#1 Psychology in Marketing: RECIPROCITY

The concept behind reciprocity is simple: if someone does something for you, you'll genuinely want to do something for them.

This principle is included in Dr. Robert Cialdini's book called "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion". When describing the principle he shares a case study: when servers bring a check to their patrons without a mint, the diners will tip according to their perceptions of the service given. With one mint, the tip jumps up 3.3%. Lastly, when the waiter left one mint but then returned to offer a second mint, the tips increased by 23%. How amazing is that?

In marketing, even a really simple gift such as -indeed- a mint or a personal thank you note are enough to establish reciprocity.

Have you ever wondered why almost every blog nowadays offers a free guide or ebook? That triggers the "reciprocity effect".
Not only you will have to give away your precious email adress to keep on reading the ebook.. You are also more incline to return to that blog (if the ebook was good enough of course).

Gary Vaynerchuck, one of my favourite entrepreneurs, is a huge believer of Reciprocity. He even wrote a book about it called "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook" this being a metaphor for Give, Give, Give, Ask. In short, a right hook content aims to sell and self-promote and a jab content aims to engage and trigger an emotional response. He emphasizes how most brands are throwing to many right hooks that annoy customers.

What do you think about this? Let's connect in the comment section, let me know if you found this interesting and if I should keep up the Psychology in Marketing serie :D
Thanks for reading!