“He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” – Benjamin Franklin

You would ideally think that when you ask someone for a favor and they help you out, you owe them one. But if we are to go by The Ben Franklin effect named after Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of United States, there’s no reason for you to feel indebted because chances are they are more likely to repeat a favor for you for a second time, and actually develop a liking towards you. 😉

Ben Franklin effect states that a person who has already performed a favor for another, is more likely to do another favor for them than if they had received a favor from that person. (Two prerequisites to this phenomena are that it should be a small favor, and the person doing the favor should do it willingly, not coerced.)

This effect can be explained by a cognitive bias that develops after the first favor was done by you towards someone whom you previously disliked or felt neutral about. Our brains are unable to handle the cognitive dissonance of not liking the person and still doing a favor for them. To reduce the mental discomfort experienced by our minds owing to contradictory beliefs, the mind justifies the favor done by developing a liking for them.

Picture this, you happily oblige to write a positive review for a restaurant you visited, or a hotel you stayed at, after they ask you to drop a review online to boost their ratings. And once you have done that they jump up higher in the popularity charts inside your brain, making them your preferred choice, even if you felt pretty neutral about your dining, or staying experience before writing the review. You remember the experience on a more positive note than before because of the positive review you wrote for them.

This phenomenon can be seen widely in use in sales and marketing practices by businesses, retailers – asking for customer testimonials, feedback, surveys, chatbots on website asking questions to visitors. In their subsequent interactions after giving the feedback, filling up the survey, or answering the questions of the website chatbot people would feel certain affinity towards the brand. Sales professionals too, strategically ask for small favors to get a prospect warm up to them.

So the next time you encounter an intimidating co-worker or a neighbor who isn’t exactly cheerful type, initiate a conversation by asking for small favor. Making them acknowledge that they have something that you don’t can actually improve your likability! Isn’t that remarkable?