Foot-in-the-Door Technique and Problematic Implicit Request for Help

A recent study (Pascual, Gueguen, Pujos, & Felonneau, 2013) reported that the foot-in-the-door technique (FITD) remained effective in gaining compliance when the request was deviant in nature. However, that study used face-to-face verbal requests, which may have resulted in the participant feeling obliged to comply. In our study, a confederate was instructed to sit on a public bench where an adult male participant was sitting. In the FITD condition, the confederate asked the participant for the time. The confederate then began to read a newspaper, some term papers, or a pornographic magazine. After 2 minutes, a second confederate arrived, the first confederate stood up and left, forgetting his papers. The FITD remained effective in obtaining greater participant intervention, even in the problematic condition.