Compliance

• In psychology, compliance refers to changing one's behaviour at the request or direction of another person.
• There are many different situations where compliance comes into play. Some examples include:

  • Buying something because a salesperson makes a pitch and then asks you to make a purchase
  • Agreeing when a friend asks, "Can you do me a favour?"
  • Seeing an ad on a website, clicking it, and then making a purchase
• Compliance is a major topic of interest within the field of consumer psychology.
• Marketers often rely on several different strategies to obtain compliance from consumers.

  • The ‘Door-in-the-Face’ Technique
  • The ‘Foot-in-the-Door’ Technique
  • The ‘Lowball’ Technique
• The ‘Door-in-the-Face’ Technique

  • In this approach, marketers start by asking for a large commitment. When the other person refuses, they then make a smaller and more reasonable request.
  • For example, imagine that a business owner asks you to make a large investment in a new business opportunity. After you decline the request, the business owner asks if you could at least make a small product purchase to help them out. After refusing the first offer, you might feel compelled to comply with their second appeal.
• The ‘Foot-in-the-Door’ Technique

  • In this approach, marketers start by asking for and obtaining a small commitment. Once you have complied with the first request, you are more likely to also comply with a second, larger request.
  • For example, your co-worker asks if you fill in for them for a day. After you say yes, they then ask if you could just continue to fill in for the rest of the week.
• The ‘Lowball’ Technique

  • This strategy involves getting a person to make a commitment and then raising the terms or stakes of that commitment.
  • For example, a salesperson might get you to agree to buy a particular cell phone plan at a low price before adding on hidden fees that then make the plan much more costly.
• Key Factors Affecting Compliance

  Several essential factors influence compliance. The presence of these factors makes it more likely that people will comply.

  • affinity
  • group influence
  • group size
  • group affiliation
• Key Factors Affecting Compliance

  • Affinity: People are more likely to comply when they believe they share something in common with the person making the request.
• Key Factors Affecting Compliance

  • Group influence: Being in the immediate presence of a group makes compliance more likely.
• Key Factors Affecting Compliance

  • Group size: The likelihood of compliance increases with the number of people present. If only one or two people are present, a person might buck the group opinion and refuse to comply.
• Key Factors Affecting Compliance

  Group affiliation: When group affiliation is important to people, they are more likely to comply with social pressure. For example, if a college student places great importance on belonging to a college fraternity, they are more likely to go along with the group's request even if it goes against their own beliefs or wishes.