An Analysis of Party Selling Techniques

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=323107" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="31800640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Message </b></FONT><B>   |     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Message"><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>An Analysis of Party Selling Techniques</I></div> <div> <B>Friendship, Liking, and the Peripheral Route to Persuasion:</b></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>An Analysis of Party Selling Techniques in Tupperware, </b></div> <div> <B>Home Interiors, and, Mary Kay </b></div> <bR> <div>      Party selling is a form of direct selling attempt to cut out the retailer. The numbers reflect the success of this type of marketing.   A Tupperware party starts somewhere in the world every 2.7 seconds (Cialdini, 1993). According to Dunn and Bradstreet, Mary Kay's 1995 sales came in at 609 million dollars and Home Interiors ended the year at 195 million (Dunn & Bradstreet, 1996). These and other direct sales companies are taking the market by storm.  Direct sales refers to a very specific pattern of behaviors that often include an in home party :</div> <div>      (Direct sales refers to) the methods manufacturers use to distribute their </div> <div>      products to consumers either first shipping the products to conventional </div> <div>      retail outlets.  These approaches include, direct, door-to-door, selling in </div> <div>      which representatives meet one-on-one with consumers, multilevel marketing,</div> <div>       which involves selling both the product and the business opportunity associated</div> <div>       with selling the products and party plans, whereby groups of customers </div> <div>      attend product demonstrations and are invited to order the products</div> <div>         (Brown, 1992, p. 76). </div> <div>      Tupperware, Home Interiors, and Mary Kay are three of the most successful direct marketing companies that employ the strategy of home party selling. Home parties have many common elements: A sales representative asks a hostess to provide her home and invite her friends to attend a party, the representative advises the hostess as to seating arrangement and refreshments, at the party the demonstrator sets up a display, the guests are given catalogs, pencils, and order forms, guests meet one another through games or social activities, a presentation is made, questions are answered, and orders are taken. Guests are reminded that their purchases will acquire points for the hostess who will receive "gifts" based on the total sales of the party.  Guests are invited to book parties in order to help the hostess acquire further points.  The hostess then handles pickup and  distribution of the merchandise as it arrives and then is expected to reciprocally attend her friend's parties (Sherry, 1999 Tupperware Displayer,, 1993).  </div> <div>      In his ethnography of Tupperware parties, Taylor (1978) offers the following trade definition: "The sales party is a clever exploitation of the fact that housewives like to meet for coffee" (p. 573).  Certain product lend themselves to home parties and Tupperware was the first to market their products in this manner (Taylor, 1978). Since then, everything from lingerie to cosmetics have been shown in a party format where the "exploitation of the preexisting relations between a hostess and her guests" is the key to success (Taylor, 1978  p. 574).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Review of Literature</b></div> <div>      Researchers have attempted to explain the ways in which individuals and organizations achieve persuasion or compliance gaining by manipulating individuals to make thoughtless decisions.   The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) recognized that, in some situations, people process messages cognitively and, in other cases, their thinking is more superficial. "The assumption is that people have neither the ability nor the motivation to evaluate everything carefully" (Petty, Cacioppo, Strathman, & Priester, 1994, p. 114).    The model focuses on the ways in which people try to have correct attitudes and beliefs while receiving a plethora of information.  Elaboration, or "the extent to which a person thinks about issue-relevant arguments contained in a message," (Petty & Cacioppo, 1996 p. 128) is determined by how relevant and important the issue is to the individual. When individuals have low involvement with the message, they are more likely to think less about their decision (Petty, Cacioppo, & Goldman, 1981).</div> <div>       The model asserts that there are "two distinct pathways to attitude change" the central and the peripheral route.  On the central route, individuals elaborate cognitively, thinking  in detail about the message.  On the peripheral route, an individual elaborates much less about the message instead using heuristic cues to make a decision.  On the peripheral route, and individual might use shortcuts or heuristics to decide whether or not to accept a message. The short cuts may be from credibility, liking, or consensus (Petty & Cacioppo, 1966, 1989, 1996 Petty, Cacioppo,.& Goldman, 1981).    </div> <div>      It is the characteristics and actions of the source that cause individual to take mental shortcuts.  Credibility has historically been influential in persuasive studies. Aristotle coined the term "ethos" (Robert, 1954). It has also been called charisma, image, and source credibility.   Aristotle spoke of the "personal character of a speaker" and noted that "his character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion he possesses" (p. 25).  An individual's character is based on the perceptions of the receiver and there are certain characteristics that enhance perceived credibility.  Hovland, Janis, and Kelley (1953) viewed credibility as consisting of expertise and trustworthiness.  Trustworthiness is considered the most important attribute of a source (Soren & Hawkins, 1967). Trustworthiness may be defined as "the communicator's intent to communicate the assertions he considers most valid" (Hovland et al. 1953, p. 21). The receiver's perception of the sender's intentions is critical element of trustworthiness (Perloff 1993). This element of credibility is closely tied to friendship.  People tend to consider friends as having good intentions and are therefore trustworthy.</div> <div>        Other researchers define credibility as "the attitude toward a speaker help by a listener" (McCroskey, 1966). Berlo, Lemert, and Mertz (1969) looked at receivers evaluations of source in different contexts,  they emerged from their study determining that credibility consisted of three dimensions: Safety, qualification, and dynamism.   Hart, Friedrich, and Brummett (1993) created a list of seven potential dimensions of credibility.  Among those were similarity, and trustworthiness.    In order to be liked, a sender must be considered credible. </div> <div>        In his book <U>Persuasion: Theory and Research</U>, O'Keefe (1990) reviews the abundance of literature on source factors and concludes: </div> <div>      The general point to be underscored is this:  The source factors with </div> <div>      the most immediate (if complex) effects on persuasion are credibility </div> <div>      and liking (p. 155). </div> <div> Cialdini (1993) found liking to be a major source of interpersonal influence. He did considerable investigation into what he calls this route the "mindless" or "click-whirr" phenomenon:</div> <div>      You and I deal exist in an extraordinarily complicated environment ...To deal </div> <div>      with it, we need shortcuts.  We can't be expected to recognize and analyze all the</div> <div>       aspects in each person, event, and situation we encounter in even one day...</div> <div>      Instead, we must very often use our stereotypes, our rules of thumb, to classify</div> <div>       things according to a few key features and then to respond without thinking when</div> <div>       one or another of these trigger features is present ( p. 6).</div> <div> Cialdini identified six trigger features that people may respond to without thinking:  Reciprocity, social validation, commitment/ consistency, friendship/liking, scarcity, and authority. Home party practitioners rely heavily on the automatic responses to the friendship and liking principle. Cialdini (1993) comments on this principle:</div> <div>       Compliance practitioners widespread use of the liking bond between friends tells</div> <div>       us much about the power of liking to produce assent.  In fact, we find that such</div> <div>       professionals seek to benefit from the rule even when already formed friendships</div> <div>       are not present for them to employ.  Under these circumstances, the professionals</div> <div>       still make use of the liking bond by employing a compliance strategy that is quite</div> <div>       direct:  They first get us to like them ( p. 139). </div> <div>       Other researchers observed the prevalence of  friendship and liking and various strategies used to gain those such as similarity, gifts, and compliments.  Marwell and Schmitt (1967) identified compliance gaining techniques and found the presence of 16 various strategies.  Among those identified is liking  whereby one acts friendly and helpful to get another in a good frame of mind so they will comply and pre-giving which consists of giving a reward before requesting compliance.  Buss, Gomes, Higgins, and Lauterbach (1987), similarly, categorized means of manipulating others.  One of the six categories they determined as prevalent was charm which is exemplified as the giving of compliments in order to gain compliance to a request. Arch (1979) found five categories that describes influence measures in personal selling.  Among those were similarity influence, based on the buyer and seller similarity, and ingratiation, influence based on the sellers dispensing favors and flattery to the buyer.</div> <div>      Friendship and liking work as compliance gaining strategies in part because of the exchange of favors that are implied in any relationship. John Sherry (1990) challenges the notion that buyers purchase goods solely for self benefit, he contends that :</div> <div>      In a more realistic world, buyers are bound by many social relations and</div> <div>       sometimes act to protect and even enhance the endowment or others,</div> <div>       including some sellers, with whom they share social relations...</div> <div>      For instance, a buyer might purchase unwanted goods, pay premium</div> <div>       price, forgo discounts, and accept  inconvenient delivery to benefit a</div> <div>       particular seller (p. 14).  </div> <div> By comparing social relationships to social clubs, Sherry posits that individuals accumulate social capital in a relationship and exchange it in interactions. While social capital is not monetary it may manifest itself monetarily he suggests that social "ties serve as repositories for social rights and obligations.  Although rights and obligations are themselves intangible, they can exert tangible effects on the exchange or resources" (Sherry, 1990, p 1). Home parties are one embedded market where social debts within friendship network  are called upon. </div> <div>        The friendship is capitalized on in obvious manners, but friendship and liking are used in other not so conspicuous ways. This paper will examine three of the most prominent direct sales business--Mary Kay, Tupperware, and Home Interiors--and examine the application of how friendship and liking are manipulated on various levels in order to procure a purchase from the customer and to convince individuals to hold parties in their homes. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Friends Invite Friends to Tupperware Parties</b></div> <div>      Cialdini says, "One should be more willing to comply with the requests of friends or other liked individuals" (1994). Cialdini (1993) cites a Tupperware party as an example of the persuasion of friendship in action:</div> <div>       The real power of the Tupperware party comes from a particular arrangement</div> <div>       that trades on the liking rule. Despite the entertaining and persuasive selling</div> <div>       skills of the Tupperware demonstrator, the true request does not come from this</div> <div>       strangers comes from a friend to every person in this room. (p. 137).</div> <div>  The effect of friendship-selling is a positive one. By doing this, the "attraction, the warmth, the security, and the obligation of a friendship are brought to bear on the sales setting" (Taylor, 1978). </div> <div>      Home Interiors, Tupperware and Mary Kay each advocates the creating of and manipulating of friendships in order to promote their products.  Home Interiors recommends that the Displayer establish a relationship with the guests and the hostess: "Create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance" (p. 25).  Home Interior's Hostess mail out small product catalog that display a sample of the products to be offered at the show.  On the cover of the catalog in bold letters are the words "You're Invited Please Come!".  Handwritten in a well marked box is the friends name and the date and time of the party.  The Displayer, the real "host" of the party, places a small stamp on the back of the catalog.  The impact is that of a personal invitation, not from a company, but from a friend.  Mary Kay and Tupperware similarly  uses this technique to invite guests to a home party.  It is a proven fact that consumers are persuaded to purchase from friends:</div> <div>      A fact of social interaction that each of us can attest to  is that people are more</div> <div>       favorably inclined toward the needs of those they know and like...One should be</div> <div>       more willing to comply with the request of friends or other liked individuals</div> <div>       (Cialdini, 1994, 206).</div> <div>         At each home party, the person who conducts the party is a friend and should be rewarded for her hospitality.  At the beginning of the party, an announcement is made that the hostess will receive points towards products earned through the total sales of the party  Guests are reminded how kind and gracious their friend is and what a wonderful favor that friend has done for them by inviting them to the party and giving them an exclusive opportunity to purchase quality products.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Here's a Gift--Now You Owe Me One</b></div> <div>      In his book, <U>Understanding Relationships</U>, Steve Duck discusses the provision of a relationship that focuses on physical support and assistance.  Simply stated, friends exchange gifts and affection with one another.  "Gift Giving as a one-way donation is rare and gift reciprocity is the norm, indicating that this serves an important relational function. Gift exchange serves the symbolic function of cementing and celebrating the relationship" (Cheal, 1986, p. 19). Because gift giving serves as a symbolic function of a relationship, the act of giving a free gift implies a friendly relationship as well as demands reciprocation.</div> <div>      Door prizes are given at these home parties.  The expectation is that those who are given a gift will feel an obligation to the friend who allowed them the opportunity to receive the gift.  The rule of reciprocity "developed to promote equal exchange between partners, it can be used to bring about unequal results" (Cialdini, 1993, p. 31). It is understood that friends strive to maintain equivalent exchange (Paine, 1969). Both tangible and intangible exchanges are made in a relationship Such a relationship can be cast in terms of a bargain.  A friend tries to keep up their end of the bargain (Paines, 1969). Those who receive a free gift from their friend will respond by keeping up there end of the bargain and ordering merchandise from the party. </div> <div>     Another way that gifts are used by the company representatives is to solicit hostesses.  When going to visit a perspective hostess, Home Interiors recommends taking a "goodie bag" that has a Hostess gift inside.  Later, at the party, the Hostess is again recognized and donned the "Star of the Show" and she is given a Dubonnet rose. This gift and the recognition in front of peers increases the liking that the Hostess feels for the company and the company representative which in turn leads to larger orders and more party bookings. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Why I'm Just Like You, Let Me Count the Ways</b></div> <div>      Experts agree that similarity has a great impact on receiver's judgments. Several studies have focused on what similarities have an impact on persuasion.  McCroskey, Richmond, and Daly (1975) broke similarity down into four critical dimensions--  Attitude (do they think like me?), morality (are their morals like mine?), background (are their social classes similar to mine?) , and appearance (do they look like me?)-- and found that perceived attitudes and morality were the most important.  Similarities between  the source and receiver seems to have the greatest persuasive impact (Simons, Berkowitz, & Moyer, 1970).  Brock (1965) found that customers were likely to buy from a sales person who showed a similar condition as the customers. In a sweeping statement Byrne mentions that we like people who are similar to us. Knowing this, those who attempt to gain certain compliance behaviors often create similarities and attempt to "mirror and match" their targets. Cialdini (1993) suggests that similar dress, similar interest, and claims of similar background are a few ways that similarity is accomplished. </div> <div>           Mary Kay teaches their beauty consultants to incorporate similarity into their repertoire of sales approaches.  The second step in the Mary Kay approach  is to "explore" the person by  asking probing questions. The answers offer information on similarities that can be pointed out by the salesperson.  The  <U>Consultant's Guide</U> suggests, "you begin building a common bond, identifying similar relationships, such as: 'Just like you, Mary, I grew up in a small town.  I met my husband when I went away to college'" (p. 11). The manual  advises sharing the Mary Kay opportunity and inviting the prospect to join the company and then closing with another personal (similarity building) comment: "My birthday is the same month as yours" (p. 11). </div> <div>      Tupperware uses similarity when trying to overcome objections.  It uses what is called the" feel, felt, found" method.  The handbook, <U>Tupperware Learning Systems</U> counsels the sales person to use one or the following scripts to empathize with the customer:</div> <div>      1.  I know how you feel. I felt that way myself. And then Tupperware expanded</div> <div>       into some innovative new product lines and I found that I could save time by</div> <div>       using      the new Crystal Wave microwave line.</div> <div>      2.  I know how you feel. Many of my customers feel the same way when I first</div> <div>       offered them a demonstration. But when they found that just by having a few</div> <div>       friends over after work they could qualify for free Tupperware products, some of</div> <div>       them reconsidered and became very successful hostesses (p. 23).</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>What Lovely Eyes You Have:</b></div> <div> <B>The Power of  Compliments</b></div> <div>      Another way liking is established is through compliments. Dale Carnegie (1936) in his book <U>How to Win Friends and Influence People,</U>  says "praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise" (p. 241).   Carnegie compares praise to "lathering a man before you shave him."  If you make a person feel good he contends, then you can persuade that person to your way of thinking. Cialdini (1993) says, "We have such an automatically positive reaction to compliments that we can fall victim to someone who uses them in an obvious attempt to win our favor" (p. 145).  Compliments increase the likelihood that the recipient will comply, regardless of the accuracy of the compliment.  Research reveals that  praise does not even have to be accurate to work (Drachman, deCarufel & Insko, 1978).  Even when the praise is probably untrue, people still tend to believe others when they compliment and praise them and as a rule, they like those who provide that praise (Byrne, Rasche, & Kelley 1974). </div> <div>      Mary Kay's <U>Consultant's Guide</U> lavishly uses compliments as a compliance gaining technique. When recruiting, the guide suggests that the consultant build rapport: "When you first arrive at your prospective recruits home, you'll want to shake her hand firmly and thank her for taking time to meet with you. <I> After paying her a sincere compliment,</I> you'll want to explain the objective of the interview"  (p. 9). During the pre-class coaching session,  the guide tells: "As you enter the hostess's home, <I>pay her a sincere compliment</I>" (p. 6). </div> <bR> <div>      Home Interiors' <U>Displayer Handbook,</U> also uses compliments.  In the section, "Phoning for an Appointment," Home Interiors recommends that the displayer identifying themselves followed by a compliment.  The following word choices are suggested "I'm calling you because, as you know, I am going into a new business and <I>I want you to be one of the first to hear about it!</I>" or "I would like <I>your opinion</I> about our accessories and brochures" (p. 16).  Each choice is designed to make the person feel complimented by the fact that their opinion is valued and they are exclusive in getting to hear about it first. Home Interiors' <U>Displayer Handbook</U> similarly also mentions, "compliment them on the qualities that made you choose them as a Prospective Hostess" (p. 15).</div> <div>    When the Home Interior Representative visits the Hostess house, the following phrase is advised: "Would you mind sharing your ideas and opinions with me? <I> I value your opinion</I>.  You see, I have noticed that you...(like to decorate, coordinate accessories well, use color with a flair, enjoy sharing hospitality in you home, etc.)" (p. 17). As the displayer talks to the customers during shopping time, the manual offers a compliment phrase for the Displayer to use: "I noticed you, (persons name), tonight you are just so (compliment)" (p. 33).   In coaching sessions with the Hostess, the Displayer is prompted by the manual to "give praise and recognition" (p. 23). </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Your Oh So Special To Me</b></div> <div>       Another way the hostesses and customers are influenced to like the company representatives is by the representatives using verbal means that make the individuals feel special.   Home Interiors' <U>Displayer Handbook</U> says that the first step to booking a party is interest.  It proposes that the Displayer ask questions and listen to cues about the person's family, home and lifestyle.  "The more questions you ask, the more you will learn about that person.  At the same time, you can really make that person <I>feel special</I>,  Everyone wants attention.  Everyone wants to <I>feel important</I>" (p. 13). After parties, the manual counsels the sales person to send Birthday, Christmas cards, and Open House Invitations: "Continue to make them <I>feel special </I>and appreciated" (p. 13). Another way the hostess is made to feel special is "to assure them that you will be bringing accessories that are right for their decor and colors--<I>especially for them</I>" (p. 15).  When coaching the hostess, the  manual recommends: "remember--people want to be lifted up, stimulated, pleasantly informed, and made to <I>feel special</I>."  During the shows the handbook proposes that the Displayers task is to "Make each person feel like <I>somebody special</I>" (p. 23). </div> <div>      Home Interiors uses this technique in other ways.  When recruiting bookings for future shows from amongst the guests some positive questions that center around the "special" theme are recommended. "Do you feel<I> you deserve</I> to have a beautifully decorated home"" "Do you feel it's time to do <I>something for you?" </I>"Would you like to wake up to see beautiful accessories that would make you <I>feel special?"</I> (p. 31).  After the show,  Home Interiors tells the Displayers to build relationships with hostesses and customers by thank you notes and "care calls." Both measures make the individual feel important and valued.  The care call script for the hostess goes as follows: "Hello (Hostesses name), this is (Your Name). I'm calling to thank you again for being my<I> very special hostess."</I> A care call to the customer goes as follows: "When you are ready to add to your grouping or have a gift occasion, please keep me in mind. I would <I>feel privileged</I> to serve your decorating needs" (p. 70).  When making a care call to a recruit prospect, Displayers are advised to include the following sentence: "I want to thank you again for your time and opinions<I> I value them</I> both" (p. 71).</div> <div>      Tupperware's <U>Consultant's Guide</U> lists five steps to sales success.  The first and most crucial step is to build rapport (p. 24).  Tupperware offers dialogues for new consultants that use the friendship technique:</div> <div>      1.  Rachael--you won't believe what I've done! I've stared a Tupperware business </div> <div>      and<I> I thought of you immediately." </I></div> <div>       2.  Hello Judy Do you have a few minutes to talk?  well, guess what? I've just</div> <div>       become a Tupperware Consultant. And as I was thinking about the reasons I</div> <div>       decided to do this,<I> I thought of you immediately.</I>  With all you contacts at work,</div> <div>       you'd be a very successful as a Consultant.? (p. 14). </div> <div> Home Interiors makes their hostess feel special by declaring them  the "Star of the Show."  Their manual acknowledges that hostesses they are the heart of the business and should be made to feel important.  The hostess is always offered exclusive products that are only offered to them alone.   Another way a hostess is elevated is during the hostess appreciation segment in the show.  The Hostess is acknowledged and read a poem of appreciation that builds the esteem of the Hostess and gives that individual a sense of importance:</div> <div>           <B>The Story of the Rose</b></div> <div>              God created the rose for woman.  </div> <div>           It represents beauty.</div> <div>           Its petals represent soft skin.</div> <div>           Its leaves represent outstretched arms, loving and giving.</div> <div>           Its stem represents strength.</div> <div>           I give this rose to you, for you are special to me.</div> <div>           Each time you look at the rose remember...</div> <div>           YOU are SOMEBODY</div> <div>           ...God doesn't take time to make a nobody</div> <div>                ( Displayer Handbook, 1993, p. 25).</div> <div> A personal thank you note is written on the back of this poem and  it is ceremoniously given to the hostess along with a Dubonnet rose.  Making the Hostess feel special will increase the chance of further bookings as well as create a special situation in which others will want to join.  The hope is that each guest in attendance will want to become a Hostess with all its special privileges.  </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Discussion</b></div> <div>      Tupperware, Home Interiors, and Tupperware are strong contenders in an embedded marketplace.  Their success is made possible by many sales applications that ride the peripheral route to persuasion.  Friendships are called upon and liking is created in what Cialdini calls the "professional exploitation" of the liking principle (Cialdini, 1993, p. 206).  Taylor says,  "Herein lies the secret of the party selling organization--'"ascription is cheap'" (Taylor, 1978,  p. 574.Mayhew, 1970, p. 308-323)  He explains that it is "analogous to the form of colonialism which extracted taxation by utilizing the existing tribal structure rather than developing its own grass roots system of administration and collection" (Taylor, 1978,  p. 574). The success of the home parties depends on  the general rules of reciprocity, liking, and friendship amongst friends, neighbors, and kin has been referred to as "organizational parasitism" (Taylor, 1978,  p. 574).   Company  representatives not only manipulate existing friendships but they also give gifts, offer compliments, draw out similarities, and make those involved feel special in order to create a relationship of friendship and liking with the Hostess and guests. These compliance gaining strategies all play on the very basic social/ belonging need (Maslow 1970).  The need to be accepted and liked and the automatic reaction that occurs when a person feels included, liked, and important.  </div> <div>     </div> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>References</U></b></div> <div> Arch, D. C. (1979) The development of influence strategy scaled in buyer-seller </div> <div>      interactions. In N. Beckwith, M. Houston, R. Mittelstaedt, K. B. 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In Shavitt, S. & Brock, T.C. <U>Persuasion: Psychological insights </U></div> <div> <U>     and perspectives. (pp.</U> 113-147). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. </div> <div> Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986) The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. </div> <div>           In L. Berkowitz (Eds.), <U>Advances in experimental social psychology </U>(Vol. 19,</div> <div>            pp. 123-205). New York: Academic Press.</div> <bR> <div> Petty, R.E., Cacioppo, J.T. & Goldman , R. (1981). Personal involvement as a </div> <div>           determinate of argument based persuasion, <U>Journal of Personality and Social</U></div> <div>           <U> Psychology, 41,</U> 847-855.  </div> <div> Robert, W.R. (Trans.). (1954). <U>Aristotle.</U> New York: Modern Library.  </div> <div> Soren, K.K. & Hawkins, G.J. (1967). The effects of variations in speaker's nonfluecy</div> <div>      upon audience ratings of attitude toward the speech topic and speaker's credibility.</div> <div>      <U>Speech Monographs, 34,</U> 58-64.</div> <div> Simons, H.W., Berkowitz, N.N. & Moyer, R.J. (1980). Similarity, credibility, and attitude                               </div> <div>      change: A review and a theory. <U> Psychological Bulletin, 73</U>, 1-16.</div> <div> Taylor, R. (1978). Marilyn's friends ans Rita's customers" A study of party selling as play</div> <div>       and as work. <U>Sociological Review, 26,</U> 573-611.</div> <div> <U>Tupperware learning systems: Step one your first week.</U> </div> <div> Wood, W. & Stagner, B. (1994) Why are some people easier to influence than others?.</div> <div>      in Shavit, S. & Brock, T.C. (Eds.) <U>Persuasion: Psychological insight and </U></div> <div> <U>     perspectives.</U>  (pp. 149-174). Boston: Allyn and Bacon</div> <div> Wright, P. (1966).  Attitude change under direct and indirect interpersonal influence.</div> <div>      <U>Human Relations, 19</U>, 199-211.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Special Thanks to:</div> <div>      Miranda Ames for supplying the Home Interiors and Gifts<U> Displayer Handbook</U>, Candy Burnett for providing the <U>Home Interiors and Gifts Merchandise Catalog,</U> Gina Davis for allowing me to videotape her Displayer presentation, Lisa Spencer for allowing me to come into her home and observe a Home Interiors presentation, Buffy Jackson for providing a Mary Kay Merchandise Catalog, Liz Burton for providing Mary Kay's <U>Conversations,</U> Susan Holmes for providing Mark Kay and Tupperware contacts ,Sheryl Kibat for providing <U>Tupperware Catalog</U> and <U>Tupperware Learning Systems</U> and providing Mary Kay's<U> Consultants Guide: Fundamentals, </U> and Mrs Ames for providing Avon handbook and catalogues (although the decision was made not to include them). </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>