“Why Do People Fall Prey to Social Influence Techniques? a Limited-Resource Account of Compliance”

Across six field and lab experiments, we found that self-regulatory resource depletion promotes compliance. We tested a model that depicts (1) a scripted influence technique as inducing self-regulatory resource depletion; (2) resource depletion increases compliance through reliance on norms embedded in the technique. Experiments 1-2 showed that a foot-in-the-door ploy induced self-regulatory resource depletion. Experiments 3a-3b ruled out alternate interpretations. Experiments 4-5 demonstrated that a lack of regulatory resources fosters compliance through reliance on norms. Experiment 6 used individual differences in self-control and a full sequential request technique; compliance was highest among people low in trait self-control.

Citation:

Kathleen D. Vohs, Bob Fennis, and Loes Janssen (2009) ,"“Why Do People Fall Prey to Social Influence Techniques? a Limited-Resource Account of Compliance”", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 64-67.