Ask for a Tiny Favor to Get What you Want With “Foot in the Door”!

Psychologists Discovered a Sneaky Way to Get People to Accept Your Requests - It All Starts With a Tiny Favor: The “Foot in the Door” Technique

Hello, dear reader; this week, we are discussing the “Foot in the Door” technique. Catch up with last week's Psychology Hack of the Week to learn about the “Door in the Face” technique, which involves making an initial, unrealistic request followed by a more reasonable one to make people more likely to agree to your second request after rejecting the first one.

The “Foot in the Door “technique is the contrary; it involves making a small initial request that is likely to be accepted, followed by a more significant request that is the actual goal.

The Process of “The Foot in the Door”:

1. First, a small request. You start by asking for something small, and this request must be easy to accept. For example, "Can I ask you a question?" This is something that surely everyone would agree with.
2. Achieving compliance. Once the person agrees to your small request, they are more likely to see themselves as helpful and consistent with their actions. This creates a sense of commitment and increases the likelihood of them accepting future requests so you can request a more significant one.
3. Follow up with a more significant request. After establishing this initial compliance, you will ask for the more considerable request you want the person to agree to. Because of the principle of consistency, the person is more inclined to agree to the more significant request to maintain alignment with their previous action.

This technique is also used as a sales strategy like the “Door in the Face” technique. Both are used to induce compliance, which is the change in behavior due to direct requests.

How to use this technique with your fans:

You can start by asking for a small favor like leaving a comment on your posts to "get your foot in the door" and then follow with a request for a tip, unlock, or anything more significant that you need.

The “Foot in the Door” technique has its roots deeply embedded in social psychology, and it was proposed by the researchers Jonathan L. Freedman and Scott C. Fraser in the early 1960s. Their study first asked homeowners to display a small sticker or sign promoting safe driving in their front yards. After a few days, they returned to the same homeowners. They made a more significant request to install a large, unsightly billboard in their yard promoting safe driving. Surprisingly, many homeowners who had agreed to the small request also agreed to the much larger and more intrusive request.

But why does this technique work?

The technique is based on the psychological principle of cognitive dissonance, where people strive to maintain consistency between their beliefs, attitudes, and actions. So, getting them to accept a small request first makes you more likely to get another positive response to your second request. This technique capitalizes on the human tendency to maintain alignment between beliefs, attitudes, and actions. Cognitive dissonance, a basic psychological principle, occurs when people feel compelled to agree to the more significant request after committing to the initial, more minor request.

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