What is concession?

Concession, or “the act of conceding,” is defined as:

1. The act or an instance of conceding (as by granting something as a right, accepting something as true, or acknowledging defeat).
2. The admitting of a point claimed in argument.

How Concession Works

The basics of concession can be broken down into four steps. Once we understand these, we have a better probability of resisting this tactic. So, what are the basics of concession and reciprocity? Let’s look at them from the viewpoint of a malicious actor.

1. Labeling the concessions. Malicious actors will make concessions to create the feelings of indebtedness in their targets. In doing so, the target will have a very hard time, psychologically, ignoring the urge to reciprocate.
2. Pressure to reciprocate. Now that the concession has been given by the attacker, there is a higher likelihood that the target will feel pressure to reciprocate with a similar act of giving.
3. Make contingent concessions. The idea of reciprocity is deeply ingrained in our minds. Most people feel that if someone does them a favor, then they should return that favor. Similarly, if someone is to make a concession, say in a negotiation or bargaining agreement, then the other party will instinctively feel obligated to “budge” a little bit too.
4. Make concessions in installments. The idea of reciprocity is deeply ingrained in our minds. Most people feel that if someone does them a favor, then they should return that favor. Similarly, if someone is to make a concession, say in a negotiation or bargaining agreement, then the other party will instinctively feel obligated to “budge” a little bit too.

Example of the Concession Process

As an example of this process, we can think about the famous con man Victor Lustig, he “sold” the Eiffel tower a number of times in his life.

He used the following process:

1. Labeling the concession. Once he had a target on the hook, he told them that he would tell them a secret, but they couldn’t share it with anyone else. It was of such high importance that he would concede to telling only them.
2. Pressure to reciprocate. Once the target heard the secret news, that the Eiffel tower was going to be scrapped and the cost of the metal was going to make someone very rich, they felt indebted to lean into the conversation and ask for more information. Many times, the targets would volunteer information like how wealthy they were or how much money they were able to invest.
3. Make contingent requests. Victor would then make statements alluding to how he can only let a few people into the investment pool, and that he wasn’t sure if it could be them. By using concession aligned with scarcity, he really reeled in the target.
4. Make concessions in installments. He would continually make concessions through meetings with his targets, until he successfully parted them from a very large sum of their money.

Clearly a bad actor, but an effective use of concession.