Principle of Persuasuin: Reciprocity - Essay Example

Principle of Persuasion: Reciprocity Part One – Description of the Principle of Reciprocity Donovan & Henley (2010, p. 105) stated that the principle of reciprocity means that “one should be more willing to comply with a request from someone who has previously provided a favour or concession”. In line with this, Jennings (2009, p. 23) explained that it is just proper to make an effort to repay in kind what other people has given us. Based on this context, the principle of reciprocity is all about repaying another person for something that they have provided to you in the past. This kind of future repayment obligation can be in the form of favour, invitation, or gifts among others. Given that the principle of reciprocity accepts the idea that it is a universal rule to oblige a person to treat other people the way he/she prefers to be treated by other people, future obligation of the recipient to repay whatever he/she received from other people (i.e. gifts, political or business favor, or any forms of exchange or actions that are beneficial to the entire community) is often considered as a future investment. Based on the principle of reciprocity, the use of this persuasive strategy can make other people feel that they owe people something for what they received (Cialdini, 2011). For this reason, there is a high risk wherein the recipient will end up agreeing to the request of other people even though other people’s request is much bigger than the one the receiver accepted in the past. Given that the principle of reciprocity serves as a means of making other people comply with a special request or favor, a lot of government officials and politicians have been exploiting the use of this principle as a tactic that will allow them to gain more compliance to their future plans. For example: In preparation for the next election, politician A is made a legislation to give monthly subsidy of food supply to less fortunate individuals within the community X, Y, and Z. In order to return the favor that was given by politician A, there is a higher chance that politician A will be able to win more votes from community X, Y, and Z more than what politician B could receive from this area. Part II – Application of the Principle of Reciprocity into Practice On top of being a student, I am currently working as a part-time sales person at Pfizer. Part of my job is to convince some of the local drug stores to purchase pharmaceutical products manufactured by my employer. In some cases, we need to persuade doctors to prescribe our drugs to their patients. To increase my ability to sell pharmaceutical products, I would normally start by building rapport to doctors and drug store owners by making friends with them. One of the most unforgettable experiences I had in selling these pharmaceutical products is when I met my best friend who happens to be the daughter of a famous doctor in town. For more than a year, I get to visit my best friend’s house every once in awhile. One day, I learned from my friend that his father encountered legal problems related to professional negligence. Since my uncle is a lawyer that specializes in this area, I volunteered to help by referring my best friend’s father to my uncle for some legal advice. For a year, I didn’t bother telling them that I was working as a part-time sales person for Pfizer. Since my uncle was able to help him solve his legal problems, I managed to get the opportunity to persuade the doctor to prescribe Accupril to patients with hypertension and refer me to some of the nearby drug store owners he knows. Part III – Evaluate Success of Persuasion Attempt Specifically my decision to voluntarily refer my best friend’s father to my uncle made me able to experience a successful persuasion at the first attempt to persuade the doctor to prescribe Accupril to patients with hypertension and refer me to some of the nearby drug store owners that he personally know. Upon analyzing the entire situation, there is a very slim chance wherein my best friend’s father would not even bother to talk business with me given our age and status differences. After going through a research study on how the principle of reciprocity could affect persuasion, it is clear that the principle of reciprocity is all about giving another person a reason to return favor in kind or in service people (Donovan & Henley, 2010, p. 105; Jennings, 2009, p. 23). Regardless of whether or not the favor is big or small, it remains a fact that doing a favor to other people increases the chance wherein the recipient would grant a request. This is true because the recipient could feel the strong urge that they have the obligation to repay the kindness they receive from other people (Cialdini, 2011). In general, obligation for future repayment can be a form of a granting a favor, an invitation, or simply returning gifts that was given by another person (Jennings, 2009, p. 23). In my case, repayment of favor was repaid by another favor. Since the only reason that made me able to convince the doctor prescribe Accupril to patients with hypertension and refer me to some of the nearby drug store owners that he personally know was because of the fact that my uncle who happened to be a lawyer who gave the doctor some legal advice he needed to free himself from the need to face some legal consequences associated with medical negligence, it makes sense that the principle of reciprocity will only occur given that there is an exchange of favor taking place between two people. For this reason, it is safe to conclude that the ability of a sales person to apply the principle of reciprocity in their professional practice will increase their ability to persuade their target buyers to purchase whatever products or services they are selling. *** End *** References Cialdini, R. (2011). Retrieved April 3, 2011, from Influence. : http://www.rickross.com/reference/brainwashing/brainwashing20.html Donovan, R., & Henley, N. (2010). Principles and Practice of Social Marketing: An International Perspective. Cambridge University Press. Jennings, M. (2009). Negotiating individualized education programs: a guide for school administrators. Rowman & Littlefield Education. Read More