Social influence and

Behavioral compliance
Researcher Robert Cialdini
• Dr. Robert Cialdini has spent his entire career researching the science of
influence earning him an international reputation as an expert in the fields
of persuasion, compliance, and negotiation.
• His books including, Influence: Science & Practice, are the result of decades
of peer-reviewed research on why people comply with
requests. Influence has sold over 3 million copies in over 40 languages and
is a New York Times Bestseller.
• Dr. Cialdini received his Ph.D from the University of North Carolina and post
doctoral training from Columbia University. He has held Visiting Scholar
Appointments at Ohio State University, the University of California, the
Annenberg School of Communications, and the Graduate School of
Business of Stanford University.
• Currently, Dr Cialdini is Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and
Marketing at Arizona State University.
Defining Compliance
• Verbal Compliance : to describe a situation where someone says ‘yes’
to a specific request
• Behavioral Compliance : describes a situation where someone
actually out that request
• Researcher Robert Cialdini has conducted many pioneering scientific
investigations of behavioral compliance techniques and has
uncovered numerous principles about their effectiveness.
Principles of Behavioral influence
Specifically, Seven key principles of behavioral influence are:
1. Automaticity
2. Commitment and Consistency
3. Reciprocity
4. Scarcity
5. Social Validation
6. Liking
7. Authority
Automaticity
• Corner stone of all principle
• This principle asserts that people often think mindlessly and as a
result, behave automatically, without fully evaluating the
consequence of a request.
• Harvard University Psychologist Ellen Langer finds that people
typically spend a large portion on their day in mindless state. Routine,
habitual behaviors are performed over and over with relatively little
conscious thought because people do not have the time and
resources to think carefully about everything they do. Only few
important behaviors receive full considerations; others are carried out
mindlessly.
Mindless Compliance Experiment
For Small Requests (5 copies)
• With Basic/No Information
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copy Machine”
60% Compliance
• With Placebic Information
• “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the photocopier because I have to
make copies.”
93% Compliance
• With Real Information
• “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the photocopier because, I am in
rush?”
94% Compliance
Result :People tend to process small requests mindlessly
For Large Requests (25 copies)
• With Basic/No Information
“Excuse me, I have 25 pages. May I use the photocopier”
24% Compliance
• With Placebic Information
• “Excuse me, I have 25 pages. May I use the photocopier because I have to
make copies.”
24% Compliance
• With Real Information
• “Excuse me, I have 25 pages. May I use the photocopier because, I am in
rush?”
42% Compliance
Result : When people have substantial request, providing real information is
the best strategy.
Commitment and Consistency
People are expected to exhibit beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that are
stable and coherent. Inconsistencies often invite interpretation of
personality flaws or, in extreme cases, mental illness.
• People attempt to keep their relationship and attitudes consistent.
• After complying with an initial small request people tend to comply
with larger request.
• Influence extends to fund-raising derives
 People asking to make prediction and later asked to perform those same
behavior, tend to remain consistent with their perception
The foot-in-the-door technique
Involves making a small request followed by large one
• Applied by telemarketers, sales reps, fundraisers with considerable
success
• Example: Some unscrupulous telemarketers pretend to be survey
researchers. They ask people to share their opinion about a subject of
general interest. If people comply with initial request they are more
likely to continue to appear helpful by purchasing a product.
• Foot-in-the-door tactics are surprisingly simple to recognize and
effectively dangerous
In Classic Experiment
Control information
• People went door to door asking California residents to post a large, ugly signs on
their front lawn. The sign read “Drive Carefully”
 Only 17% of resident agreed to target request
Similar Task
• People first asked to carry out a small favor (posting small “Be a safe driver” signs
in their yards)
76% complied with larger, target request and posted bigger uglier sign
Dissimilar task
• The small favor dealt with an unrelated topic (posting a small “keep California
clean”)
compliance for larger, target request decreased to 48%
Result : The foot-in-the-door technique is not effective if the initial smaller request
topic is unrelated to larger, target request.
The Low ball technique
Try to get an initial commitment and then change the deal
Experiment: initially college students were approached on way to their
classes and asked if they were willing to participate in experiment
• Most student said ‘yes’ and the deal changes,(experiment would
begin at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning)
56% student with initial ‘yes’ actually agreed to the target
request and showed op for the experiment.
• A second group was told that the experiment took place at 7:00 AM,
Saturday morning.
 Of those agreeing participant on 24% showed up in the lab.
Foot-in-the-door VS low-ball technique
In the field Experiment, Students were approached in their dorms
Low-ball condition
• Students were asked to help with the united way. After obtaining crucial
‘yes’, the deal changed
• And the students were told that they needed to go to the dormitory’s front
desk to get the door posters.
 60% compliance rate
Foot-in-the-door condition
• Students were first asked to display a small window poster that was given
to them
• Afterwards they were asked to go to the dormitory’s front desk
 Only 10% of students compiled with the target request
Control Information
Interestingly, 20% compiled in control condition
Why low ball technique is so effective?
• Research shows that it works through the principle of commitment
and consistency.
• Commitment theory suggests that the purpose of obtaining an initial
commitment is to impart resistance to change
 Bait and switch(lure procedure) is the special case for low ball
technique: ”lures” customers by advertising low-priced product or
service.
• Bait-and-switch tactics operate under the same principles as low ball
technique
• Customers become committed to low-ball gate
Reciprocity
• Principle of social etiquette
• Surprisingly powerful influence technique
• When someone does you a favor, you feel obliged to return it in kind.
• First provide somebody with a gift which causes the recipient to
respond in kind. Gifts do not need to be expensive.
• Example
Book a table at a major event, for a special guest speaker. Invite your
customers or prospects
The Door in the Face technique
When influence agent makes large request that is rejected, they often follow up with a
smaller, more sensible request.
College students were approached in their way to class and asked to work for two years as
unpaid Juvenile Detention Center.
Unsurprisingly, No one complied
Door-in-the-face
• Immediately after rejecting request, students were asked to volunteer to take group of
juveniles for two hours
50% agreed
Control information
• A separate group of students were asked to volunteer to take group of juveniles for two
hours
17% agreed
Contrast effect
• A separate group was simply asked, up front, to choose directly between the two
alternatives.
only 25% agreed to take juveniles to the zoo for two hours
Scarcity
The less there is of something, the more people value it!
• Time based deadline: Publishing/press deadline, Second offer, End of
Quarter, Selling to budget cycles
• Limited release of products
• Startups can offer a limited non-monetary value to their first 10 or 20
customers. This gives an incentive for customers to make a decision
sooner.
Social Validation
People look around them to guide their decisions and actions.
Examples:
• If you are considering attending a Meetup, you first want to see how
many people are going. You are more likely to register if you see the
event is already well booked out.
• The best time to progress a sales opportunity is to call that customer
when you have just made a sale to a similar customer. Managed in
the right way will give them confidence in proceeding with your
proposal.
Liking
You will have greater influence with customers who like you or are
attracted to you.
• Examples: Build your own personal brand will give you greater
influence in your sales environment.
• Always be fair and do the right thing by your customers. Over the long
term your proven reputation as a trusted supplier will provide greater
success.
Authority
• People want to follow the lead of experts.
Examples:
• Uniform/dress/appearance suitable for your industry
• Become a subject matter expert – no matter how narrow the field.
References
1. https://www.robertcialdinibf.com/
2. http://www.bigjump.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/The-6-
Principles-of-Influence-by-Robert-Cialdini.pdf