This study will examine the ways that communication is used to acquire what the communicator wants and ways that communication is used to get another to behave the way the communicator wants him to behave.
Cialdini writes that there are six basic principles which are utilized by effective communicators to get what they want and to influence and shape the behavior of others: "Although there are thousands of different tactics that compliance practitioners employ to produce yes, the majority fall within six basic categories. Each of these categories is governed by a fundamental psychological principle that directs human behavior and . . . give the tactics their power. . . The principles (are) consistency, reciprocation, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. . . " (Cialdini, 1984, p. 13).
Dealing first with reciprocation, Cialdini writes that according to the rule of reciprocation, "we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us..... The impressive aspect of the rule of reciprocation and the sense of obligation that goes with it is its pervasiveness in human culture" (Cialdini, 1984, pp. 29-30).
In other words, the individual using communication to persuade and influence another first recognizes the tendencies in human nature or culture which he can use for his own benefit. It is not necessary that the communicator invent new ways to persuade, but only that he be aware of and utilize effectively those forces already in place in human nature and human culture.
Cialdini uses an example to illustrate reciprocation. A man has a non-sales relationship with two other men. In the course of these non-sales dealings, the first man brings one of the other men a soft drink, but not the second man. Later, the first man tries to sell the other two men raffle tickets. Because of the obligation felt by the man who was brought the soft drink, he will be far more likely to buy the ticket than the man w...