Reciprocation is one of Robert Cialdini’s famous ‘weapons of influence’ and worth thinking about

Basically if someone does you a favour, you’re more likely to help them out too. Businesses already have lots of mechanics to make use of our reciprocal natures (the free gift, for example).

Maybe retailers should take this idea further and recruit loyal and influential customers to receive free stuff with some frequency. That way retailers can call in reciprocal favours… recommend us, introduce us to a friend, help us to build more reciprocal bonds with even more people…