Commitment and Consistency
People have a general desire to appear consistent in their behaviour. People generally also value consistency in others.
Compliance professionals can exploit the desire to be consistent by having someone make an initial, often small, commitment. Requests can then be made that are in keeping with this initial commitment.
People also have a strong desire to stand by commitments made by providing further justification and reasons for supporting them. This pattern of behaviour toward or resulting in a negative outcome is called escalation of commitment.
Read more about this topic: Influence: Science And Practice
Famous quotes containing the words commitment and/or consistency:
“Adolescents need to be reassured that nothing—neither their growing maturity, their moods, their misbehavior, nor your anger at something they have done—can shake your basic commitment to them.”
—Laurence Steinberg (20th century)
“All religions have honored the beggar. For he proves that in a matter at the same time as prosaic and holy, banal and regenerative as the giving of alms, intellect and morality, consistency and principles are miserably inadequate.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)