Of course, by now you and I know that the customer who has accep-
ted and used the BUG products has been trapped into facing the influ-
ence of the reciprocity rule. Many such customers yield to a sense of
obligation to order those of the salesperson’s products that they have
tried and thereby partially consumed. And, of course, by now the Am-
way Corporation knows that to be the case. Even in a company with
as excellent a growth record as Amway, the BUG device has created a
big stir. Reports by state distributors to the parent company record a
remarkable effect:
Unbelievable! We’ve never seen such excitement. Product is
moving at an unbelievable rate, and we’ve only just begun....
[Local] distributors took the BUGS, and we’ve had an unbelievable
increase in sales [from Illinois distributor]. The most fantastic retail
idea we’ve ever had!...On the average, customers purchased about
half the total amount of the BUG when it is picked up.... In one
word, tremendous! We’ve never seen a response within our entire
organization like this [from Massachusetts distributor].
The Amway distributors appear to be bewildered—happily so, but
nonetheless bewildered—by the startling power of the BUG. Of course,
by now you and I should not be.
The reciprocity rule governs many situations of a purely interpersonal
nature where neither money nor commercial exchange is at issue. Per-
haps my favorite illustration of the enormous force available from the
reciprocation weapon of influence comes from such a situation. The
European scientist, Eibl-Eibesfeldt, provides the account of a German
soldier during World War I whose job was to capture enemy soldiers
for interrogation. Because of the nature of the trench warfare at that
time, it was extremely difficult for armies to cross the no-man’s-land
between opposing front lines; but it was not so difficult for a single
soldier to crawl across and slip into an enemy trench position. The
armies of the Great War had experts who regularly did so to capture
an enemy soldier, who would then be brought back for questioning.
The German expert of our account had often successfully completed
such missions in the past and was sent on another. Once again, he
skillfully negotiated the area between fronts and surprised a lone enemy
soldier in his trench. The unsuspecting soldier, who had been eating at
the time, was easily disarmed. The frightened captive with only a piece
of bread in his hand then performed what may have been the most
important act of his life. He gave his enemy some of the bread. So af-
fected was the German by this gift that he could not complete his mis-
sion. He turned from his benefactor and recrossed the no-man’s-land
empty-handed to face the wrath of his superiors.
Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D / 21