Understanding Commitment and Consistency Compliance

Compliance tactics often leverage psychological principles. One powerful principle is the drive for Commitment and Consistency, where individuals feel pressure to behave in a way that aligns with their previous commitments or stated positions.

Analyzing Compliance Tactics

Let's examine the options in relation to the Commitment and Consistency principle:

• Ingratiation: This involves using flattery or favors to make oneself likable, aiming for compliance through positive feelings, not commitment.
• Door-in-the-face technique: This relies on the principle of reciprocity and contrast. A large, often rejected request is followed by a smaller one, making the latter seem more reasonable. It doesn't primarily hinge on the target's prior commitment.
• Low ball pressure: This tactic involves getting someone to make an initial commitment (e.g., agreeing to buy a car at a certain price). Then, the conditions are altered unfavorably (e.g., the price increases slightly, or extra fees are added), but the person feels obligated to proceed due to their initial commitment and desire to remain consistent with that decision.
• Dead-line technique: This leverages scarcity and urgency. Creating a time limit encourages faster decisions but is not directly based on establishing prior commitment.

Identifying the Correct Tactic

The Low ball pressure tactic directly exploits the psychological need to remain consistent with a previous commitment. Once an initial agreement is made, changing the terms makes the individual feel inconsistent if they back out, thus increasing the likelihood of compliance.

Therefore, the compliance tactic based upon Commitment or Consistency is the Low ball pressure technique.