Social Influence

Compliance Compliance- getting people to say yes to a request Principles underlying compliance friendship/liking- “she seems genuine and nice” commitment/consistency- “I’m committed to the cause” scarcity- “only one left” reciprocity- “she helped me so I should return favor” consenus - “everyone else is doing it” authority- “he seems legitimate” Different types of tactics leverage these different principles 4 11 10

Compliance Techniques Tactics based on liking ingratiation- enhance self or flatter target personal appeals - appeal to feelings of loyalty, friendship Tactics based on commitment/consistency foot-in-the-door- small request followed by larger one lowballing- changing the deal midstream Hard to say no to someone we like C’mon, I’ll be your best friend. Or After all we’ve been through together… Commitment/Consistency Foot-in-the-door Freedman and Fraser Asked homeowners if they would install big ugly “Drive Carefully” billboards on their front lawns 1st group 17% said yes 2nd group 76% said yes In the 2nd group, another volunteer had come by a couple of weeks earlier and asked if people would display little 3in be a safe driver sticker in window (almost all said yes) Toy companies and the Furby phenomena You promise your kid a Furby for Christmas but supply is low and demand is high – can’t get one Buy kid a bunch of other toys Buy a Furby after Christmas when they are miraculously available Lowballing Car salesman in Fargo “Let me check with the manager” 4 11 10

Compliance Techniques 2 Tactics based on reciprocity door-in-the-face- large request followed by smaller one “that’s not all”- sweeten the deal midstream Tactics based on scarcity playing hard to get- suggesting item is scarce (valuable) deadline technique- limited time to buy Door in the face Boy scout and chocolate bar Scarcity – inversion table example Deadlines Going out of business sales House hunting Mormon Temples

Compliance Techniques 3 Tactics based on mood Negative mood negative state relief hypothesis - The idea that people engage in certain actions, such as agreeing to a request, in order to relieve negative feelings and to feel better about themselves good mood- More likely to comply prime happy thoughts (AIM model) Inspirational appeals Regan (Negative mood) Conducted study at shopping plaza Confederate asked subject to take picture of him The camera malfunctioned The confederate either Blamed malfunction on participant Said camera had been malfunctioning before Participants met another confederate a few feet away with a ripping shopping bag Measured how much participants helped person with ripped shopping bag Isen mood study Went door to door handing out free samples of nice stationary Few minutes later person called house with wrong number Caller said he had used his last dime and asked homeowner to look up number in phone book Results show willingness to help fades quickly until they were no more likely to help than controls (did not receive stationary) Good mood waitress example. People iin good moods also less likely to process requests systematically and rely on heuristics (AIM) 4 11 10

Summary There are many different tactics people use to gain compliance. These compliance tactics are based on well-known psychological principles. These techniques should be used ethically and responsibly.