Assessing the effectiveness of foot-in-the-door technique of compliance in Indian context

Abstract

The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the Foot in the door technique of Compliance. In compliance, a small and innocuous request is first presented which is then followed by a larger one. The objectives of the present experiment were to investigate the effect of Foot-In-The-Door Condition (small and large request) on Compliance Rate along with assessing the effect of Gender. It was hypothesized that the Compliance Rate in the Foot-In-The-Door Condition would be higher than the Controlled Condition and that there would be significant gender differences in compliance rate. Significant difference between two percentages was calculated. 200 participants (100 males & 100 females) studying in different educational institutions were contacted. Each participant was assigned to different experimental conditions. In each experimental condition, the participants were presented with different kinds of request. The dependent variable in the present study was the subjects’ compliance rate to the request. It was measured by the number of participants who agreed to fill the longer questionnaire. The findings showed that the Compliance Rate in the Foot-In-The-Door Condition was significantly higher than that of the Controlled Condition. Also, compliance rate among males was higher than that of the females. The findings have been discussed on the basis of previous researches.