RECIPROCITY

Reciprocity ~ 151 ~ RECIPROCITY When a certain tyre company of the western world was on the point of launching its goods on the market, it ran an advertising campaign which promised that “whoever demonstrated a real defect in the tyres would win a prize of $ 50,000.” People naturally flocked to buy them. If they found a defect, well and good. If not, they had nothing to lose, because they would actually have purchased a good set of tyres. The company did then actually receive a number of complaints of which 20 percent appeared to be genuine. The complainants were duly sent invitations to a seminar, their travelling expenses to be paid for by the company. This gave them the opportunity to air their respective views as to how the tyres could be improved. A concrete proposal was finally arrived at by consensus and rewards were distributed at the closure of the seminar. By taking into consideration the suggestions of its customers, the Company was able to improve upon the quality of the original tyre. Although the cost