USING INFLUENCE PRINCIPLES TO DETERMINE THE PERSUASIVE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF ONLINE COMMERCE USERS

Influence strategies to persuade users in online commerce exist but we lack guidance on how to select effective strategies that lead to compliance of persuasive requests. Despite studies indicating differences in individual susceptibility to persuasion and device being important factors, little consideration is given to them. Using mock daily deal sites, we use five of Cialdini's influence principles (authority, reciprocity, scarcity, liking, and consensus) to determine which are more persuasive, explore individual differences in susceptibility to influence principles, and compare them against stationary and mobile devices. In the context of online commerce, we find that our users perceived themselves as being generally more susceptible to reciprocity and scarcity principles but when compared to actual product selections, were more susceptible to reciprocity and authority. We also find evidence that scarcity principles may be more effective on mobile devices due to their pervasiveness and ability to support just-in-time messaging for expiring deals