1. Social Influence

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.