What is the Foot-in-the-Door Method and How Is It Used in Sales?

The Foot-in-the-Door Method is a tactic that many salespeople used in the past. Curious, three psychologists decided to experiment it by doing door-to-door fundraising.

I remember back in the late 90s, there were always door-to-door salespeople coming to my house.

They would advertise knives, books, or even services.

There was this one time… I was maybe 11 or 12 years old… this lady came knocking on my door asking if I wanted to buy children’s encyclopedias.

Now, if you don’t know what these are, they’re basically sets of textbooks with a bunch of information in them.

It’s like Wikipedia, but in textbook form and written by (actual) professors and professionals.

Since I was just a kid, I said yes.

She asked if she can talk to my parents and I said sure and went to grab them. My parents came over and, instead of kicking her out, asked her to sit down.

Right at this moment, she probably felt that she was going to for sure make a sale.

And she rightfully should have, because according to the foot-in-the-door theory, this is an indication that the customer is willing to buy.

This psychological theory says that people are more willing to agree to a larger request if they first agree to a smaller one. Continue reading “What is the Foot-in-the-Door Method and How Is It Used in Sales?”

What is Functionalism?

Functionalism is a school of thought that is used in the social sciences to explain the functions or purpose of things.

Functionalism is a general theory or school of thought in the social sciences that was developed in the late 1800s. What it is, essentially, is a belief that everything (i.e. mental state, aspects of culture or society) serves a purpose.

In Sociology…

If you use this term sociologically and apply it to your observations of society, you would try to understand every facet of social behaviour and figure out what it does for society. Continue reading “What is Functionalism?”

Dennis Regan’s Law of Reciprocity and How It’s Used in Marketing

What is the Law of Reciprocity? According to a social psychologist, it is the feeling of obligation… the obligation of returning a favour.

Have you returned a favour recently? Why did you do it? Also, how did you feel while you were deciding on returning a helping hand?

Did you feel some sort of pull or pressing needs to return it?

My guess is you probably did. Continue reading “Dennis Regan’s Law of Reciprocity and How It’s Used in Marketing”

Asch’s Conformity Experiment and Marketing

How can Solomon Asch’s Conformity Experiment be applied to marketing (or what does it say about consumer culture)? 

I’ve talked about this theory before, but I want to go back to it for this post. I want to look at it within a different realm and show you how it is used in marketing.

However, before I do that, here’s a recap of what the Asch Conformity experiment is and what it revealed about people. Continue reading “Asch’s Conformity Experiment and Marketing”

Psychology of Marketing

Marketing is really just the psychology of persuasion.

I once had a professor who said that behind every marketing campaign was a psychologist.

The reason, she said, was that marketing is really just the art of persuasion.

And persuasion is something that affects the mind.

And the study of the mind and its processes is psychology.

That’s why marketing really is just psychology, or more specifically, social psychology. Continue reading “Psychology of Marketing”

What’s the Difference Between Race and Ethnicity?

Ever wonder what the difference between race and ethnicity is? Because, contrary to what some may believe, they’re not the same thing.

In college, I signed up for this sociology course called “Concepts of Race and Ethnicity.”

At first, I thought race and ethnicity were the same things. Race, to me, was what a person was born as –their skin colour, their culture and traditions, etc. I defined ethnicity in the same way.

But boy, was I wrong (and I learned this lesson on the very first day of class)!

In the very first session, the prof talked about what the course is about and what we (the students) are expected to do.

She handed us syllabuses and talked a bit about the assignments and readings –you know administrative stuff.

After about 15 minutes of this, she started getting into the good stuff. She grabbed a marker and started writing some terms down.

Then she explained them to us. Continue reading “What’s the Difference Between Race and Ethnicity?”

What’s the Difference Between a Monopoly and an Oligopoly?

Monopoly vs. Oligopoly. What’s the difference between these two terms? In the following post, I break down the difference and give examples of each.

I remember taking an economics class back in college and we had to learn the difference between these two terms.

The first term my prof talked about was monopoly.

I quickly looked up and paid full attention because I love Monopoly! That board game is awesome! But that wasn’t what he was talking about.

Rather he was talking about the economic term. Continue reading “What’s the Difference Between a Monopoly and an Oligopoly?”

What is Ethnocentrism?

Ethnocentrism is a sociological term developed by Austrian sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz. This term explores how people view other (or foreign) cultures.

What is ethnocentrism?

This was a term that I first learned about in one of my sociology classes back in college.

Its definition, according to Dictionary.com, is the belief that one’s own culture is superior or dominant to others.

It also describes a tendency that people often view other people’s cultures through their own cultural lens.

I have this friend.

He is a patriotic Chinese person and he believes that his culture is the best. He believes that all East Asian people are descendants of China, thus making China the dominant nation (and culture).

However, there isn’t much information or facts that back this up, except for ancient Chinese tales and myths.

But because he holds this belief, he is practicing ethnocentrism. Continue reading “What is Ethnocentrism?”