quest to purchase the product does not come from this stranger; it comes
from a friend to every woman in the room. Oh, the Tupperware repres-
entative may physically ask for each partygoer’s order, all right, but
the more psychologically compelling requester is a housewife 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 her party.
Simple. 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 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. Consumer researchers
Frenzer and Davis, who have examined the social ties between the
hostess and the partygoers 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. The results have been remarkable. It was recently estim-
ated that Tupperware sales exceed $2.5 million a day!
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 them. 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 Tupper-
ware 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 the friendship principle operating, it is
little wonder that the company has abandoned retail sales outlets and
has pushed the home party concept until a Tupperware party now
starts somewhere every 2.7 seconds. But, 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 canvass 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 a 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
Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D / 127