions. For instance, in the above case, it involved creating an inter relationship between customers and we, the sellers of the juice. Upon realizing that our juice product was not selling well, we decided to run a promotion that applied the principle of reciprocity. We initiated the best means to make our customers feel that the juice we were selling them was of high quality. In addition, wanted to find a way through which our customers could appreciate our services by giving us their business. The factors that made our offer successful were the banner; it indicated that there was a special offer for customers. In addition, it had the health benefits of the juice. The promotion was run in such a way that as the people passed and read the health benefits of the juice, they got a taste of the same. They felt a deep compulsion to give back (Emmons, 2004). Even though we gave them the juice without intention of getting anything back, most of them felt indebted to come back. In addition, another mileston strategy was the display of packed juice plus their respective prices. Most customers tasted and immediately placed an order to buy several. This act defines the human tendency of always wanting to give back whenever they receive anything. As in the case above, the offers need not to be placed with a purpose achieving some gains; rather, it should be out of their free will do so. By giving our customers business cards, we were showing them a way of appreciating us (Stroebe, 2010). Such included purchasing our products in large quantities, having our contact details to inform us of any order, recommending us to friends and colleagues among other things. The issuing out of the business cards makes us the last to give. This gives them an option of creating a much more close friendship with us. References Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Influence: the psychology of persuasion (Rev. ed. ; 1st Collins business essentials ed.). New York: Collins. Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2004). The psychology of gratitude. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stroebe, W. (2010). The Psychology of Advertising. NY: Taylor & Francis. Read More