Discuss the use of two compliance techniques.
Compliance
a form of social influence involving direct requests from one person to another
1. Foot-in-the-door technique
aims at increasing compliance with a large request by first asking people to go along with a smaller request
Freedman and Fraser (1966)
2. Lowballing
involves changing an offer to make it less attractive to the target person after this person has agreed to it
Burger and Cornelius (2003)
students were contacted by phone by a female caller and asked whether they would be prepared to donate 5 dollars to a scholarship fund for underprivileged students
a form of social influence involving direct requests from one person to another
1. Foot-in-the-door technique
aims at increasing compliance with a large request by first asking people to go along with a smaller request
Freedman and Fraser (1966)
- asked a number of householders in California to allow a big ugly public-service sign reading "Drive Carefully" to be placed in their front gardens, only 17% of the householders complied with this request
- a different set of homeowners was asked whether they would display a small "Be a Safe Driver" sign, nearly all of those asked agreed with this request
- two weeks later the same householders were asked to put up the big ugly sign (mentioned earlier), 76% complied
2. Lowballing
involves changing an offer to make it less attractive to the target person after this person has agreed to it
Burger and Cornelius (2003)
students were contacted by phone by a female caller and asked whether they would be prepared to donate 5 dollars to a scholarship fund for underprivileged students
Lowball condition
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Interrupt condition
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Control
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Conclusion:
- supports the view that lowball technique is based on the principle of commitment
- effective only when individuals make an initial public commitment