Manish gives something free to Rajat saying that it is for promotion of the product. Soon afterwards he asks Rajat to buy a product sold by his company. This technique of compliance is known as _________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Foot in the door technique
Compliance is behaving in response to a request from another person or group even in the absence of a norm, as when a salesperson’s talk ends with our buying what she or he wished to sell.
Option (1) Foot in the door technique — Correct. The person begins with a small request that the other is not likely to refuse, and once it is carried out, a bigger request is made; having complied once, the other feels uncomfortable refusing. A free gift for promotion is the classic example: someone gives us a gift (something free), saying that it is for promotion, and soon afterwards asks us to buy a product. Accepting the free gift is the first, small step.
Option (2) The deadline technique — Incorrect. Here a ‘last date’ is announced until which a product or offer will be available, so that people hurry and buy before they miss the chance. Manish sets no time limit.
Option (3) The door in the face technique — Incorrect. Here one begins with a large request, and when it is refused, makes a smaller request, the one actually desired. Manish starts with something small and free, the opposite order.
Option (4) No refusal technique — Incorrect. The known techniques of compliance are foot-in-the-door, deadline and door-in-the-face; ‘no refusal’ is not one of them. Manish’s method is named by its sequence, a small free gift first and a bigger request after it.
Note: The techniques of compliance (foot-in-the-door, deadline and door-in-the-face) were explained in the chapter ‘Social Influence and Group Processes’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2022, and are not there in the NCERT book (2025-26) or in the 2023-24 NCERT.
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Compliance … It was stated earlier that compliance refers simply to behaving in response to a request from another person or group even in the absence of a norm.…” “…The foot-in-the-door technique : The person begins by making a small request that the other person is not likely to refuse. Once the other person carries out the request, a bigger request is made. Simply because the other person has already complied with the smaller request, he or she may feel uncomfortable refusing the second request. For example, someone may come to us on behalf of a group and give us a gift (something free), saying that it is for promotion. Soon afterwards, another member of the same group may come to us again, and ask us to buy a product made by the group.…” “…The deadline technique : In this technique, a ‘last date’ is announced until which a particular product or ‘an offer’ will be available. The aim is to make people ‘hurry’ and make the purchase before they miss the rare opportunity. It is more likely that people will buy a product under this deadline condition than if there is no such deadline.…” “…The door-in-the-face technique : In this technique, you begin with a large request and when this is refused a later request for something smaller, the one that was actually desired, is made, which is usually granted by the person.” |