A Tupperware party is genius because it has so many great persuasion tips in its very fabric.
Clear examples of this are gifts, social proof, and the need to be consistent.
And as usual: Do not think that all this is an accident.
It seems like other multi level marketing schemes have picked up on this too.
I mean, my wife could tell you all about the relational aspects of it. But plain and simple, she would rather buy from a friend than the steryotypical rude girl at the makeup counter. Clearly she is not alone in this. MLM works for a reason.
Understand: All of this works on you. Even if you see it coming.
The clearest illustration I know of the professional exploitation of the liking rule is the Tupperware party, which I consider the quintessential American compliance setting. Anybody familiar with the workings of a Tupperware party will recognize the use of the various weapons of influence we have examined so far: reciprocity (to start, games are played and prizes won by the partygoers; anyone who doesn’t win a prize gets to reach into a grab bag for hers so that everyone has received a gift before the buying begins), commitment (each participant is urged to describe publicly the uses and benefits she has found in the Tupperware she already owns), and social proof (once the buying begins, each purchase builds the idea that other, similar people want the product; therefore, it must be good).
-Robert Cialdini, Influence
