Bodies lay in orderly rows at Jonestown, displaying the most spectacular act of compliance of our time.
What was right for a member of the community was determined to a disproportionate degree by what other community members-influenced heavily by Jones-did and believed. When viewed in this light, the terrible orderliness, the lack of panic, the sense of calm with which these people moved to the vat of poison and to their deaths seems more comprehensible. They hadn"t been hypnotized by Jones; they had been convinced-partly by him but, more important, by the principle of social proof-that suicide was the correct conduct. The uncertainty they surely felt upon first hearing the death command must have caused them to look around them for a definition of the appropriate response.
It is worth particular note that they found two impressive pieces of social evidence, each pointing in the same direction. The first was the initial set of their compatriots, who quickly and willingly took the poison drafts. There will always be a few such fanatically obedient individuals in any strong leader-dominated group. Whether, in this instance, they had been specially instructed beforehand to serve as examples or whether they were just naturally the most compliant with Jones" wishes is difficult to know. No matter; the psychological effect of the actions of those individuals must have been potent. If the suicides of similar others in news stories can influence total strangers to kill themselves, imagine how enormously more compelling such an act would be when performed without hesitation by one"s neighbors in a place like Jonestown. The second source of social evidence came from the reactions of the crowd itself. Given the conditions, I suspect that what occurred was a large-scale instance of the pluralistic ignorance phenomenon. Each Jonestowner looked to the actions of surrounding individuals to a.s.sess the situation and-finding calmness because everyone else, too, was surrept.i.tiously a.s.sessing rather than reacting-"learned" that patient turntaking was the correct behavior. Such misinterpreted, but nonetheless convincing, social evidence would be expected to result precisely in the ghastly composure of the a.s.semblage that waited in the tropics of Guyana for businesslike death.
From my own perspective, most attempts to a.n.a.lyze the Jonestown incident have focused too much on the personal qualities of Jim Jones. Although he was without question a man of rare dynamism, the power he wielded strikes me as coming less from his remarkable personal style than from his understanding of fundamental psychological principles. His real genius as a leader was his realization of the limitations of individual leadership. No leader can hope to persuade, regularly and single-handedly, all the members of the group. A forceful leader can reasonably expect, however, to persuade some sizable proportion of group members. Then the raw information that a substantial number of group members has been convinced can, by itself, convince the rest (Watts & Dodd, 2007). Thus, the most influential leaders are those who know how to arrange group conditions to allow the principle of social proof to work in their favor.
It is in this that Jones appears to have been inspired. His masterstroke was the decision to move the People"s Temple community from urban San Francisco to the remoteness of equatorial South America, where the conditions of uncertainty and exclusive similarity would make the principle of social proof operate for him as perhaps nowhere else. There a settlement of a thousand people, much too large to be held in persistent sway by the force of one man"s personality, could be changed from a following into a herd herd. As slaughterhouse operators have long known, the mentality of a herd makes it easy to manage. Simply get some members moving in the desired direction and the others-responding not so much to the lead animal as to those immediately surrounding them-will peacefully and mechanically go along. The powers of the amazing Reverend Jones, then, are probably best understood not in terms of his dramatic personal style but in his profound knowledge of the art of social jujitsu.
Defense I began this chapter with an account of the relatively harmless practice of laugh tracking and moved on to stories of murder and suicide-all explained by the principle of social proof. How can we expect to defend ourselves against a weapon of influence that pervades such a vast range of behavior? The difficulty is compounded by the realization that, most of the time, we don"t want to guard against the information that social proof provides. The evidence it offers about the way we should act is usually valid and valuable (Surowiecki, 2004). With it we can cruise confidently through countless decisions without having to investigate the detailed pros and cons of each. In this sense, the principle of social proof equips us with a wonderful kind of automatic pilot device not unlike that aboard most aircraft.
Yet there are occasional, but real, problems with automatic pilots. Those problems appear whenever the flight information locked into the control mechanism is wrong. In these instances, we will be taken off course. Depending on the size of the error, the consequences can be severe; but, because the automatic pilot afforded by the principle of social proof is more often an ally than an enemy, we can"t be expected to want simply to disconnect it. Thus, we are faced with a cla.s.sic problem: how to make use of a piece of equipment that simultaneously benefits and imperils our welfare.
Fortunately, there is a way out of the dilemma. Because the disadvantages of automatic pilots arise princ.i.p.ally when incorrect data have been put into the control system, our best defense against these disadvantages is to recognize when the data are in error. If we can become sensitive to situations in which the social proof automatic pilot is working with inaccurate information, we can disengage the mechanism and grasp the controls when we need to.
Sabotage There are two types of situations in which incorrect data cause the principle of social proof to give us poor counsel. The first occurs when the social evidence has been purposely falsified. Invariably these situations are manufactured by exploiters intent on creating the impression impression-reality be d.a.m.ned-that a mult.i.tude is performing the way the exploiters want us to perform. The canned laughter of TV comedy shows is one variety of faked data of this sort, but there is a great deal more, and much of the fakery is strikingly obvious.
For instance, canned responses are not unique to the electronic media or even to the electronic age. In fact, the heavy-handed exploitation of the principle of social proof can be traced through the history of grand opera, one of our most venerable art forms. This is the phenomenon called claquing, said to have begun in 1820 by a pair of Paris opera-house habitues named Sauton and Porcher. The men were more than opera-goers, though. They were businessmen whose product was applause.
Organizing under the t.i.tle L"a.s.surance des Succes Dramatiques, they leased themselves and their employees to singers and opera managers who wished to be a.s.sured of an appreciative audience response. So effective were Sauton and Porcher in stimulating genuine audience reaction with their rigged reactions that, before long, claques (usually consisting of a leader-chef de claque-and several individual claqueurs claqueurs) had become an established and persistent tradition throughout the world of opera. As music historian Robert Sabin (1964) notes, "By 1830 the claque was a full-bloom inst.i.tution, collecting by day, applauding by night, all in the honest open. . . . But it is altogether probable that neither Sauton, nor his ally Porcher, had a notion of the extent to which their scheme of paid applause would be adopted and applied wherever opera is sung."
As claquing grew and developed, its pract.i.tioners offered an array of styles and strengths. In the same way that laugh-track producers hire individuals who excel in t.i.tters, chuckles, or belly laughs, the claques sp.a.w.ned their own specialists-the pleureuse pleureuse, chosen for her ability to weep on cue; the bisseur bisseur, who called "bis" (repeat) and "encore" in ecstatic tones; and, in direct kinship with today"s laugh-track performer, the rieur rieur, selected for the infectious quality of his laugh.
For our purposes, though, the most instructive parallel to modern forms of canned response is the conspicuous character of the fakery. No special need was seen to disguise or vary the claque, who often sat in the same seats, performance after performance, year after year, led by a chef de claque chef de claque two decades into his position. Even the monetary transactions were not hidden from the public. Indeed, one hundred years after the birth of claquing, a reader of the London two decades into his position. Even the monetary transactions were not hidden from the public. Indeed, one hundred years after the birth of claquing, a reader of the London Musical Times Musical Times could scan the advertised rates of the Italian could scan the advertised rates of the Italian claqueurs claqueurs (see (see Figure 4.3 Figure 4.3). Whether in the world of Rigoletto Rigoletto or TV sit-coms, then, audiences have been successfully manipulated by those who use social evidence, even when that evidence has been openly falsified. or TV sit-coms, then, audiences have been successfully manipulated by those who use social evidence, even when that evidence has been openly falsified.
Figure 4.3 Advertised Rates of the Italian Claque Advertised Rates of the Italian Claque From "ordinary applause" to "wild enthusiasm," claqueurs claqueurs offered their services in an audaciously public fashion-in this case, in a newspaper read by many of the audience members they fully expected to influence. offered their services in an audaciously public fashion-in this case, in a newspaper read by many of the audience members they fully expected to influence. Claque Claque, whirr whirr.
What Sauton and Porcher realized about the mechanical way that we abide by the principle of social proof is understood as well by a variety of today"s profiteers. They see no need to hide the manufactured nature of the social evidence they provide-witness the amateurish quality of the average TV laugh track. They seem almost smug in the recognition of our predicament: Either we must allow them to fool us or we must abandon the precious automatic pilots that make us so vulnerable to their tricks. In their certainty that they have us trapped, however, such exploiters have made a crucial mistake. The laxity with which they construct phony social evidence gives us a way to fight back.
Because automatic pilots can be engaged and disengaged at will, we can cruise along trusting in the course steered by the principle of social proof until until we recognize that inaccurate data are being used. Then we can take the controls, make the necessary correction for the misinformation, and reset the automatic pilot. The transparency of the rigged social proof we get these days provides us with exactly the cue we need for knowing when to perform this simple maneuver. With no more cost than a bit of vigilance for plainly counterfeit social evidence, then, we can protect ourselves nicely. we recognize that inaccurate data are being used. Then we can take the controls, make the necessary correction for the misinformation, and reset the automatic pilot. The transparency of the rigged social proof we get these days provides us with exactly the cue we need for knowing when to perform this simple maneuver. With no more cost than a bit of vigilance for plainly counterfeit social evidence, then, we can protect ourselves nicely.
READER"S REPORT 4.3 From a Central American Marketing Executive
I"ve been reading your book Influence Influence. I"m a marketer, and the book has helped me see how certain kinds of techniques work. As I read the third chapter, about social proof, I recognized an interesting example.
In my country, Ecuador, you can hire a person or groups of people (consisting traditionally of women) to come to the funeral of a family member or friend. The job of these people is to cry while the dead person is being buried, making, for sure, more people start to cry. This job was quite popular a few years ago, and the well known people that worked in this job received the name of "lloronas," which means criers.
Author"s note: We can see how, at different times and in different cultures, it has been possible to profit from manufactured social proof-even when that proof has been plainly manufactured. This possibility has now advanced into the digital age through the computer-generated voices employed by many modern merchandisers. One study showed that people who listened to five positive book reviews from real Amazon.com customers became significantly more favorable toward the book if the reviews were "spoken" by five separate (obviously) synthesized voices than if they"d heard these five reviews via one (obviously) synthesized voice (Lee & Nas, 2004). We can see how, at different times and in different cultures, it has been possible to profit from manufactured social proof-even when that proof has been plainly manufactured. This possibility has now advanced into the digital age through the computer-generated voices employed by many modern merchandisers. One study showed that people who listened to five positive book reviews from real Amazon.com customers became significantly more favorable toward the book if the reviews were "spoken" by five separate (obviously) synthesized voices than if they"d heard these five reviews via one (obviously) synthesized voice (Lee & Nas, 2004).
Let"s take an example. A bit earlier, I noted the proliferation of average person-on-the-street ads, in which a number of ordinary people speak glowingly of a product, often without knowing that their words are being recorded. As would be expected according to the principle of social proof, these testimonials from "average people like you and me" make for quite effective advertising campaigns. They have always included a relatively subtle kind of distortion: We hear only from those who like the product; as a result, we get an understandably biased picture of the amount of social support for it. More recently, though, a cruder and more unethical sort of falsification has been introduced. Commercial producers often don"t bother to get genuine testimonials. They merely hire actors to play the roles of average people testifying in an unrehea.r.s.ed fashion to an interviewer. It is amazing how bald-faced these "unrehea.r.s.ed interview" commercials can be. (See the example in Figure 4.4 Figure 4.4.) The situations are obviously staged, the partic.i.p.ants are clearly actors, and the dialogue is unmistakably prewritten.
Figure 4.4 Just Your Average Martian on the Street Just Your Average Martian on the Street Apparently I"m not alone in noticing the number of blatantly phony "unrehea.r.s.ed" testimonial ads these days. Humorist Dave Barry has registered their prevalence too and has labeled their inhabitants Consumers from Mars Consumers from Mars, which is a term I like and have even begun using myself. It helps remind me that, as regards my buying habits, I should be sure to ignore the tastes of these individuals who, after all, come from a different planet than I do.
I know that whenever I encounter an influence attempt of this sort, it sets off in me a kind of alarm with a clear directive: Attention! Attention! Bad social proof in this situation. Temporarily disconnect automatic pilot Attention! Attention! Bad social proof in this situation. Temporarily disconnect automatic pilot. It"s so easy to do. We need only make a conscious decision to be alert to counterfeit social evidence. We can relax until the exploiters" evident fakery is spotted, at which time we can pounce.
And we should pounce with a vengeance. I am speaking of more than simply ignoring the misinformation, although this defensive tactic is certainly called for. I am speaking of aggressive counterattack. Whenever possible we ought to sting those responsible for the rigging of social evidence. We should purchase no products featured in phony "unrehea.r.s.ed interview" commercials. Moreover, each manufacturer of the items should receive a letter explaining our response and recommending that they discontinue use of the advertising agency that produced so deceptive a presentation of their product.
Of course, we don"t always want to trust the actions of others to direct our conduct-especially in a situation important enough to warrant our personal investigation of the pros and cons, or one in which we are experts-but we do want to be able to count on others" behavior as a source of valid information in a wide range of settings. If we find in such settings that we cannot trust the information to be valid because someone has tampered with the evidence, we ought to be ready to strike back. In such instances, I personally feel driven by more than an aversion to being duped. I bristle at the thought of being pushed into an unacceptable corner by those who would use one of my hedges against the decisional overload of modern life against me. And I get a genuine sense of righteousness by lashing out when they try. If you are like me-and many others like me-so should you.
Looking Up In addition to the times when social evidence is deliberately faked, there is another time when the principle of social proof will regularly steer us wrong. In such an instance, an innocent, natural error will produce s...o...b..lling social proof that pushes us to an incorrect decision. The pluralistic ignorance phenomenon, in which everyone at an emergency sees no cause for alarm, is one example of this process.
"Shakin" Bacon"
The notion that there is safety in numbers can prove very wrong once a herd mentality sets in.
By permission of Leigh Rubin and Creators Syndicate, Inc..
The best ill.u.s.tration I know, however, comes from Singapore, where a few years ago, for no good reason, customers of a local bank began drawing out their money in a frenzy. The run on this respected bank remained a mystery until much later, when researchers interviewing partic.i.p.ants discovered its peculiar cause: An unexpected bus strike had created an abnormally large crowd waiting at the bus stop in front of the bank that day. Mistaking the gathering for a crush of customers poised to withdraw their funds from a failing bank, pa.s.sersby panicked and got in line to withdraw their deposits, which led more pa.s.sersby to do the same. Soon after opening its doors, the bank was forced to close to prevent a complete crash ("News," 1988).6 6It is perhaps no accident that this event took place in Singapore, as research tells us that citizens of Far Eastern societies have a greater tendency to respond to social proof information that do those from Western cultures (Bond & Smith, 1996). But, any culture that values the group over the individual exhibits this greater susceptibility to information about peers" choices. A few years ago, some of my colleagues and I showed how this tendency operated in Poland, a country whose population is moving toward Western values but still retains a more communal orientation than average Americans. We asked college students in Poland and the United States whether they would be willing to partic.i.p.ate in a marketing survey. For the American students, the best predictor of their decision was information about how often they, themselves, had agreed to marketing survey requests in the past; this is in keeping with the primarily individualistic point of reference of most Americans. For the Polish students, however, the best predictor of their decisions was information about how often their friends had agreed to marketing survey requests in the past; this is in keeping with the more collectivistic values of their nation (Cialdini et al., 1999).
This account provides certain insights into the way we respond to social proof. First, we seem to a.s.sume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something we don"t. Especially when we are uncertain, we are willing to place an enormous amount of trust in the collective knowledge of the crowd. Second, quite frequently the crowd is mistaken because its members are not acting on the basis of any superior information but are reacting, themselves, to the principle of social proof.
There is a lesson here: An automatic pilot device, like social proof, should never be trusted fully; even when no saboteur has slipped misinformation into the mechanism, it can sometimes go haywire by itself. We need to check the machine from time to time to be sure that it hasn"t worked itself out of sync with the other sources of evidence in the situation-the objective facts, our prior experiences, our own judgments. Fortunately, this precaution requires neither much effort nor much time. A quick glance around is all that is needed. And this little precaution is well worth it. The consequences of single-minded reliance on social evidence can be frightening. For instance, a masterful a.n.a.lysis by aviation safety researchers has uncovered an explanation for the misguided decisions of many pilots who crashed while attempting to land planes after weather conditions had become dangerous: The pilots hadn"t focused sufficiently on the mounting physical evidence for aborting a landing. Instead, they had focused too much on the mounting social evidence for attempting one-the fact that each in a line of prior aircraft had landed safely (Facci & Kasarda, 2004).
Certainly, a flier following a line of others would be wise to glance occasionally at the instrument panel and out the window. In the same way, we need to look up and around periodically whenever we are locked into the evidence of the crowd. Without this simple safeguard against misguided social proof, our outcomes might well run parallel to those of the unfortunate pilots and the Singapore bank: crash.
READER"S REPORT 4.4 From a Former Racetrack Employee
I became aware of one method of faking social evidence to one"s advantage while working at a racetrack. In order to lower the odds and make more money, some bettors are able to sway the public to bet on bad horses.
Odds at a racetrack are based on where the money is being bet. The more money on a horse, the better the odds. Many people who play the horses have surprisingly little knowledge of racing or betting strategy. Thus, especially when they don"t know much about the horses in a particular race, a lot of times they"ll simply bet the favorite. Because tote boards display up-to-the-minute odds, the public can always tell who the current favorite is. The system that a high roller can use to alter the odds is actually quite simple. The guy has in mind a horse he feels has a good chance of winning. Next he chooses a horse that has long odds (say, 15 to 1) and doesn"t have a realistic chance to win. The minute the mutual windows open, the guy puts down $100 on the inferior horse, creating an instant favorite whose odds on the board drop to about 2 to 1.
Now the elements of social proof begin to work. People who are uncertain of how to bet the race look to the tote board to see which horse the early bettors have decided is a favorite, and they follow. A s...o...b..lling effect now occurs as other people continue to bet the favorite. At this point, the high roller can go back to the window and bet heavily on his true favorite, which will have better odds now because the "new favorite" has been pushed down the board. If the guy wins, the initial $100 investment will have been worth it many times over.
I"ve seen this happen myself. I remember one time a person put down $100 on a pre-race 10 to 1 shot, making it the early favorite. The rumors started circulating around the track-the early bettors knew something. Next thing you know, everyone (myself included) was betting on this horse. It ended up running last and had a bad leg. Many people lost a lot of money. Somebody came out ahead, though. We"ll never know who. But he is the one with all the money. He understood the theory of social proof.
Author"s note: Once again we can see that social proof is most telling for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure in a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside of themselves for evidence of how best to behave there. Once again we can see that social proof is most telling for those who feel unfamiliar or unsure in a specific situation and who, consequently, must look outside of themselves for evidence of how best to behave there.
Summary [image]The principle of social proof states that one important means that people use to decide what to believe or how to act in a situation is to look at what other people are believing or doing there. Powerful imitative effects have been found among both children and adults and in such diverse activities as purchase decisions, charity donations, and phobia remission. The principle of social proof can be used to stimulate a person"s compliance with a request by informing the person that many other individuals (the more, the better) are or have been complying with it.
[image]Social proof is most influential under two conditions. The first is uncertainty. When people are unsure, when the situation is ambiguous, they are more likely to attend to the actions of others and to accept those actions as correct. In ambiguous situations, for instance, the decisions of bystanders to help are much more influenced by the actions of other bystanders than when the situation is a clear-cut emergency. The second condition under which social proof is most influential is similarity: People are more inclined to follow the lead of similar others. Evidence for the powerful effect of the actions of similar others on human behavior can be readily seen in the suicide statistics compiled by sociologist David Phillips. Those statistics indicate that after highly publicized suicide stories other troubled individuals, who are similar to the suicide-story victim, decide to kill themselves. An a.n.a.lysis of the ma.s.s suicide incident at Jonestown, Guyana, suggests that the group"s leader, Reverend Jim Jones, used both of the factors of uncertainty and similarity to induce a herdlike suicide response from the majority of the Jonestown population.
[image]Recommendations to reduce our susceptibility to faulty social proof include a sensitivity to clearly counterfeit evidence of what similar others are doing and a recognition that the actions of similar others should not form the sole basis for our decisions.
Study Questions Content Mastery 1. Describe the principle of social proof and how it can explain the effect of canned laughter on an audience"s reaction to comedy material.
2. In the Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter study of the end-of-the-world cult, group members pushed to win new converts only after their doomsday predictions proved false. Why?
3. Which two factors maximize the influence of social proof on an individual? What was it about the Jonestown, Guyana, situation that allowed these two factors to operate forcefully?
4. What is pluralistic ignorance? How does it influence bystander intervention in emergencies?
5. Which naturally occurring conditions of city life reduce the chance of bystander intervention in an emergency?
6. What is the Werther effect? How does it explain the puzzling relationship between highly publicized suicide stories and startling increases in the number of airplane and automobile fatalities following publication of the stories?
Critical Thinking 1. If you had to deliver a lecture to heart patients concerning the best way to secure help should they experience heart trouble in a public place, which steps would you tell them to take?
2. In early 1986, someone injected cyanide into Tylenol capsules on store shelves, creating widespread publicity and a national furor after a New York woman died from ingesting one of the capsules. The weeks that followed saw a rash of product tampering incidents. Three other popular over-the-counter medications were found laced with poison; pieces of gla.s.s were inserted in packages of cereal and ice cream; even bathroom tissue was not immune-in one office building, the toilet paper in the public restrooms was sprayed with Mace. Although the Tylenol incident itself could not have been foreseen, explain why, after reading this chapter, you might have predicted the aftermath.
3. Suppose you were a TV producer given the delicate job of creating a series of public service programs designed to reduce teenage suicide. Knowing that research suggests that previous programming may have inadvertently increased teen suicides via the principle of social proof, what would you do to use the same principle to make it likely that your shows would reduce the problem among those who watched? Who would you interview on-camera? Would any of them be troubled teenagers? Which questions would you ask them?
4. Describe a situation in your past in which you were tricked into compliance by someone who counterfeited the principle of social proof. How would you handle a similar situation today?
5. How does the photograph that opens this chapter reflect the topic of the chapter?
Chapter 5.
Liking.
The Friendly Thief.
The main work of a trial attorney is to make a jury like his client.
-Clarence Darrow.
FEW OF US WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT, AS A RULE, WE most prefer to say yes to the requests of people we know and like. What might be startling to note, however, is that this simple rule is used in hundreds of ways by total strangers to get us to comply with most prefer to say yes to the requests of people we know and like. What might be startling to note, however, is that this simple rule is used in hundreds of ways by total strangers to get us to comply with their their requests. requests.
The clearest ill.u.s.tration I know of the professional exploitation of the liking rule is the Tupperware party, which I consider a cla.s.sic compliance setting. Anybody familiar with the workings of a Tupperware party will recognize the use of the various weapons of influence we have examined so far: [image]Reciprocity. To start, games are played and prizes won by the party goers; anyone who doesn"t win a prize gets to choose one from a grab bag so that everyone has received a gift before the buying begins. To start, games are played and prizes won by the party goers; anyone who doesn"t win a prize gets to choose one from a grab bag so that everyone has received a gift before the buying begins.
[image]Commitment. Partic.i.p.ants are urged to describe publicly the uses and benefits they have found for the Tupperware they already own. Partic.i.p.ants are urged to describe publicly the uses and benefits they have found for the Tupperware they already own.
[image]Social proof. Once the buying begins, each purchase builds the idea that other, similar people want the products; therefore, it must be good. Once the buying begins, each purchase builds the idea that other, similar people want the products; therefore, it must be good.
All the weapons of influence are present to help things along, but the real power of the Tupperware party comes from a particular arrangement that trades on the liking rule. Despite the entertaining and persuasive selling skills of the Tupperware demonstrator, the true request to purchase the product does not come from this stranger; it comes from a friend to every person in the room. Oh, the Tupperware representative may physically ask for each party goer"s order, all right; but the more psychologically compelling requester is sitting off to the side, smiling, chatting, and serving refreshments. She is the party hostess, who has called her friends together for the demonstration in her home and who, everyone knows, makes a profit from each piece sold at the party.
By providing the hostess with a percentage of the take, the Tupperware Home Parties Corporation arranges for its customers to buy from and for a friend rather than from an unknown salesperson. In this way, the attraction, the warmth, the security, and the obligation of friendship are brought to bear on the sales setting (Taylor, 1978). In fact, consumer researchers who have examined the social ties between the hostess and the party goers in home party sales settings have affirmed the power of the company"s approach: The strength of that social bond is twice as likely to determine product purchase as is preference for the product itself (Frenzen & Davis, 1990). The results have been remarkable. It was recently estimated that Tupperware sales now exceed 2.5 million dollars a day! Indeed, Tupperware"s success has spread around the world to societies in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, where one"s place in a network of friends and family is more socially significant than in the United States (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Smith, Bond, & Kagitcibasi, 2006). As a result, now less than a quarter of Tupperware sales take place in North America.
What is interesting is that the customers appear to be fully aware of the liking and friendship pressures embodied in the Tupperware party. Some don"t seem to mind; others do, but don"t seem to know how to avoid these pressures. One woman I spoke with described her reactions with more than a bit of frustration in her voice.
It"s gotten to the point now where I hate to be invited to Tupperware parties. I"ve got all the containers I need; and if I wanted any more, I could buy another brand cheaper in the store. But when a friend calls up, I feel like I have to go. And when I get there, I feel like I have to buy something. What can I do? It"s for one of my friends.
With so irresistible an ally as friendship, it is little wonder that the Tupperware Corporation has abandoned retail sales outlets and is pushing the home party concept. For example, in 2003 the Tupperware corporation did something that would defy logic for almost any other business: It severed its relationship with the retailer Target Stores because sales of their products at Target locations were too strong! As a consequence, the partnership had to be ended because of its detrimental effect on the number of home parties that could be arranged (Latest News, 2003). Statistics reveal that a Tupperware party now starts somewhere every 2.7 seconds. Of course, all sorts of other compliance professionals recognize the pressure to say yes to someone we know and like. Take, for instance, the growing number of charity organizations that recruit volunteers to canva.s.s for donations close to their own homes. They understand perfectly how much more difficult it is for us to turn down a charity request when it comes from a friend or neighbor.
Other compliance professionals have found that the friend doesn"t even have to be present to be effective; often, just the mention of the friend"s name is enough. The Shaklee Corporation, which specializes in door-to-door sales of various home-related products, advises its salespeople to use the "endless chain" method for finding new customers. Once a customer admits that he or she likes a product, that customer can be pressed for the names of friends who would also appreciate learning about it. The individuals on that list can then be approached for sales and and a list of their friends, who can serve as sources for still other potential customers, and so on in an endless chain. a list of their friends, who can serve as sources for still other potential customers, and so on in an endless chain.
The Home Party At home parties, like this Tupperware-style party for a line of eco-friendly cleaning products, the bond that exists between the party goers and the party hostess usually seals the sales.
The Liking Rule Love and encyclopedia sales are forever.
The New Yorker Collection 1982, by J. B. Handelsman, from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.
The key to the success of this method is that each new prospect is visited by a salesperson armed with the name of a friend "who suggested I call on you." Turning the salesperson away under those circ.u.mstances is difficult; it"s almost like rejecting the friend. The Shaklee sales manual insists that employees use this system: "It would be impossible to overestimate its value. Phoning or calling on a prospect and being able to say that Mr. So-and-so, a friend of his, felt he would benefit by giving you a few moments of his time is virtually as good as a sale 50 percent made before you enter."
Making Friends to Influence People Compliance pract.i.tioners" widespread use of the liking bond between friends tells us much about the power of the liking rule to produce a.s.sent. In fact, we find that such professionals seek to benefit from the rule even when already formed friendships are not present for them to employ. Under these circ.u.mstances, the professionals still make use of the liking bond by employing a compliance strategy that is quite direct: They first get us to like them them.
READER"S REPORT 5.1 From a Chicago Man
Although I"ve never been to a Tupperware Party, I recognized the same kind of friendship pressures recently when I got a call from a long distance phone company saleswoman. She told me that one of my buddies had placed my name on something called the "MCI Friends and Family Calling Circle."
This friend of mine, Brad, is a guy I grew up with but who moved to New Jersey last year for a job. He still calls me pretty regularly to get the news on the guys we used to hang out with. The saleswoman told me that he could save 20 percent on all the calls he made to the people on his Calling-Circle list, provided they are MCI phone company subscribers. Then she asked me if I wanted to switch to MCI to get all the blah, blah, blah benefits of MCI service, and so that Brad could save 20 percent on his calls to me.
Well, I couldn"t have cared less about the benefits of MCI service; I was perfectly happy with the long distance company I had. But the part about wanting to save Brad money on our calls really got to me. For me to say that I didn"t want to be in his Calling Circle and didn"t care about saving him money would have sounded like a real affront to our friendship when he heard about it. So, to avoid insulting him, I told her to switch me to MCI.
I used to wonder why women would go to a Tupperware Party just because a friend was holding it, and then buy stuff they didn"t want once they were there. I don"t wonder anymore.
Author"s note: This reader is not alone in being able to testify to the power of the pressures embodied in MCI"s Calling Circle idea. When This reader is not alone in being able to testify to the power of the pressures embodied in MCI"s Calling Circle idea. When Consumer Reports Consumer Reports magazine inquired into the practice, the MCI salesperson they interviewed was quite succinct: "It works 9 out of 10 times," he said. magazine inquired into the practice, the MCI salesperson they interviewed was quite succinct: "It works 9 out of 10 times," he said.