We call Reciprocity the glue that binds us as a society.

No surprise then that it’s a powerful tool to help people make decisions that are both pro-social and a win-win.

When the Behavioural Insights Team were asked by the UK Government to increase the rates of job-seekers turning up to interviews, they applied the principle of Reciprocity to boost rates.

They changed the text message being sent out from:



“You’ve been booked an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am”

to:

“Dave,
‍

I’ve booked you an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am. 


Good luck. 


Roxy”

This shift from a passive tone of voice to an active tone, where Roxy had done something kind for you (and you then wanted to reciprocate by turning up), increased attendance from 10% up to a whopping 27%.

We call Reciprocity the glue that binds us as a society.

No surprise then that it’s a powerful tool to help people make decisions that are both pro-social and a win-win.

When the Behavioural Insights Team were asked by the UK Government to increase the rates of job-seekers turning up to interviews, they applied the principle of Reciprocity to boost rates.

They changed the text message being sent out from:



“You’ve been booked an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am”

to:

“Dave,
‍

I’ve booked you an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am. 


Good luck. 


Roxy”

This shift from a passive tone of voice to an active tone, where Roxy had done something kind for you (and you then wanted to reciprocate by turning up), increased attendance from 10% up to a whopping 27%.

407 pedestrians in Brittany, France were approached by a young woman and asked to complete a survey. Before the request, half were offered candy and the other half were not.

The results found that people - especially women - were far more likely to reciprocate and answer the survey after receiving a gift than when not.

Act first.‍

Find ways to initiate reciprocity with consumers.  Merely asking those satisfied to go tell their friends will work (Söderlund et al., 2015).

Make it a ‘common habit’.

When we’re told that a behavior is a social norm shared by others, we’re more likely to reciprocate. Households in USA and India consume significantly less electricity when told that their neighbors are consuming less (Sudarshan, 2014). In the long-term, any consistent, successful behaviors will be adopted as the default for others.

Do it in person.

Reciprocation appears to be more powerful when requests from strangers are made face to face rather than online. This is due to the persuasive impact of immediacy that physicality affords, the higher levels of digital suspicion and the sheer number of emails people receive (Meier, 2016).