ho was not brought the soft drink. This is the law of reciprocation in action. Obligate the individual to reciprocate in the future, and success in persuasion or influence will more likely result.
Commitment and consistency work together as two rules for influencing the behavior of others and getting them to do what we want them to do. The power behind these two elements "is, quite simply, our nearly obsessive desire to be (and to appear) consistent with what we have already done. Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commitment" (Cialdini, 1984, p. 66). In other words, once we have used communication and reciprocation to gain the person's minor commitment, he will more easily move to a deeper commitment in order to be consistent.
The principle of social proof has it that "one means we use to determine what is correct is to find out what other people think is correct" (Cialdini, 1984, p. 117). If, for example, someone first buys something in front of us, we are more likely to buy it ourselves.
Liking involves getting the person we want to persuade to be drawn to us in some personal way: "Few people would be surprised to learn that, as a rule, we most prefer to say yes to the requests of someone 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 requests" (Cialdini, 1984, p. 163).
Authority involves the natural inclination to obey a figure who is seen as having some sort of authority with respect to professionalism, knowledge, prestige, etc. We are more likely to "buy" (products, services, ideas, etc.) from a figure we see as an authority than we are from a pe
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