Low-Balling

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Low-Balling

• Oh, by the way

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Lecture Outline

• Low-balling technique
• Insufficient justification technique
• Discussion/applications

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Low-Balling

• Nature of technique
• Does it work?

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Low-Balling

• Cialdini et al 1978 E1
• Recruitment phone call
• Take part in study
• Cost
• 7 a.m.
• Control
• Disclosed immediately
• Experimental
• Disclosed after commitment

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Low-Balling
My name is ____ and Im calling from the
psychology department to schedule psychology 100
students for an experiment on thinking processes.
The experiment concerns the way people organize
facts. We can give you 1 hour of credit for your
participant in the experiment.
Well, we have more than one time during the week,
but right now Im just interested in finding out
if you wish to participate.
Agree/disagree
The room in which the experiment is being held is
used during the day and evening by other people
in the department so we are running this
experiment at 700 in the morning on Wednesdays
and Fridays. Can I put you down for Wednesday or
Friday morning at 700?
The room in which the experiment is being held is
used during the day and evening by other people
in the department so we are running this
experiment at 700 in the morning on Wednesdays
and Fridays. Can I put you down for Wednesday or
Friday morning at 700?
Agree/disagree
Agree/disagree
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Low-Balling

• Result
• Commitment, control 31 vs. low-ball 56
• Keeping of appointment, control 24 vs. low ball
  53
• Effectiveness of low balling supported

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Low-Balling

• Selection of participants
• People selected Intro psych students
• Situation selected Phone call

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Low-Balling

• Commencement of interaction
• Built into the situation
• Powerful technique
• Ambivalent attitude
• Curious
• Apprehensive

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Low-Balling

• Request
• To take part in the study
• Clear
• Expectation of performance
• Attitude elaborated
• Some opportunity
• Some possible cost

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Low-Balling

• Action implication cues cost information
• Controldivulged
• Low-ballnot divulged at first

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Low-Balling

• Control condition
• Compliance test 1
• Agree/disagree
• Opportunity provided to respond
• Commitment among those who agreed
• Compliance test 2
• Arrive/dont arrive
• Opportunity provided to respond

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Low-Balling

• Low-ball condition
• Compliance test 1
• Agree/disagree to participate
• Opportunity to respond
• Open ended commitment among those who agreed
• Compliance test 2 ambiguous
• Agree/disagree to participate?
• Choose a day, Wednesday/Friday?
• Prior commitment determines interpretation
• Opportunity to respond
• Commitment among those who agreed
• Compliance test 3
• Arrive/dont arrive
• Opportunity to respond

13
Low-Balling

• Theory
• Behavioral part of attitude is affected
• Determines subsequent interpretation and action
• With time, other aspects of the attitude might be
  affected
• growing legs to stand on

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Insufficient Justification

• Would you mind doing me a favor?

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Induced Compliance

• Famous Festinger and Carlsmith experiment
• Creating true believers

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Induced Compliance

• 2 hr experiment
• measures of performance
• Place 12 spools in tray remove repeat for half
  an hour
• Turn 48 pegs half turn then another half turn,
  and so on for half an hour
• Experimental conditions
• Act as confederatedescribe study as enjoyable
• Paid 20 or paid 1
• Control
• Not asked to act as confederate

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Induced Compliance

• Assessment of enjoyment
• Psychology department quality control survey
• Rate how enjoyable he tasks were (-5 extremely
  dull and boring to 5 extremely interesting and
  enjoyable)
• Results
• Control mean -0.45
• 20 mean -0.05
• 1 mean 1.25

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Induced Compliance

• Hypothesis
• People in the 20 condition would like the
  experiment most of all (compared to 1 payees and
  controls)

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Induced Compliance

• Phase 1
• Interactional context
• Commencement of interaction
• Request
• Compliance test
• Opportunity

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Induced Compliance

• Phase 2
• Interactional context
• Commencement of interaction
• Request
• Compliance implication cue
• Payment
• Compliance test
• Opportunity
• Consequences

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Induced Compliance

• Phase 3
• Context, interaction, request, cost
• Compliance test
• Opportunity
• To comply
• To witness

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Induced Compliance

• Implications
• How this works
• Induce action but hide costs
• Give illusion of choice
• Allow action to occur
• Seek behaviors of commitment to behavior
  consistent attitude

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Induced Compliance

• Why it works
• Dissonance induction
• Self-perception

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Conclusions
25
Applications?