How Jerusalem’s Old City taught me the UX Principle of Reciprocity

It’s 1:30pm in Jerusalem’s old city market, I’m hungry and on my way to this delicious hummus place. However a vendor stops me, seeing that I have a camera in hand, suggests me to visit a rooftop close to his shop to get an amazing view on the old city. I thank him and go visit alone the big rooftop.

On the rooftop, after a while another man asks me to come towards him. He asks me how old I am and that I should follow him. I immediately stop and ask him why? He tells me he wants to show me something at his place. Feeling that there is something really suspicious, he was walking me towards a small alley on the rooftop, I decide to turn around and leave. He looked around, saw other people 20 meters away and left.

On my way down, I met again with the vendor who tells me his grand father used to take pictures too and that he could show them to me if I want. He brings me in his shop to show me an old photo book from his grand father and walks me through the many stories of the city. I’m feeling like this is the best summary of Jerusalem’s history I got in about 10 minutes. I know, most likely, that he wants me to buy something, but he didn’t mention anything like that in our conversation. My natural instinct has been to look around and I’ve finally found a small gift I could buy. I knew I got tricked, somehow, but there was no way for me to get out of the shop without giving back.

What is Reciprocity?

The reciprocity principle is a fundamental rule in social psychology. It’s quite simple, if someone makes you a favor, you’re likely to give something back. And, the “favors” don’t have to be equivalent — a small favor can beget a bigger return favor.

How can reciprocity work in product?

When was the last time you had to sign in to something in order to be able to use something? If you ask me, I experience this every week, that’s why your second email address is made for right?

People will remember acts of kindness and will therefore remember you if you decide to give before asking something in return.

“Give your users something before you ask for anything from them” Nielsen Norman Group

Show the value before asking

One of the most popular form of reciprocity is the concept of “free trial”. Let’s not look too far, you’re obviously a medium reader and have probably encountered this message. Medium gifts you access to 3 premium stories per month, once you’ve enjoyed and seen the value of Medium’s product, you’re asked if you would be willing to pay a small amount for an unlimited access.

Spotify also offers a 30 day free trial for their premium membership (ad-free and offline access), it can be canceled at any time for no cost.

You’re most likely to stream as much songs as possible, download offline songs and create playlists for 30 days. Before you’ll realize it, you would have already payed for the next month and are most likely to stay subscribed thinking €9.99/month is worth it.

Ask at the right time

On apps, notifications and geolocation prompt is a great example of when to use the principle of reciprocity. How many times have you opened a new app and the first thing you saw was “Allow notifications”? Let the user explore the app and see the value of allowing notifications before asking him to make you a favor. If the user sees you are actually making him a favor, he’ll be more likely to accept to receive your notifications.

Give a free upgrade for first time users

You might want to consider giving something away in order to retain a customer on the long run. For example, Zappos always offers 2 days delivery during check out, however once you booked, they’ll send you a nice email letting you know you have been upgraded and your order is shipped today.

Conclusion

I’m surprised that the reciprocity principle is not so commonly use in digital products, even though it’s a concept that has proven to work for ages in advertising and marketing. Think about the last time you’ve seen some free food samples in your supermarket, guess what? samples have boosted sales in some cases by as much as 2,000 percent.

Being respectful of your users and gifting them won’t stay unnoticed. You’ll have a higher chance to retain these customers on the long run. Even though you should ask as little from your users as possible, if ever you’re facing a challenge in getting the user to actually do something for you, don’t forget this helpful principle that works most of the time. And if ever you have the feeling this post was useful to you, you know what to do! 🖐