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The Nature of the First Small Request as a Decisive Factor in the Effectiveness of the Foot‐in‐the‐Door Technique
Author(s) -
Dolinski Dariusz
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
applied psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1464-0597
pISSN - 0269-994X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-0597.2011.00477.x
Subject(s) - foot (prosody) , perception , psychology , computer science , computer security , social psychology , cognitive psychology , philosophy , linguistics , neuroscience
In the literature on the foot‐in‐the‐door technique it is usually assumed that the first of the two sequentially posed requests should not be extremely easy (trivial). An uncomplicated request would not activate self‐perception mechanisms which, as it is commonly understood, lie behind the effectiveness of the technique. This article proposes that when the initial request is exceptional or odd, then even if it is easy and is fulfilled by nearly everyone it will still enhance people's inclination to fulfill the subsequent, much more complicated request. This assumption was verified in three experiments.