1. How can signing a petition be a form of persuasion
How can signing a petition be a form of persuasion? Commitment and consistency and their effects on persuasion and compliance “It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” Leonardo da Vinci

2. Consistency Commitment  consistency to committed position
Encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with commitment
Pressures to justify initial commitment
Desire for consistency is central motivator of our behavior

3. Holding people accountable for consistency
Merck training manual: “Ask for specific, realistic, and measurable action… tell the doctor that you’ll follow up on the action that he or she has agreed to… [This] enables you to hold their feet to the fire. It will increase the chances of them actually following through, knowing you’ll call them on it.”

4. Why are we consistent to our commitments?
Cognitive dissonance
Effort justification of commitment
Public pressure
Consistency is valued and adaptive
Heuristic to rely on past decision and commitment
- don’t need to reevaluate all commitments and decisions; avoid expending energy on continuing thought

5. American Cancer study
Experimental group: Researcher asked people to predict whether they would spend 3 hours volunteering for American Cancer Society
Control group: not asked
Several days later………. Those in experimental group were 700% more likely to agree when ACS rep did call.

6. Question-behavior effect
Asking people about their pro-social behavior (either past behavior or prediction) increases pro-social behavior
Ex.) Recycling
Self-prediction: 67% recycling
No prediction: 51%

7. Chinese POWs
Example of Chinese POW camps during Korean War- initial written commitments
Ex.: America is not perfect
then Why is America not perfect..
then asked to write essay and sign it
then essay shown to other POWs or read on speaker
Contests to write about communism versus America with very minimal prizes (induced compliance)
The harmless effects of culminating concessions and small commitments (the four walls technique)
--the four walls technique.  Each affirmative response to the salesperson's questions…