Chapter 1 - Universiteit Twente

General Introduction
Social influence: compliance with persuasive requests
Social influence, the process of changing our attitudes, feelings and behaviors in
response to intentional and sometimes unintentional actions of others, has been
fascinating scholars for over half a century. Among the most prominent lines of research
in this field are classic studies on conformity and social norms (Asch, 1951, 1956;
Deutsch & Gerard, 1955; Sherif, 1936), obedience (Milgram, 1963, 1974), persuasion and
attitude change (Chaiken, 1980; Petty & Cacioppo, 1981, 1986), and compliance (Burger,
1986; Cialdini, 1993; Cialdini, Cacioppo, Bassett, & Miller, 1978; Freedman & Fraser,
1966). In contrast to the classic social influence studies, where the targets of influence
were confronted with explicit social forces that were well within conscious awareness,
scholars in recent years have increasingly emphasized processes that are subtle, indirect,
and outside conscious awareness of the target of influence (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004).
One of the main research areas to which these subtle processes apply is the study of
behavioral compliance, or acquiescence to persuasive requests. The process of yielding
to compliance plays a role in many types of social interaction, and pre-eminently
within the field of marketing communication and consumer psychology where it has
become a central topic of study. Within this field it is highly relevant to study what
makes consumers comply with several types of (unsolicited) requests, usually without
overt pressure. What makes people subscribe to a book club, buy special bargain hotel
vouchers, or change their energy supplier when accosted by sales representatives on
the street, in a store, or even at home? Offers that they were not planning to yield to
in advance and, as it seems, they could just as well refuse. And similarly, what makes
people sign a petition, donate money to charity, or volunteer on behalf of an unknown
organization or cause? How do persuasion agents representing profit and non-profit
organizations manage to persuade individuals to perform a desired behavior, without
these individuals necessarily being interested in their products and services, or feeling
positive about charitable giving? Typically, these compliance professionals do not bluntly
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