I need you to answer 3 discussion posts and state whether you agree or disagree.

1. This question is a hard one for me because I am not easily persuaded because of experience, but I got caught in the consensus trap, and out came my credit card I spent my money on a hair product. My hair is thick, coarse, and very curly. I saw an ad online with a group of people saying how great a comb was that will soften any hair. At the time I got anxious after every wash day, still do after seeing the results online and the feedback given by other customers, I decided to buy this product. It did soften my hair but damaged it because of the heat. Another example of how consensus was used to try and persuade me was to join a group of people who claim they make money by staying home and running an online business. There were examples given of gold, silver, and platinum member who was perceived to be the best in the business. Now this group of people who I think tried to solicit me to make a one-time payment for startup and everything would flow after payment, later said I would have to buy the products from the business to be successful. I truly believe that this was an unethical approach of manipulation or in other terms scamming taking place.

2. Well, I can say that I am quite easily persuaded. Action motivating closing persuasion catches me often. Grocery shopping is the most common one for me. Taglines like "buy one get one free" or "buy 1 for $4.99/ 2 for $8" will get me to buy two of something most often because I want to get the "deal". Even though I am spending more now, I feel justified because I will have saved myself money in the long run by making the purchase now. I will catch myself impulse buying an item because that the cashier might have pointed out, even though I might not need it but the price was such a discount I bought it anyway.

I also will be persuaded by the power of consensus. If other people have tried it and can offer an endorsement, then I will take their word for it. If I was on the fence about a certain item, and I seek feedback from others and they are in favour, it will typically find myself persuaded to purchase that item. Taking others advice is a good "check" for me.

Most recently, I went to the cell phone dealer to upgrade my phone. I knew which phone I wanted and there was a deal on the phone. I was very excited to get this done. When the deal was all put into the computer, the salesperson went to the back to get the product, she came and said "well, we have this one - same model and colour that you wanted but it has the bigger memory and this is the only one left. This will increase your plan now an additional $10 per month" She gave me an option to stick with what we had discussed but I would have to leave without the phone and wait for them to ship me the one that I wanted. Because, I wanted the phone at that time and worried about how long it would take to get the new phone to me, I caved and went with the phone that was there. She could have had more in stock and she used the tactic to get me to increase my plan or maybe she was being honest - either way, she got me to spend additional money because of the power of persuasion and the principle of scarcity. I didn't want to miss out.

3. This summer I was looking for a new to me vehicle, so I decided to look at a dealership that a friend of mine works at. I took the vehicle for a test drive with no intention of purchasing from that particular dealer as I was only shopping around. After the test drive, he decided that he would just give me numbers as to what interest rates would apply and how the payments would be. After some persuasion and thinking it was a great deal, I thought I would be getting I decided to take the further steps in purchasing. Approximately three weeks after I had my vehicle, a noise had started. I returned to the dealer for them to have a look at the vehicle but was given no diagnosis as to what or where the noise was coming from. I decided to take the vehicle to get a second and third opinion at another garage with still no diagnosis. This was a purchase that I am regretting as the noise is still present and I am going into my fourth month with this vehicle.

This business used the principles of reciprocity as the salesman being a friend and offering some great initiatives if I took the deal he was offering, along with scarcity, as he made me feel I needed to act immediately before someone else made the purchase and I lost out on a great vehicle that came with the add-ons that came with the purchase.