Blood donation and the foot-in-the-door technique: A limiting case

Does a Low-Cost Act of Support Produce Slacktivism or Commitment? Prosocial and Impression-Management Motives as Moderators

Increase or decrease in subsequent action following a low-cost act of support for a cause can be predicted from both commitment theory and the slacktivism effect. In this paper, we report on three studies that tested type of motivation (prosocial vs. impression management) as a moderator of the effect of an initial act of support [wearing a badge (S1) and writing a slogan (S2 and 3)] has on support for blood donation. Small-scale meta-analysis performed on data from the three studies shows that activating prosocial motivation generally leads to greater support for the cause after an initial act of support compared to the control condition, while the effect from impression-management motivation can either be negative or null.

Mindfulness and Compliance: The Way We Make Requests Influences Compliance With the Foot-in-the-Door Strategy

The foot-in-the-door effect is considered more effective when a time lapse occurs between performing an initial, smaller request and being asked a second request. It has been hypothesized that mindfulness moderates the effectiveness of two versions of the strategy - time-delay and no-delay foot-in-the-door. The greater magnitude of time-delay foot-in-the-door is considered to be connected with increased mindfulness. The aim of this study was to verify the assumption concerning mindfulness as a state triggering time-delay foot-in-the-door. In a field experiment ( N = 249), we manipulated the time lapse and kind of reason (real, placebic, and no reason) accompanying a difficult or less difficult target request. This extended Langer et al. replication indicates that time-delay foot-in-the-door is indeed greater after mindfulness activation.

Fifteen Years of Foot-in-the Door Research

Meta-analyses were performed on research investigating the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. A total of 120 experimental groups were examined, as well as a subset of the research considered to be pure tests of the foot-in-the-door hypothesis. The statistical combinations were consistent in indicating that the phenomenon, although replicable, is weak and not nearly as robust as assumed. Nearly half of the studies either produced no effects or effects in the wrong direction. The common self-perception explanation was found to be imprecise in leading to clear predictions; nevertheless, data were presented that have implications for the theory. A number of potentially mediating variables were examined. New theorctical development and clarification of underlying proceses are needed.

Changes in Helping Behavior

College students in an experimental condition were asked to help a child operate a candy machine. On a subsequent request for help from an adult experimenter, these subjects volunteered significantly more of their time than did control subjects. Prior reports suggest, but do not demonstrate, that this foot-in-the-door effect is mediated by a change in self-perceptions of helpfulness. Two possible mediators-self-perceptions and situational perceptions-were measured directly in the present study. Self-perceptions of helpfulness showed a moderate increase for the experimental subjects. Perceptions of potential unpleasantness (e.g., embarrassment) for someone offering help showed a significant decrease for the experimental subjects. The results indicate that the foot-in-the-door effect can be mediated by changes in situational as well as self-perceptions. A recent failure to replicate the foot-in-the-door effect was explained in terms of these findings.

The Foot-in-the-Door Paradigm

This study examines the impact of second requests on the percentage of donors and on donation size. In the initial stage of the study, half of the subjects were asked to sign a petition for the establishment of a social club for the handicapped. The second stage was conducted on the National Collection Day for the Rehabilitation of the Mentally Handicapped. Petition signers were asked to donate either an amount of money of their own discretion or a predetermined amount (£40,50, or 60) requested by the canvasser. While the foot-in-the-door paradigm alone enhanced the percentage of donors, the present study indicates that donation size can also be elevated by requesting specified amounts.

The effect of the two feet-in-the-door technique on tobacco deprivation

The 'Foot-in-the-door' (FITD) is a well-known compliance technique that increases compliance with a request. Many investigations on this paradigm have generally used prosocial requests to test the effect of the technique. A new evaluation of the effect of the FITD technique was carried out on tobacco deprivation. A two feet-in-the-door technique in which the target request was preceded by two small target requests was used to encourage students to stop smoking for 24 h. The results were compared with two single foot-in-the- door procedures in which the final request was only preceded by one small request, as well as with a control condition using only a 24 h stop-smoking request. Results showed that the single FITD and the two feet-in-the-door procedures were effective to increase verbal compliance (accepting to stop smoking) but only the two feet-in-the-door technique significantly increased behavioural compliance (not smoking for 24 h) with the request.

THE EFFECT OF THE "EVOKING FREEDOM" TECHNIQUE ON AN UNUSUAL AND DISTURBING REQUEST

The "evoking freedom" technique consists in soliciting someone to comply with a request by simply saying that she is free to accept or to refuse the request. However, previous studies used low cost requests. The present study examined the magnitude of this technique associated with a more disturbing and costly request. Sixty men and 60 women aged approximately 20-25 years walking in the street were asked by a male confederate to hold a closed transparent box containing a live trap-door spider while he went into the post office to pick up a package. In the evoking freedom condition, the confederate added in his request that the participant was "free to accept or to refuse." More compliance occurred in the "evoking freedom" condition (53.3%) than in the control condition (36.7%). These results confirm the robustness and the magnitude of the evoking freedom technique on compliance and show that this technique remained effective even when the request was psychologically costly to perform and was associated with fear.

Door-in-the-face technique and delay to fulfill the final request: an evaluation with a request to give blood

We tested the Door-in-the-Face technique (DITF) on blood donation with a delay between the acceptance of the request and the real possibility of complying with it. University students were solicited to give blood during a special one-day drive. After the refusal to participate in a long-term donor program, participants were asked for a one unit blood donation. In the control condition, only the latter request was addressed. The participants were either solicited two or three hours before the blood drive (delay) or during the blood drive (no delay). Results showed the DITF technique to be associated with greater verbal compliance with the request. However, the DITF technique with no delay was associated with greater behavioral compliance than were both of the control conditions and the DITF with a delay condition.

Why the Door-in-the-Face Technique Can Sometimes Backfire

We put forward a construal-level account to explain why the door-in-the-face (DITF) technique can sometimes backfire in the prosocial domain. We argue that after rejecting an initial prosocial request, more abstract construals promote a more coherent selfish version of the self in people’s minds, which then fosters less compliance with subsequent requests. Across three experiments, results indicated that relative to an outright request, the DITF technique was less likely to get participants to comply with various prosocial requests (e.g., writing to sick children) when participants adopted more abstract construals. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

"Even a donation one time in your live will help...": the effect of the legitimizing paltry contribution technique on blood donation

Previous research has found that the statement "Even a penny will help" incorporated in charity donation requests increases compliance. The present study analyzed the effectiveness of this technique using a novel solicitation and an intermediate delay between the statement and the actual execution of the requested act. University students were solicited to give blood during a special one-day drive. Solicitations were made through face-to-face interactions. Solicitors wore a tee-shirt on which the statement "Even a donation one time in your live will help..." was either present or not. Results show that more participants gave their blood when this statement appeared on the tee-shirt.

Rules or Consequences? The Role of Ethical Mind-Sets in Moral Dynamics

Recent research on the dynamics of moral behavior has documented two contrasting phenomena—moral consistency and moral balancing. Moral balancing refers to the phenomenon whereby behaving ethically or unethically decreases the likelihood of engaging in the same type of behavior again later. Moral consistency describes the opposite pattern—engaging in ethical or unethical behavior increases the likelihood of engaging in the same type of behavior later on. The three studies reported here supported the hypothesis that individuals’ ethical mind-set (i.e., outcome-based vs. rule-based) moderates the impact of an initial ethical or unethical act on the likelihood of behaving ethically on a subsequent occasion. More specifically, an outcome-based mind-set facilitated moral balancing, and a rule-based mind-set facilitated moral consistency.

Efficacy of interventions promoting blood donation: a systematic review

Findings about the efficacy of interventions promoting blood donation are scattered and sometime inconsistent. The aim of the present systematic review was to identify the most effective types of interventions and modes of delivery to increase blood donation. The following databases were investigated: MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Proquest Dissertations and Theses. Additional studies were also included by checking the references of the articles included in the review and by looking at our personal collection. The outcomes of interest were either blood drive attendance or blood donations. A total of 29 randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies were included in the review, detailing 36 interventions tested among independent samples. Interventions targeting psychosocial cognitions (s = 8, s to represent the number of independent samples; odds ratio [OR], 2.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42-4.28), those stressing the altruistic motives to give blood (s = 4; OR, 3.89; 95% CI, 1.03-14.76), and reminders (s = 7; OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.22-2.99) were the most successful in increasing blood donation. The results suggest that motivational interventions and reminders are the most effective in increasing blood donation, but additional studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of other types of interventions.

The foot-in-the-door compliance procedure: a multiple-process analysis and review

Research on the social compliance procedure known as the foot-in-the-door (FITD) technique is reviewed. Several psychological processes that may be set in motion with a FITD manipulation are identified: self-perception, psychological reactance, conformity, consistency, attributions, and commitment. A review of relevant investigations and several meta-analyses support the notion that each of these processes can influence compliance behavior in the FITD situation. I argue that the combined effects of these processes can account for successful FITD demonstrations as well as studies in which the technique was ineffective or led to a decrease in compliance. The experimental conditions most likely to produce an FITD effect are identified.

Behavioral approaches in increasing blood donations

In the United States, as well as other countries, there is a constant and pressing need for increasing the number of people who donate blood. Medical procedures require donated blood, and when shortages occur in different regions, the lives of numerous patients are endangered. Behavioral strategies, which include use of incentives, competition, and raffles, and the like, might be effective methods for motivating individuals to donate blood. This study examined the use of a variety of these types of strategies used by workers at United Blood Services. Organizations that had employed behavioral strategies were compared with other organizations that had not used these approaches. Significantly higher rates of donations were obtained in organizations that had used behavioral strategies. The implications of these findings are discussed.