Hidden Persuaders: Do Small Gifts Lubricate Business Negotiations?

Hidden Persuaders: Do Small Gifts Lubricate Business Negotiations?

Gift-giving customs are ubiquitous in social, political, and business life. Legal regulation and industry guidelines for gifts are often based on the assumption that large gifts potentially influence behavior and create conflicts of interest, but small gifts do not. However, scientific evidence on the impact of small gifts on business relationships is scarce. We conducted a natural field experiment in collaboration with sales agents of a multinational consumer products company to study the influence of small gifts on the outcome of business negotiations. We find that small gifts matter. On average, sales representatives generate more than twice as much revenue when they distribute a small gift at the onset of their negotiations. However, we also find that small gifts tend to be counterproductive when purchasing and sales agents meet for the first time, suggesting that the nature of the business relationship crucially affects the profitability of gifts. This paper was accepted by John List, behavioral economics.

There is a paucity of literature examining the perceptions of Canadian pharmacists toward drug promotion by the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacist-industry interactions. To determine whether hospital pharmacists perceive their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry as influencing their clinical decision-making or that of their colleagues and whether hospital pharmacists perceive that interactions with the pharmaceutical industry create a conflict of interest. A cross-sectional survey of the complete sample of hospital pharmacists practising in 3 large health authorities in a single Canadian province was conducted from February to April 2010. A total of 224 responses were received from the approximately 480 pharmacists in the target health authorities (response rate approximately 47%). Fifty-eight percent of respondents (127/218) did not believe that information received at industry-sponsored events influenced their clinical decision-making. Most (142/163 [87%]) disagreed that small gifts influenced their clinical decision-making, whereas responses were divided for large gifts. Respondents were also divided on the issue of whether their interactions created conflicts of interest, with most of those who had received gifts agreeing that large gifts would create a conflict of interest (134/163 [82%]) whereas small gifts would not (100/163 [61%]). There were positive correlations between respondents' beliefs about their own susceptibility to influence from sponsored events or receipt of small or large gifts and the susceptibility of others, but 22% of respondents (28/127) expressed a different perception about sponsored events, all believing themselves to be less influenced than their colleagues. Only 6% (4/64) of those who received large gifts and 4% (5/142) of those who received small gifts and felt they were not influenced by these gifts reported that it was likely others would be influenced by the receipt of such gifts. Most hospital pharmacists who responded to this survey had attended industry-sponsored events, and the majority felt that it did not influence their clinical decision-making, despite recognition that the information received is unbalanced. Respondents were divided on the notion of whether these interactions led to conflicts of interest. Respondents generally felt that large and small gifts had different effects on influence and conflict of interest.

The spermatophore transferred by male decorated crickets ( Gryllodes sigillatus ) includes a large gelatinous mass, the spermatophylax, that is consumed by the female after mating. This nuptial gift preoccupies the female while sperm are discharged from the remaining portion of the spermatophore, the sperm ampulla, into her reproductive tract. There is considerable variation in the mass of the spermatophylax, and about half of all males produce spermatophylaxes that are too small to ensure complete sperm transfer. We tested two hypotheses concerning the maintenance of this variation: (i) males trade–off investment in spermatophylaxes against copulation frequency; and (ii) males synthesize the largest spermatophylaxes of which they are physiologically capable. Males synthesizing large and small food gifts were permitted multiple mating opportunities with the same females, and allozyme markers were used to establish the paternity of offspring. There was a significant advantage to those males that mated first irrespective of gift size. This advantage probably arose, in part, because the sperm of first males would have had exclusive access to female9s eggs during the first 24 hours of oviposition, and underscores the benefits of matings with virgin females. The paternity of ‘small–gift’ males increased with gift mass, but there was no such increase in ‘large–gift’ males. This difference probably stems from the relationship between gift mass and sperm transfer: most of the gifts of the large–gift males would have been above the threshold needed to achieve complete inseminations, whereas those of small–gift males would have been below the threshold. Within mating–order positions, there was no significant difference in the paternity of large–gift and small–gift males, a result seemingly consistent with the ‘trade–off’ hypothesis. However, there was no correlation between spermatophylax mass and male mating frequency, so that the mechanism by which small–gift males offset their fertilization disadvantage remains unknown.

This study reports data from a field experiment that was nconducted to investigate the relevance of gift-exchange for charitable ngiving. Roughly 10,000 solicitation letters were sent to potential donors nin the experiment. One third of the letters contained no gift, one third ncontained a small gift and one third contained a large gift. Whether a npotential donor received a letter with or without a gift was randomly ndetermined. We observe strong and systematic effects from including gifts. nCompared to the no gift condition, the relative frequency of donations nincreased by 17 percent if a small gift was included and by 75 percent for na large gift. Consequently, including gifts was highly profitable for the ncharitable organization. The contribution of this paper is twofold: first, nit shows that reciprocity is an important motive for charitable giving, in naddition to the warm-glow motive. Second, the paper confirms the economic nrelevance of reciprocity by using field data. This extends the current body nof research on reciprocity, which is almost exclusively confined to nlaboratory studies.

Charitable Giving as a Gift Exchange - Evidence from a Field Experiment

Charitable Giving as a Gift Exchange Evidence from a Field Experiment

This study reports evidence from a field experiment that was conducted to investigate the relevance of gift exchange in a natural setting. In collaboration with a charitable organization, we sent roughly 10,000 solicitation letters to potential donors. One-third of the letters contained no gift, one-third contained a small gift, and one-third contained a large gift. Treatment assignment was random. The results confirm the economic importance of gift exchange. Compared to the no gift condition, the relative frequency of donations increased by 17 percent if a small gift was included and by 75 percent for a large gift. The study extends the current body of research on gift exchange, which is almost exclusively confined to laboratory studies.

In some species of insects males transfer a gift to females during courtship or copulation. In the dance flies these nuptial gifts vary from nutritious prey items to inedible tokens such as a leaf, stone, or silk balloon. Nuptial gifts in dance flies are presumed to increase male mating success. We examined the strength and form of sexual selection on male Rhamphomyia sulcata, an empidid in which males provide females with a nutritious prey item as a nuptial gift. We found that whereas large males carried large gifts, neither large males nor gifts were targets of sexual selection. Indeed, correlational selection analysis and nonparametric examination of the fitness surfaces revealed that small males carrying small gifts were the most successful. Males may be more maneuverable or flight efficient with small gifts, or small males with large gifts may be unable to carry both a large gift and a female in the paired descent flight. These results suggest carrying constraints may be an important factor in determining selection on nuptial gift size. The largest target of sexual selection was old males. Old males were also paired with the largest and most fecund females, highlighting the role mate quality can further contribute to selection on males. Correlational selection analysis also revealed selection for an increase in covariance between male wing length and body size, and for an increase in slope between these traits. Males who deviate away from the optimal phenotypic relationship for two tightly related morphological traits, such as tibia and wing length, may have overall reduced performance. These findings highlight the role correlational sexual selection can play in optimizing nonsexual male morphology and scaling relationships. This study questions the role of the nuptial gift in dance flies as a resource for females.

Two experiments were carried out to explore an anger-reducing strategy based on Brehm's emotional intensity theory. According to this theory, anger can be reduced indirectly by interfering with the feeling of anger rather than by dealing directly with the source of anger. One strategy involves providing the angered person with a reason for feeling happy. We predicted that anger intensity would be reduced not only by a large reason for feeling happy, such as a large gift, but also by a small reason, like a tiny gift. A medium-size gift was expected to maintain anger at approximately its instigated level. Both experiments instigated anger by personal insult and then measured the intensity of felt anger and retaliation after either no further treatment, or a small, a moderate, or large irrelevant gift was presented. The results for felt anger and retaliation confirmed our theoretical expectations.

TikTok has become a primary platform for Generation Z's political information consumption. The algorithmic mechanisms of the For You Page and live battles, combined with in-app gift features, create a unique dynamic where entertainment merges with political partisanship. This phenomenon shows that polarization is not only a result of algorithmic filters but also of digital rituals full of symbols and emotions. This article explains how TikTok's algorithms and gift features operate as social mechanisms that limit informational diversity and reinforce political polarization among Generation Z. Using a qualitative approach, the study conducted a thematic analysis of political live battle videos and in-depth interviews with eight Generation Z participants (18-24) in Bandar Lampung. The analysis highlights algorithmic curation patterns, the dynamics of gift-giving, and Generation Z's perceptions of political content. The study found that partisan content dominates live battles, with large gifts given by pro-candidate accounts as political support, while small gifts are used by ordinary viewers. Participants watched these battles more for entertainment than for information, yet they were consistently exposed to political partisanship. The findings demonstrate that TikTok's algorithm and gift economy jointly construct a digital political space based on emotion and symbols rather than substantive discussion. This study confirms that Generation Z's political polarization is rooted in both algorithmic curation and the logic of digital entertainment mobilized by political supporters.

Objective: To determine the awareness and attitudes of the Pakistani population regarding physician–pharmaceutical company interactions. Methods: The data were collected from primary health care clinics and pharmacy outlets located within cities of six randomly selected districts of the Punjab Province. Those individuals (age ≥18 years) who have just completed their visit to the physician and well understand Urdu language were approached. Descriptive analysis was performed for all variables by using SPSS (IBM version 26). Results: A total of 3,852 participants fully completed the study out of 4,301 (response rate 89.5%). Of those, 30.9% were female; two-thirds (66.7%) were aware of drug representatives’ visits to clinics. The majority were aware of pharmaceutical company material presence (or absence) in the physicians’ rooms (56.6%), company items with logos (66.8%), patient education materials (73.4%), and 60.8% thought that receiving gifts from companies was “wrong/unethical” practice for physicians, which was lower in comparison to other professions such as judges to accept gifts from lawyers (65.6%) and professional sports umpires to acknowledge gifts (64.3%). A minority said that they have lower trust on physicians for using drug company notepads or pens (16.7%), going on trips sponsored by the company (16.7%), accepting gifts <15,000 PKR (90.3 US$) (26.7%), and accepting gifts >15,000 PKR (90.3 US$) (40.0%). Conclusion: Survey participants were well aware of physician–pharmaceutical company interactions. Participants were more knowledgeable regarding the pharmaceutical company presence (or absence) in physicians’ offices than about gift-related practices of physicians. Trust on the physician was not affected by small gifts but by the large gifts.

Objectives—To study the attitudes of health care staff in four postcommunist countries towards taking gifts from their clients—and their confessed experience of actually taking such gifts. Design—Survey questionnaire administered to...

Trade activities between countries have become the main way of economic activities, and it is inevitable to conduct business negotiations when conducting trade activities. People usually only pay attention to the negotiation skills, but do not pay too much attention to the expression of language. However, language, tone and behavior will affect the negotiations and produce different negotiation results. Therefore, this paper studies the relationship between language expression and the outcome of transnational business negotiations by collecting real cases about the influence of language arts on the outcome of negotiations and making a specific analysis of the cases. Studies have found that cultural differences between different countries will produce different behaviors in business negotiations, the tone of the negotiation will also affect the outcome of the negotiation, and whether to listen carefully will also make the negotiating parties have different psychological feelings, and ultimately affect the success of the negotiation. Therefore, language arts play a very important role in cross-border trade and business negotiations.

In Hungary, since January 1st, 2021, the giving and acceptance of all forms of informal payments constitute a crime, except for gifts of a value of no more than 5% of the minimal monthly salary. While in the case of physicians, a pay rise compensates the loss of revenue, we hardly have data on the nurses' attitude in relation to the acceptance of informal payments. We intend to uncover the situation of informal payments at the end of 2020 and to examine the effects of the new legal regulation, based on information from nurses. In the fall of 2020, we questioned 167 nurses in the Albert Szent-Györgyi Health Center of the University of Szeged, Hungary, in order to highlight the motivations, forms, circumstances, and sums of informal payments. We analyzed the results by means of descriptive statistical methods, with special regard to the differences among surgical, internal medical and pediatric fields. We analyzed the results with a view to the new legal regulations. Out of 167 respondents, 93 work in operative field, 54 in internal medical care, and 18 in pediatric care. Besides gratitude, corruption appeared in all the three fields, however, pediatric care was the least touched by corruption. Gifts of a higher value are rare, however, small gifts are common. The respondents received 10851 HUF (i.e., 36 USD) as informal payment from in-patients after one week, while, occasionally, 5326 HUF (i.e., 18 USD). The sums - similarly to informal payments to physicians - vary from field to field in healthcare. In the surgical field, the sums surpassed the new legal limit. Informal payments are given in private healthcare more rarely than in public healthcare. Informal payments given outside the workplace hardly ever occur. The informal payment with the goal of corruption is present in the sphere of nurses, however, it is not typical. The criminal sanctioning of informal payments to nurses is not compensated by a pay rise similar to that of physicians. The fact that informal payments are substituted by gifts results in loss of revenue in all fields of healthcare, however, this loss is the most salient in the surgical field. The criminal sanctioning is not sufficient to eliminate informal payments in Hungary; further socio-political measures are to be taken with the goal to change the attitude of healthcare workers and patients. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(41): 1658-1668.