King of negotiation Terry Tibbs
is trying to sell a ‘surf machine’ to viewers using a range of techniques from
his expert repertoire.
He uses the ‘That’s-Not-All’ technique
developed by Burger (1986) by presenting viewers first with the original price
of the equipment $3900, then with their special discounted price of £169.99 and
then, without offering the viewer a real chance to consider this price,
reducing it once more to £149.99. Here he is giving a fair price, but ‘I’ll
tell you what’, ‘that’s not all... we’re going to reduce it again!’, ‘Does that
sound good?’ This can increase compliance by implementing the norm of
reciprocity. By the seller ‘giving in a little’ and lowering the price, he
gives the impression of doing the viewer a favour, inducing a state of
indebtedness and a want to reciprocate in return, preferably by purchasing the
product.
Burger, Reed, DeCesare, Rauner
and Rozolios (1999) approached 60 students and explained they were looking for
volunteers to help at an elementary school carnival. They asked if they would
be willing to assist from 11am until 2pm over 2 days. Before the target could
respond the experimenter interrupted adding ‘wait a minute... all volunteer
spots are full for Sunday... could you volunteer on Saturday only?’ This last
minute sweetening of the request resulted in more compliance than a control
condition without the TNA technique.
The scarcity principle is also employed.
The communicator alerts the viewers that there are only 25 left in stock,
insinuating the need to make a quick decision, and making the product look more
desirable through its rarity. Lynn (1989) demonstrates how scarcity can enhance
the desirability of objects. 408 students were primed to consider the
expensiveness of art prints (they were asked ‘how expensive do you think art
prints generally are?’) before rating the desirability of prints. The scarcity
primed group rated specific art prints more desirable than a control group not
primed with their scarcity. The author suggests that the scarcity principle
works best when the object has intrinsic value. Terry Tibbs makes a point of
the product’s intrinsic value by stating its original price of $3900, making a
desirable and rare object look like a bargain.
Terry Tibbs' challenge ‘Are you
man enough?’ could be construed as evoking self-threat in the target. The
viewer may be inclined to repair their positive self image, making them vulnerable
to compliance with requests (e.g. Kaplan & Krueger, 1999).
Burger, J. M. (1986). Increasing
compliance by improving the deal: The that’s-not-all technique. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 51, 277-283.
Burger, J. M., Reed, M.,
DeCesare, K., Rauner, S., & Rozolis, J. (1999). The effects of initial
request size on compliance: More about the that’s-not-all technique. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 243-249.
Kaplan, A., & Krueger, J.
(1999). Compliance after threat: Self affirmation or self-presentation? Current Research in Social Psychology, 4, 178-197.
Lynn, M. (1989). Scarcity effects on desirability: Mediated by assumed expensiveness? Journal of Economic Psychology, 10, 257-274.
Excellent.
ReplyDelete