In business, you sometimes come across freebies.

A free cap. Or free dinner. Or free flight.

Or free pen.

There is so such as a free pen.

Everything comes with an expectation that you repay in someway.

It’s pure psychology: the reciprocation bias.

All humans feel indebted to anyone that gives them a gift.

Feeling indebted is not healthy in business.

When you come across a situation where you feel the need to return a favor, think twice about the possible consequences of accepting it in the first place.

You may think, for example, that someone offering you a free pen will not influence you at all, but there is an entire human history arguing otherwise.