“How They Got You to Do That”

After reading “How They Got You to Do That,” I recognized that I am sometimes influenced by a few of the persuasion techniques listed in the essay. The techniques that apply to me the most are reciprocity, social validation, and scarcity. I think that most of us are influenced by reciprocity techniques because as a society we are taught to pay back favors. For example, every time a friend gives me a ride to school I feel that I must do something I return. What I end up doing is inviting her for lunch or paying for her gas. Social validation comes mostly with school reading assignments. Sometimes when I am asked by an instructor to read an essay and I do not understand the task, I tend to believe what most people say and think about the subject. For that reason I believe I am persuaded by social validation, because someone else does the thinking for me. Every time I get the mail advertisements I feel that I must buy something because the stores seem to have very good specials. What I most persuade to buy is shoes and electronics. For these three reasons I fell that I am mostly persuade by reciprocity, social validation, and scarcity persuading techniques.