foot-in-the-door technique

n. The foot-in-the-door (FITD) technique is used to elicit a desired behavior via a two-step process. First, a requester asks an individual to help with a very small request, to which almost everyone agrees. Upon gaining agreement with the first task, the requester asks the individual to aid with a second, larger request, which is frequently related to the first. The requester's original goal was always to garner agreement with this second request; therefore, gaining agreement with the first appeal was simply a means to an end. Having already agreed to help with the first task makes it more likely that someone will agree to help with the second request, compared to a situation in which that person had not helped in the first place.

The FITD technique is applied in a variety of settings, including charity fund-raising. For example, a common application of this technique is first to ask individuals to sign a petition in support of some cause (a seemingly harmless task), then to follow that request with a plea for monetary donations for the same cause (a more costly request). After agreeing to sign the petition in support of a particular cause, individuals are more likely to agree to donate money to that cause than if they had not originally signed the petition. Other applications of the FITD technique have been in sales settings (e.g., testimonial contests simply asking potential customers to describe why they like a particular brand increases the likelihood they will purchase that brand in the future) and health settings (e.g., first asking individuals to quit cigarette smoking for a short period increases the likelihood they will later give up cigarette smoking for a longer period).

Several theories explain why the FITD technique increases agreement with requests. One is self-perception theory, which states that people can infer their attitudes from their behavior. Having agreed to sign a petition for a cause, an individual can infer that he or she supports the cause. Thus, when asked to donate money for the same cause, the individual is likely to act in accordance with the inferred attitude that the cause is worth supporting by donating money.

Another common explanation for the effectiveness of the FITD technique in eliciting desired behaviors is consistency theory. According to consistency theory, after agreeing to help with an initial request in support of some cause, individuals would appear to be inconsistent to the requester if they did not agree to help with the target request. Such inconsistency creates an unpleasant feeling. People may agree to help with the second, costly request to avoid the feeling resulting from behaving inconsistently.

-AEC, LAB