What is Foot-In-The-Door Technique?

Have you ever heard of foot-in-the-door persuasive technique used in marketing? What does it mean and how can one apply it?

Imagine an elite American suburb. Everything is like in Hollywood films. Small houses, lawns, white picket fence. And so they come to the owners from the road safety committee and ask them to install a 2 by 1 meter shield on the lawn in front of their house with the inscription "Be careful while driving." Only 17% of homeowners agreed to spoil their own territory, and besides that absolutely free. Which, frankly speaking, is logical.

Friedman and Fraser then experimented with another group of homeowners in the same suburb. They did it by changing the strategy slightly. Two weeks before the main request, they asked residents to place a very small sign on the windows with the words "Be a safe driver". Almost everyone agreed - the request was not burdensome. And after 2 weeks, another person came with a question about installing a huge billboard. And now 76% of the owners agreed with his request.

This strategy is called "foot in the door". The effectiveness has been confirmed by many experiments. By agreeing to the first, small request, people felt their involvement, involvement in the topic of safe driving. And then it was much easier for them to agree to a more substantial request. Therefore, it is better to start sales to new customers with a small service or an inexpensive product. Save the company’s most cost-effective proposal for the next step.