Low Ball Technique- A prospect to align people to Social good

Continuing on the Chapter on Commitment and Consistency from the book 'Influence' by Robert Cialdini, I encountered another interesting example of compliance from a set of people.

A low-ball procedure is a technique deployed by salesmen to offer a subdued rate for a product and influence a customer to inch closer to the deal and then find out that the rate had been quoted lower inadvertently and the actual rate was actually higher. Before the actual rate is known to a customer they have actually decided and gone through a number of activities to purchase the product.

In the case of Car agencies, they have offered the customer a rate that is slightly lower than the competitor. The customer has by now gone through the paperwork and has even been offered to test drive the vehicle for a day. The customer is almost sure about his decision to buy and then he is suddenly informed that the rate was inadvertently quoted a little lesser than the sale price. The car agency may even get this discrepancy known through the bank guy who processes the loan.

The customer is clearly displeased but the difference rate is minute compared to the overall price of the car and this agency is not selling higher than its competitor. The Customer ignores this fallacy and goes ahead with the purchase.

The unscrupulous use of the technique was to net the potential customer to not go to the other dealer as the prices being offered are similar and the customer might make the purchase from the other agency for a petty offer of discount. Here by offering a relatively lesser price, the customer finds the deal to be lucrative and then is put into the process where he put his energy in the form of signing papers, taking the car for a test drive, and feeling accustomed to the ownership experience. Now when the actual price is quoted, it causes some unrest but he is not bothered by the slight increase in price as it is still not more than the price being offered by the competitor.

The use case of the technique is a shrewd way of getting sales. However, the technique can also be deployed for a socially beneficial cause. A study was conducted in Iowa- a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. The study was led by social psychologist Michael Pallack using the low-ball procedure to influence homeowners to conserve energy.

The set of households was asked to conserve energy as it had benefits for society in the form of reduced foreign dependency on oil, reduced energy bills, less environmental damage, and so on. The households agreed with the advice of the study team. Then these households were studied for their power bills for the next few months. There was no difference noticed between their previous bills and the current bills. It reflected that there was no specific effect of the advice given by the team.

Now Pallack wanted to introduce a change in the study. A different set of households was selected for the same message to be passed on but with an incentive that the people who oblige would be praised publicly by getting their names published in the newspaper. The households were studied for their compliance in the ensuing months. Surprisingly, the bills of the household’s savings increased by 12.2% for the first month.

Now came the time to implement the low-ball technique and check the result. The households were now informed through a letter that their names could not be published in the newspaper. The households were still being noticed by the study team. To their utter surprise, the savings increased by 15.5 for the rest of the winter months. What did the study show?

It highlights an important fact that people had been lo-balled into a conversation commitment through a promise of publicity in the newspaper. Once they committed, it generated its own support through pride in conserving energy, and public good, and viewing themselves as conservation-minded. Even a withdrawal of the incentive of public appreciation did not deter them from continuing their high spirit for the cause.

I have faced the effects of the low-ball procedure in school. It was not an unintended outcome of the failure of the institute to live up to its promise. In grade 7, I participated in an essay writing competition at a local institute. lt had participants from different schools across the town. I wrote an essay on women’s empowerment and won a prize for it. The rumor was that the winners would get a color TV. I became delighted with my achievement and even received accolades in school. It was told that I would receive the prize in 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks, I received no prize and neither any confirmation if it would actually be given. I lost hope that I would get the desired prize. But the event did leave a positive impression on me. I did not stop participating in future essay writing competitions. In fact, the mere achievement of having won a prize in a highly competitive event had infused confidence in me. Even if I did not receive a gift I was happy with what I had achieved.

I think this event draws a semblance to the experience of households who continued saving energy despite knowing that their names would not be published in the newspaper.

In Indian context, this concept can be used for the public good to eradicate social problems. The same principle can be taken out to the people to associate with causes where they can find a personal benefit and also have the larger social good. The technique should be creatively devised to fight social evils such as sex determination, dowry, and other issues such as open defecation. It may have lasting effects.