Objective 3.2
Discuss the use of two compliance techniques.
Opening question
Compliance
 The modification of behavior in response to a direct
request, even though the person making the request has
no power to enforce compliance.
Compliance example
 Discuss with the person next to you one thing that you
have been coerced in to buying in the last month.
 How did the advertisement, salesperson, or commercial
convince you to buy it?
Strategies commonly used by advertisers
Compliance techniques
 Compliance techniques are the essential strategies that
are used to assist in the modification of behavior in
response to a direct request.
Compliance techniques in research
 As a social psychologist, Robert
Cialdini is interested in the
psychology of compliance: What are
the factors that cause one person to
say yes to another person? What
"psychological principles influence the
tendency to comply with a request"?
 Cialdini terms these principles
"weapons of influence." As a basis for
his conclusions, Cialdini relies on two
main sources: laboratory
experiments and advice for
"compliance professionals"--those
whose business it is to persuade us.
Compliance techniques in research
 As a social psychologist, Robert
Cialdini is interested in the
psychology of compliance: What are
the factors that cause one person to
say yes to another person? What
"psychological principles influence the
tendency to comply with a request"?
 Cialdini terms these principles
"weapons of influence." As a basis for
his conclusions, Cialdini relies on two
main sources: laboratory
experiments and advice for
"compliance professionals"--those
whose business it is to persuade us.
Compliance techniques in research
 As a researcher, Cialdini used the "participant
observer" approach--a staple of social science
research--in which he participated in the activity he
wished to observe.
 Although there are thousands of different tactics that
compliance practitioners employ to produce an
affirmative response, the majority fall within six basic
categories according to Cialdini.
 Each of these categories is governed by a fundamental
psychological principle that directs human behavior
and, in so doing, gives the tactics their power.
Compliance techniques in research
These tactics/techniques include (RCLASS):
 Reciprocation
 Consistency
 Liking
 Authority
 Social proof
 Scarcity
Disclaimer
It is Mr. Freeman’s intention in presenting you with
Cialdini's findings to bring these techniques to your
attention; not to teach you how to trick other
people into compliance.
DON’T TRY THESE TECHNIQUES AT HOME!
…or on your other teachers
Compliance techniques of authority
 Principle of authority - Individuals are more likely
to comply (i.e., buy a product) if an "authority"
makes the request.
 The "authority" can be an actual authority figure,
such as a medical doctor endorsing a vitamin
supplement, or the "authority" can simply be
someone who is popular or respected (e.g., a
celebrity endorsing a product).
Compliance techniques of authority
 In Milgram studies of obedience, we can see
evidence of a strong pressure in our society for
compliance with the requests of an authority.
 In Milgram’s study in which the participants were
ordered to administer severe shocks to a victim;
65% of the participants obeyed the experimenter
even though it meant harm to another person.
 Milgram said the participants became so involved in
pleasing the authority figure and doing their job right
even though someone else had to suffer.
Compliance techniques of authority
 The strength of this tendency to obey legitimate
authorities comes from systematic socialization
practices designed to instill in society members
the perception that such obedience constitutes
correct conduct .
 In addition, it is frequently adaptive to obey the
dictates of genuine authorities because we assume
such individuals usually possess high levels of
knowledge, wisdom, and power.
 For these reasons, deference to authorities can
occur in a mindless fashion as a kind of decisionmaking shortcut.
Examples of authority compliance in
advertising
 To utilize this idea in marketing, advertisers have a
propensity to support their claims with opinions from
experts.
 Neutrogena, for instance, stamps its skin care
advertisements with the phrase “#1 Dermatologist
Recommended.”
 Because dermatologists are experts in the field
of skin care, people are likely to view them as
authority figures and follow their advice when
choosing a skin care product.
Other examples
Social proof
 One means we use to determine what is correct is
to find out what other people think is correct.
 Humans tend to view a behavior as more correct in
a given situation to the degree that we see other
performing it.
 The principle of social proof can be used to
stimulate a person's compliance with a request by
informing the person that many other
individuals (the more, the better, the more
"famous" the better) are or have been
complying with it.
Social proof
Accodring to Cialdini:
Social proof is most influential under two conditions:
 Uncertainty (when people are unsure, when the
situation is ambiguous, they are more likely to
attend to the actions of others and to accept those
actions as correct);
 Similarity (people are more inclined to follow the
lead of similar others)
Social proof
Accodring to Cialdini:
Social proof is most influential under two conditions:
 Uncertainty (when people are unsure, when the
situation is ambiguous, they are more likely to
attend to the actions of others and to accept those
actions as correct);
 Similarity (people are more inclined to follow the
lead of similar others)
Social proof in research
 Cialdini noted Soloman Asch’s
“Conformity” studies (1951) as
empirical foundations for his idea
of social proof.
 The Asch Experiment, by
Solomon Asch, was a famous
experiment, designed to test how
social pressure to conform would
influence the judgment and
individuality of a test subject.
Social proof in research
 The experiment is related closely to the Stanford
Prison and Milgram Experiments, in that it tries to
show how perfectly normal human beings can be
pressured into unusual behavior by authority figures,
or by the consensus of opinion around them.
Social proof in research
 The experiment is related closely to the Stanford Prison
and Milgram Experiments, in that it tries to show how
perfectly normal human beings can be pressured into
unusual behavior by authority figures, or by the consensus
of opinion around them.
 For the experiment, eight subjects were seated around a
table, with the seating plan carefully constructed to
prevent any suspicion.
 Only one participant was actually a genuine subject for
the experiment, the rest being confederates, carefully
tutored to give certain pre-selected responses. Careful
experimental construction placed a varying amount of
peer pressure on the individual test subject.
Social proof in research
 The experiment was simple in its
construction; each participant, in turn,
was asked to answer a series of
questions, such as which line was
longest or which matched the
reference line.
 The participants gave a variety of
answers, at first correct, to avoid
arousing suspicion in the subject, but
then with some incorrect responses
added.
 This would allow Asch to determine
how the answers of the subject would
change with the added influence of
peer pressure.
Social proof in research
 The Asch Experiment results were interesting and
showed that peer pressure could have a measurable
influence on the answers given.
 The control group, those not exposed to peer
pressure where everybody gave correct answers,
threw up only one incorrect response out of 35.
Social proof in research
 The results for the other groups were interesting;
when surrounded by people giving an incorrect
answer, over one third of the subjects also voiced an
incorrect opinion.
 At least 75% of the subjects gave the wrong answer
to at least one question, although experimental error
may have had some influence on this figure. There
was no doubt, however, that peer pressure can
cause conformity.
Social proof in advertising
 Follow ups to the Asch Experiment showed that the
number of dissenting voices made a difference to the
results, as did the forcefulness of the confederates.
 One incorrect confederate made little difference to
the answers, but the influence steadily increased if
two or three people disagreed.
 The figures did not change much after this point;
more confederates made little difference. The
number of people in the group also made a
difference; the influence of dissenting voices leveled
off for groups of more than six or seven people
Asch’s Experiment Video
http://vimeo.com/16517
875
Funny elevator replication of Asch’s
experiment
http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/36986/Why
_Do_Sheeple_Conform__The_Asch_Experiment_
/
Social proof in advertising
 The idea of social proof holds that when
people are unsure of how to act, they’ll look to
what others are doing and follow their
behavior.
 To capitalize on this tendency, businesses will
use advertisements that try to convey the
message that a product is beneficial because
“everyone else is using it.”
What are examples of this type of
advertisement?
Social proof in advertising
 The idea of social proof holds that when
people are unsure of how to act, they’ll look to
what others are doing and follow their
behavior.
 To capitalize on this tendency, businesses will
use advertisements that try to convey the
message that a product is beneficial because
“everyone else is using it.”
What are examples of this type of
advertisement?
Social proof in advertising
 When we see more people buying Brand X
over Brand Y, we tend to think that somehow
Brand X must be better, don’t we? Even
though many times that may not be true. Why
is that?
 This speaks to our tendency to adapt or
conform to group norms (as previously
stated).
 We usually see this in advertising in the
form of “multiple testimonials” or
“consumer ratings” (which are both often
Questions?
 Read more:
Cialdini on authority
http://youtu.be/s2tGLFjW5tE
Cialdini on social proof/concensus
http://youtu.be/Fy3G7wy1VYc
Objective 3.3
Evaluate research on conformity to group norms
What are you being asked to do? (page 36 and 37
of your IB syllabus)
 Provide a clear definition of conformity.
 Present a brief account of research (two or more
studies) on conformity to group norms.
 Evaluate the specific research studies on
conformity weighing up the strengths and
limitations of each study.
Conformity
 Conformity is the process of giving in to real or
imagined pressure from a group.
 Examples of conformity can include criminal gangs,
opinions from friends involving peer pressures,
compulsions of social life etc.
The difference between conformity and
compliance
 If you conform with or to something, you go along
with it, you do it the same way, you fit in, you become
like the rest. Here are some examples:
 Traditional Jews, Christians, and Muslims conform
with traditions concerning how synagogues,
churches, and mosques should be constructed.
 The method of cooking hamburgers and fried chicken
in fast-food franchises conform with the method
that the main company headquarters has used
since those companies were founded.
The difference between conformity and
compliance
If you comply, you submit to some kind of
authority, you agree to do something in a certain
way that's been dictated.
The origin of conformity in psychology
 Jenness (1932) was one of the first psychologist to
study conformity.
 His experiment was an ambiguous situation
involving a glass bottle filled with beans.
 He asked participants individually to estimate
how many beans the bottle contained.
The origin of conformity in psychology
 Jenness (1932) was one of the first psychologist to
study conformity.
 His experiment was an ambiguous situation
involving a glass bottle filled with beans.
 He asked participants individually to estimate
how many beans the bottle contained.
The origin of conformity in psychology
 Jenness then put the group in a room with the bottle,
and asked them to provide a group estimate through
discussion.
 Participants were then asked to estimate the number
on their own again to find whether their initial
estimates had altered based on the influence of the
majority.
 Jenness then interviewed the participants individually
again, and asked if they would like to change their
original estimates, or stay with the group's estimate.
Almost all changed their individual guesses to be closer
to the group estimate.
The origin of conformity in psychology
 Jenness research laid the foundation for later
conformity studies including Soloman Asch’s
Experiment.
 http://vimeo.com/14838933
The origin of conformity in psychology
 Jenness research laid the foundation for later
conformity studies including Muzafer Sharif’s
“Autokinetic and Soloman Asch’s Experiment.
Sharif’s 1935 Conformity study
 Aim: Sherif conducted an experiment
with the aim of demonstrating that
people conform to group norms when
they are put in an ambiguous (i.e.
unclear) situation.
 Method: Sherif used a lab
experiment to study conformity. He
used the autokinetic effect – this is
where a small spot of light (projected
onto a screen) in a dark room will
appear to move, even though it is still
(i.e. it is a visual illusion).
Sharif’s 1935 Conformity study
 It was discovered that when participants were
individually tested their estimates on how far the light
moved varied considerably (e.g. from 20cm to
80cm).
 The participants were then tested in groups of
three. Sherif manipulated the composition of the
group by putting together two people whose estimate
of the light movement when alone was very similar,
and one person whose estimate was very different.
 Each person in the group had to say aloud how far
they thought the light had moved.
Sharif’s 1935 Conformity study
 Results: Sherif found that over numerous estimates
(trials) of the movement of light, the group converged
to a common estimate.
 The person whose estimate of movement was greatly
different to the other two in the group conformed to
the view of the other two.
 Sherif said that this showed that people would always
tend to conform. Rather than make individual
judgments they tend to come to a group agreement.
Sharif’s 1935 Conformity study
 Sherif ( 1935 ) followed Jenness research and looked
to investigate conformity using the autokinetic
effect.
• This is an optical illusion experienced when a person
is placed in a totallydark room in which a stationary
point of light appears to move because theperson’s
perceptual system has no frame of reference for it
Sharif’s 1935 Conformity study
 Sherif ( 1935 ) followed Jenness research and looked
to investigate conformity using the autokinetic
effect.
• This is an optical illusion experienced when a person
is placed in a totallydark room in which a stationary
point of light appears to move because theperson’s
perceptual system has no frame of reference for it
 Video on conformity
http://vimeo.com/14838933
http://www.betterdaystv.net/play.php?vid=19441