Foot in the Door Phenomenon
Main Findings
Once someone has agreed to a small request, that person is more likely to agree to a larger request.
Video Introduction
https://youtu.be/oBNoa4c7J6I
Summary
The year was 1966—a time when the term "housewives" didn't make anyone cringe but "civil right"
did. Two Stanford researchers set out to see if what is now referred to as the "foot-in-the-door"
technique had any merit. They conducted two similar experiments with mostly "housewives," as
these experiments called on the person at home during the weekday (remember, 1966).
In experiment #1, 156 women, divided into four groups, were contacted by telephone. The first three
groups were contacted twice with a small request first, then a large request the second time. The
fourth group was contacted just once with the large request. The first three groups varied slightly to
identify possible moderating variables such as agreeing to the small request versus actually carrying it
out and simply being familiar with the experimenter without agreeing to anything. The small request
was just to answer a few non-invasive questions about household kitchen products (by telephone).
The second large request that came three days later (for the first 3 groups) was that someone would
come to their house and essentially raid their cabinets, cataloging all the products.
In experiment #2, 112 men and women (just 7 men... I am guessing the men that were actually home
for this were either unemployed or addicted to Howdy Doody—or both) were visited by a researcher
who asked them to put a small sign (that promoted safe driving or keeping California clean) in their
home window or car. The groups were divided similarly to the first experiment. The second request,
or the first request for some of the subjects, was to place a very large and unattractive billboard in
their yard.
