It’s my goal to conduct a number of experiments to increase my understanding of influence.

For my first experiment I decided to test the results of Chiarella’s article: that people respond easily (and positively) to a gesture.

I brought a pair of jeans to a local seamstress to get repaired. It was near closing when I walked in but I was told that they could do it before they left for the day; that it would take 10 min.

I said that was great and mentioned that I was heading to Tim Hortons to grab a coffee and that I would be right back. As I stepped out of the shop I puposefully paused and poked my head back into the store and asked if I could get either of them a coffee. They stopped, smiled and said thanks but they were alright.

I came back a few minutes later and was greeted with a friendly conversation. We chatted while they finished the work. As they approached the register with the repaired jeans I reached for my wallet. Hands were waved, big smiles appeared, and they exclaimed that there was no charge. Sweet. The small gesture saved me a few bucks and produced a friendlier conversation. Not too bad. I’m going to keep up the small gestures, I’ll let you know what I observe.

[Bonus: Tim Hortons has handled their brand so well that they are becoming synonymous with Canada to Canadians. So much so that our mint is distributing certain coins exclusively through the chain!]

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