What Is Reciprocity and Why Do We Need It In Marketing?

Chrissy and I recently attended the Psychology and Copywriting: Web content that converts course with General Assembly. Our trainer, Simon Hillier, taught us the 7 Principles of Influence and Persuasion written by American Psychologist Dr Robert Cialdini in this course. His book, The Psychology of Persuasion, is highly acclaimed by the marketing and advertising world.

Why?

Because these seven powerful principles are geared toward making your audience do the action you want them to.  

Stay tuned to the CLS website over the coming months as we go through each of these seven principles. In this blog, we will discuss the first principle of persuasion, ‘reciprocity’. 

Principle of Persuasion #1: Reciprocity

If you’re struggling to unjumble these letters to make a word, you’re not on your own! While ‘reciprocity’ is a tricky word to say, its meaning is something most of us struggle to ignore.

What Is Reciprocity?

If you’ve ever heard of these sayings ‘If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ or ‘A little goes a long way’ or ‘Give a little to get a little, you will be familiar with the fundamentals of ‘reciprocity’.

Generally, humans hate the feeling of being indebted to others. For instance, if someone does something nice for you, it’s expected human behaviour to want to do something nice in return.

‘Reciprocity’ is a compelling way to influence your audience’s behaviour in the marketing world. It bases is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit. 

Since attending this course, I have discovered that I have experienced and succumbed to the power of ‘reciprocity’ on more than one occasion.

It was only the other day when I ran into the supermarket after a long day at work. I was tired and hungry, but my rush to get home was distracted by a very worthy charity that was standing at the entrance handing out badges. Of course, I was approached and handed a sparkly badge. Before I knew it, I was donating.

Did I want the badge? No! Was I going to donate before I was approached? No.

That’s the power of ‘reciprocity’. Just by giving something, we can influence someone’s behaviour. 

Have you ever received a letter from a charity asking for a donation accompanied by a page of stickers with your name on them? I have many times. Since discovering ‘reciprocity’, I now know the secret behind their intention.

You see I can only use these stickers if I donate. If I don’t donate, I feel guilty that this organisation used their resources to give me something, yet I didn’t return the favour. This is not only a clever strategy but also easy and above all, it works.

Charities rely on the power of ‘reciprocity’ to influence behaviour to raise their much-needed funds. By paying it forward, they are assured of getting something in return. Maybe not from everyone but many people, because believe it or not, we humans are a lot alike in the big scheme.

Why should I use reciprocity in my business?

When marketing to your audience, you can use ‘reciprocity’ to change behaviour. ‘Reciprocity’ can be used to boost sales, build a following and promote a brand.

No matter what business you’re in, there’s always something you can give to your customers/audience. Giving something almost always inspires the recipient to do something in return. Many would argue that ‘reciprocity’ is a far more effective way to reach out to potential customers than a newspaper advertisement.

Here’s another example of mine:

I recently was asked to a Tupperware party. Before I left the house, I promised my family that I wouldn’t buy anything. Once I got settled in at my friend’s house, enjoying a glass of wine with a sandwich in hand, I was given a free spatula (albeit very small). So, what did I do when the catalogues came out? I felt the obligation to buy something after receiving so much generosity from the moment I entered my friend’s house.

Am I just a pushover? It turns out that I am following the norm of reciprocity. The social norm is where we feel the need to return a favour. The saying ‘One good turn deserves another’ absolutely applies.

How can I use reciprocity in my business?

There are so many ways! You can take advantage of the human instinct to get something back in return by giving something upfront.

‘Reciprocity’ is proactive, and it works. All it takes is sitting down and looking at strategic ways to proactively ‘give’ to ‘get’ in return. Chrissy and her CLS team are ‘reciprocity’ experts if you’d like to know more. They have lots of clever ways you can use ‘reciprocity’ in your business. The best thing to do is to book into one of our training sessions or a one on call with our Founder Chrissy. Check out our up-coming courses and packages here or book yourself in a call and let’s chat.