Question

The advertising committee for a politician is going door to door and asking people to put a big ugly election sign on their lawn. If the people refuse, they ask them if they would consider putting a smaller sign on the lawn. The staff is using what?

Answer 1

The staff is using door-in-the-face technique .

Explanation:

It is a technique whereby a respondent is asked to comply with a large request; one which the persuader knows well there is a high chance the respondent will not agree. When the persuader’s first request is turned down, he/she makes a smaller request one which the respondent may agree to.  

The technique recognizes that the request is likely to be accepted since it is not made in isolation; that is the respondent has two requests to compare and contrast. Also, the requests have to be similar in nature but different in magnitude or extent.