Which is the compliance technique that is gained by starting with a large unreasonable request that is turned down and followed up with a more reasonable smaller request?

It is one of the techniques used by marketeers or people in general to get the target person to say "YES" . This topic is of more interest under the field of "consumer psychology".

Inhaltsverzeichnis Show

• What are the three techniques of compliance?
• Which technique of compliance is being used when a person first makes a large request and then after it has been refused makes a smaller request?
• What is compliance what techniques can be used for gaining compliance?
• What is the low ball technique?

Student at Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University

It is one of the techniques used by marketeers or people in general to get the target person to say "YES" . This topic is of more interest under the field of "consumer psychology".

MKT 386

Advertising Management

University of Miami

·      Fund-raisers, politicians, con artists, bosses, parents, ect.. and even professors use a variety of techniques to get consumers to say "yes"

·      Wording of their requests is crucial - timing is also important, as the window of opportunity when people may be susceptible to a request is narrow

·      Consumer psychologists use the term verbal compliance to describe

a situation where someone says "yes" to a specific request

describes a situation where someone actually carries out that request

·      Researcher Robert Cialdini conducted many pioneering scientific investigations of behavioral

compliance techniques and has uncovered numerous principles about their effectiveness

Robert Cialdini's seven key principles of behavioral influence are explained:

1. automaticity

2. commitment and consistency

3. reciprocity

4. scarcity

5. social validation

6. liking

7. authority

·      Understanding how seven key principles of behavioral influence

work helps consumers stay on guard against unwanted influence

is the cornerstone of all influence techniques- asserts that people often think mindlessly and as a result, behave automatically, without fully evaluating the consequences of a request

·      Ellen Langer finds that people typically spend

a large portion of their day in a mindless state

· Routine, habitual behaviors (like answering a text) are performed over and over with little conscious thought because

people don't have the time or resources to think carefully about everything they do

Only a few important behaviors receive careful consideration: others are

· People are more likely to comply with a small request if

you give them a real reason to comply, this is precisely what happened in the a classic field experiment conducted by Langer

Automaticity Principle

Study

·      Basic, control group ( no additional info was provided) compliance is high- "excuse me, I have 5 pgs, may I use the copy machine? (you're using it already)

·

"excuse me, I have 5 pgs, may I use the copy machine because I'm in a rush" compliance rates increase way more, - what's interesting is that when the word because was used without any real info (known as placebic info) compliance was similar to the second real info part of the study - placebic info is less compelling than real info

people tend to process small requests mindlessly, merely hearing the word because can be enough to trigger compliance- with mindless processing, people don't evaluate the specific reasons for a request, if they hear the word "because" they simply move forward with compliance

·      Because is a signal, for carrying out the request- not true if

they are asked a big favor- larger requests tend to encourage more purposeful thinking, which reduces the effect of the because heuristic

·      when people have a substantial request, ________________ info is the best strategy- in contrast, if a requests is relatively small, people tend to respond favorably simply by hearing the magic word ____________

·The because heuristic involves

the use of only one cue or piece of info- the word because, other potentially relevant pieces of info tend to be neglected

·      The rationale provided after the word because should be __________ people often ignore it as a result of ____________ they respond automatically

important,
mindless thinking-

the commitment and consistency principle

Inconsistencies often invite interpretations of personality flaws- this principle is

attempt to keep their relationships and attitudes consistent

People identify an inconsistency in their pattern of beliefs, they often change one or more beliefs to balance the system-

When people initially say "yes" to a request or offer, they are likely to continue to say "yes" to subsequent requests regarding the same topic or task- after complying with an initial small request people tend to comply with larger requests, and after initially saying "yes" to a deal, people tend to stick with their initial commitment-even if the deal- say yes once, say it always

Study shows that consumers' own self-prophecy can

Self-prophecy is founded on two psychological effects-

1. asking people to make predictions about socially influenced behaviors can cause people to respond as they think they should (wishfully)

2.  when later asked to perform those same behaviors, people tend to remain consistent with their predictions

·      Self-prophecy is founded on

two psychological effects-

The foot-in-the-door technique

making a small request followed by a larger one

·      Telemarketers, sales reps, ect- use this

The foot-in-the-door technique

First, make a small request- then comes the real pitch

The foot-in-the-door technique

telemarketers pretend to be survey researchers trying to get info about your likes then try to sell you the product, if you had known that the call was about selling you would have been more resistant

The foot-in-the-door technique

Sales reps know that those who placed small orders are likely to buy in larger quantities

o  Are these customers genuinely loyal to the cause or the product, or are they simply falling prey to the foot-in-the-door technique?

o  "Start small and build" foot-in-the-door tactics are surprisingly simple to recognize and dangerously effective

o  Look at the "neighborhood "drive carefully" sign example from class

The foot-in-the-door technique is not as effective

if the task or topic of the initial, small request is unrelated to the larger target request

People feel less connected to the original request and correspondingly their need to behave consistently ___________

·      The most widely accepted psychological explanation for the foot-in-the-door technique is based on

complying with a small request leads people to label themselves as helpful, good citizens or as reasonable people

MAIN POINT OF FOOT IN THE DOOR

Once people have labeled themselves as such, they have a strong desire to maintain this self-perception and they are likely to continue complying-

The foot-in-the-door technique is easy to apply- say : " will you do me a small favor?, "try a sample of this perfume" - all that is necessary to establish ___________________

They try to get an initial commitment, and then they change the deal

Car salespersons are notorious for their use of

First, the salesperson offers a consumer an attractive deal, then the consumer completes all the paperwork, falls in love with the car, but then learns that the car is actually more expensive than originally though

·      Once consumers commit to a deal, they tend to _____________

to stick with it, even when it is no longer as attractive

·   

Both the low-ball and foot-in-the-door techniques involve obtaining

initial compliance in hopes of engendering future compliance through mindless consistency- the tactics are slightly different

With the low-ball technique, after verbal commitment is obtained,

initially- only verbal compliance then behavioral compliance - students were asked to carry out only the target request

·      With the foot-in-the-door techniques, the deal does not change- instead

two separate behavioral requests are made

o  comply with two separate behavior requests- first small, then large

·      Both techniques are convincing

·      The low-ball technique is very effective because it works through

the principle of commitment and consistency

the purpose of obtaining an initial commitment is to impart resistance to change

·      People don't like to change their minds, it suggests

internal contradiction that creates psychological disharmony

The low-ball technique works by

first gaining closure and commitment to an idea or deal- when people become committed to a deal, they feel compelled to behave in such a way that maintains their consistency

Low-ball technique is effective when the initial agreement is a no-brainer- quick and easy

o  Obtaining public commitment is also crucial- people are especially resistant to change when others hear them agree to a deal

o  most powerful when people believe that they agreed to the initial request by their own free will

special case of the low-ball technique

Sometimes known as the lure procedure

o  - lures customers by advertising a low-priced product or service, customer discovers that the product is not available, the salesperson encourages them to purchase a substitute that costs more

Bait switch

o  Considered fraud if the supplied is not capable of actually selling the advertised product

o  If the seller is able to sell the advertised product, but simply chooses to aggressively promoted a competing product, no fraud exists

o  same principle as the low-ball technique- they become committed to the low-priced "bait," good deal is taken away, the customer feels uncomfortable and seeks to reduce this discomfort by accepting the "switch"

The Reciprocity Principle

When someone does you a favor, you feel obligated to return it in kind

·      Not just a principle of social etiquette also a surprisingly powerful influence technique- the problem is that people are often tricked into returning much larger favors than they receive

·      Happens with non-profits

·      Free samples, test-drives- try to get you to reciprocate by buying

The Door-in-the-Face Technique

: Following up a large, unreasonable request with a smaller, more sensible request usually improves behavioral compliance

·      Opposite the foot-in-the-door technique

The Door-in-the-Face Technique

·      The technique is sometimes referred to as "rejection followed by moderation"

The Door-in-the-Face Technique

·      Ex: selling an expensive 1,000$ warranty, getting told no, then offering 900$ one and told yes

·      Is the door-in-the-face technique more effective than simply making the target request up front?

The Door-in-the-Face Technique

·      The smaller request is a concession, and it often engender reciprocity - when someone tries to act reasonably with us, we feel compelled to reciprocate and act reasonable in return

·      EX: Contrast effect- asking college student to volunteer for two years at a detention center- responded NO

o  Then telling them to go for 2 hours to the zoo, they say yes

o  two hours seems small when contrasted with 2 years

o  provides evidence that the door-in-the-face technique does not operate through a simple compare and contrast effect

·      A separate group of students was asked the same thing but with different people- one person made the first request and a different the second reasonable request

·      This made the door-in-the-face technique less effective- reciprocity happens with the same person making the 2 requests

·      Which is more effective, the door-in-the-face technique or the foot-in-the-door technique- it depends

·      door-in-the-face technique was more effective than the foot in the door technique when there was no delay in the request, foot in the door technique outperformed the door in the face technique when the second request was delayed

·      Consumers feelings of reciprocity dissipate over time-

the rejection-then- moderation approach is only effective when the requests are close in time- start-small-and-build approach is effective regardless of the timing of the requests

Labeling oneself as helpful and compliant apparently has more long-lasting consequences than

does reciprocity - these two multiple-request techniques operate by different psychological processes

The That's-Not-All Technique

·      Infomercials and shopping networks are notorious for applying this technique to drowsy viewers at 3 am - opposite of the low-ball technique, the that's-not-all technique starts high and builds in a downward fashion

The That's-Not-All Technique

·      The initial deal is changed into an even better deal before the consumer has an opportunity to reject the first offer, longer before the consumer can generate counterarguments, extra gifts, deeper discounts, and more attractive financing are incrementally added to the original offer

o  Ex: today only the Ginsu Stainless Block set has been reduced from 129 to 89, order today and get a free pair of kitchen shears, and if you order with a credit card now, we'll make the first payment for you

The That's-Not-All Technique

The that's-not-all technique invokes

with each increment, the sponsor appears to be offering a better and better deal, the customer feels an increasing obligation to comply in response to these concessions- all part of a social norm (a general rule of behavior

·      Professor Jerry M. Burger- tested the effectiveness and underlying causes of

the that's-not-all technique

·      Ex: part 1: selling cookies for 75 cents and then giving them two other ones- group a: tell them what they're getting right away group b: that's-not-all tactic used

part 2: reducing the price rather than adding a free product to the deal, group b: (that's-not-all group) change the price before they even have a chance to say "no" to the original price group a: tell them up front

people comply more with the

that's-not-all condition over telling them up front what they're going to get

·      similar to the door-in-face technique, the that's-not-all tactic works by

seducing customers into a negotiating situation- the seller has come down from the original price or improved the deal with an additional product

·      Customers often feel an obligation to

reciprocate the sellers negotiating actions and purchase the product

·      The contrast effect is not

driving customers decision

A perceived bargain cannot account for

the effectiveness of the that's-not-all technique

·      If reciprocity is the underlying motive for both the that's-not-all and the door-in-the-face techniques, which tactic is superior?

higher compliance in the that's-not-all condition of a study

·      Two important lessons to learn from Professor Burger's field studies

1. that's-not-all technique operates through the principle of reciprocity- consumers can avoid unnecessary feelings of reciprocity by focusing only on the final deal- without considering the incremental offers

2. similar to the because heuristic, that's-not-all technique is only effective when consumers behave relatively mindlessly- consumers can avoid the negative consequences of mindless behavior by concentrating on real info

The Multiple-Deescalating-Requests Technique

involves more than 2 requests - gives you a chance to decide if you want the offer or not

The Multiple-Deescalating-Requests Technique Differs

from the that's-not-all technique in that once a request is refuse, additional requests follow-one after the other- until one is finally accepted

Multiple-deescalating- requests technique can be effective in the context

of university fund raising- donate 1000-no, 900, no, 500 yes

· 

The Multiple-Deescalating-Requests Technique is more effective

than presenting statistical info about typical donating levels

The Even-a-Penny technique

·      Even-a-penny technique:

involves the legitimization of trivial contributions (penny, dollar, an hour of your time

·      Research shows that 

The Even-a-Penny technique

approach can be effective in

increasing compliance rates without decreasing the average amount donated by contributing individuals in fund-raising efforts

·      The even-a-penny technique does not sacrifice

dollar contributions for higher compliance rates

· 

The reciprocity-based technique appears to be equally effective in

both face-t-face and telemarketing contexts

people often want what they cannot have, or that may not be available in the future

·      Valuable objects are rare this logic is known as

Affirmation of the consequent

Affirmation of the consequent:

or confusion of the inverse

Marketers limit supply or production, distribution intensity, government prohibition

·      Telling us not to do something makes the behavior more

desirable- DARE (drug abuse resistance education) programs aimed at reducing teenage smoking and alcohol consumption has been criticized because of this

·      Censorship can increase

·      Reducing availability increases

The Social Validation Principle

Shopping networks show a digital count of the number of united sold along with the time remaining until the product sells out

Social validation principle

: aka "proof in numbers"- maintains that the perceived validity or correctness of an idea increases as the number of people supporting the idea increases

·      The opinions of other people can be extremely informative, especially

under conditions of ambiguity or uncertainty

·      Presenting a list of supporters or donors to a prospect is known as the

list technique - increases

social validation principle

·      Ex: Many witness watching someone getting beaten and do not do anything. why?

o  The behavior is normal, people are less likely to help a person when many other people are present - if no one else seems alarmed people will think that he/she doesn't need help- it will snowball to everyone watching

diffusion of responsibility

everyone assumes that someone else is taking responsibility so no one does anything.  

o  People are more likely to help  when

they perceive themselves to be the only person available to help- the responsibility of helping the person in need cannot be diffused

·      People observe and model the behavior of others-

peer pressure and conformity on consumers perceptions of what is correct can be powerful

Cultural and Individual Differences

·      High self-monitoring individuals (those who are highly sensitive and responsive to social cues) are more susceptible to social influence than are low self-monitors

·      Individuals from collectivist (vs individualistic cultures) are also

more given to social influence

·      Individualistic cultures define themselves as

independent from groups and focus on personal goals- Western cultures- N. America and Western Europe

·      Collectivist cultures define themselves in terms of

group membership and emphasize group goals, more responsive to social influence- Eastern cultures, Japan, S. Korea, China

Injunctive versus Descriptive Norms

·      Class example of Indian littering commercial

·      Ad contains features that may encourage behavior opposite of that supported by the sponsors

serve as important behavioral guidelines for a culture

involve perceptions of which behaviors are common or popular- what is everyone is doing

Injunctive versus Descriptive Norms

ex

·      Ex: crowded stores, excited customers, declaring their brands to be "best sellers" marketers are implying that their products are desirable

involve perceptions of which behaviors are accepted or rejected by society

·      While descriptive norms tells us what is done, injunctive norms tells us

·      Injunctive norms motivate us with

social rewards for appropriate behavior and social punishment for inappropriate actions-

social rewards for appropriate behavior and social punishment for inappropriate actions-

both kinds of norms motivate human action because people tend to do what is popular and what society approves

·      The 2 norms could be potential competitors,

descriptive norms pulling consumers in one direction and injunctive norms tugging the other way

featuring a littered environment, the audience may simply interpret the message as validating their belief that everyone litters- if the ad focuses more on the undesirable behavior you may push someone more towards it

Flyers example about littering from class

o  Littering in a dirty garage- littering won't do much additional damage here, it's already a mess

o  the descriptive norm (everyone litters) overpowers the injunctive norm (littering is wrong)

o  Watching someone litter in a clean place- makes the injunctive norm more powerful

o  Focus messages on the desired outcome because if not they run the risk of emphasizing the descriptive norm  over the injunctive

·      Current smoking campaigns run parallel to the Keep America Beautiful Campaign (Indian littering commercial from class)

both emphasize the common, descriptive norms over the prescriptive, injunctive norms

·      Descriptive norms win in this case

simple, we tend to comply with requests of those whom we like- the more an individual likes you, the more power you have over him/her- your overall social power is propionate to the number of people who like you

·      The formula for the liking principle rests on 4 primary factors:

1. familiarity

2.attrativeness

3.similarity

4. ingratiation

o  mere exposure effect suggests that the more familiar we become with an object, the more we like it- explains why an initially unfamiliar stimulus such as a new song become more likeable over time- we like familiar people

o  We automatically assume attractive people to be smart, kind, and honest

o  The halo effect suggests that we may over-generalize, assuming that one positive trait (physical attractiveness) implies the presence of many other positive traits

o  Marketers attend to latest fashions to appear attractive- well groomed female job candidates can receive more favorable hiring decisions

o  These people are more likely to receive more help in times of need than are less atrractive people- greater social advantage

o  We automatically assume attractive people to be

o  The halo effect suggests

that we may over-generalize, assuming that one positive trait (physical attractiveness) implies the presence of many other positive traits

o  Marketers attend to latest fashions to appear

attractive- well groomed female job candidates can receive more favorable hiring decisions

o  These people are more likely to receive more help in times of need than are less atrractive people- greater social advantage

o  People tend to like others who are similar to themselves in terms of appearance, attitudes, opinions, lifestyle ect ect - the opposite is also true, we tend to dislike those who are dissimilar to us

o  A trivial association between individuals can have a persuasive influence in a sales context- having the same birthday as the sales rep may make you have a more favorable attitude of this person and raise chances of purchase

o  Rapport is established this way with customers

A trivial association between individuals can have a persuasive influence in

a sales context- having the same birthday as the sales rep may make you have a more favorable attitude of this person and raise chances of purchase

a tactic commonly used to engender liking- purposefully bringing oneself into the good graces of another person

o  We tend to like those who like us and give us compliments

o  Even when consumers know they are being flattered they still like the flatterer - doesn't have to be accurate to work

o  Should be subtle

o  Remembering the clients name influences

o  Ingratiation is not a panacea-

can backfire if the ingratiator goes too far with the flattery making it inappropriate

o  Some tactics include: compliments about someone to a 3rd party, agreeing with someone only after expressing some initial resistance, and performing useful favors

o  Creating indirect associations:

to a positively evaluated stimulus (such as a popular university, sports team, or brand) can also increase liking for the stimulus

o  When our team wins we bask in reflected glory-

called BIRGing- a victory feels like a personal triumph

o  When they lose- we tend to disassociate from the brand or cut off reflected failure-

o  People also like to be the first to communicate good news

§  Affect transfer: classical condition- occurs when the positive affect (feelings) created by an unconditioned stimulus becomes associated with a conditioned stimulus

§  Advertisers are famous for this by creating drama in an ad

§  People are reluctant to communicate bad news because can be indirectly associated with the communicator

§  The tendency to keep mum about unpleasant message is called the

MUM effect is more pronounced when

future contact with the message recipient is anticipated because communicators are concerned about the consequences of their message

classical condition- occurs when the positive affect (feelings) created by an unconditioned stimulus becomes associated with a conditioned stimulus

authority figures use titles, clothes (uniforms), or expensive possessions that convey status to impress and influence others

·      Why do people comply with the requests of police officers, physicians, ect?

·      Disobeying authority figures can produce obvious

·      Milgram concluded that ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, are astonishingly obedient to authority

·      Usually consumers comply, the cost of disobeying can be greater than the cost of complying

What are the three techniques of compliance?

Which technique of compliance is being used when a person first makes a large request and then after it has been refused makes a smaller request?

What is compliance what techniques can be used for gaining compliance?

What is the low ball technique?