Today, millions of perfectly reputable and otherwise rational people charge purchases at interest rates that would be usurious ifconsumer credit were not exempted from laws preventing people with money from preying on people in need.
Social influence represents a profound change in the way we need to think about consumer behavior and decision making, but there are dozens if not hundreds of social strategies businesses can choose from, and the most lucrative are based on the power of connecting face-to-face.