Information Availability as a Determinant of Multiple Request Effectiveness

Abstract

Foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face are multiple request techniques frequently used to increase behavioral compliance. However, results from experimental research indicate that these techniques may enhance, undermine, or have no effect on compliance. In the authors’ research, the notion of information availability is introduced to help specify when multiple request techniques are likely to be effective. Four experiments are reported that test and support the information availability predictions.