The Relative Effectiveness of a Direct Request Message and a Pregiving Message on Friends and Strangers

Abstract

This study examined the role of the norm of reciprocity in mediating the relative effect of compliance-gaining message type on compliance in interactions involving friends and strangers. Subjects received either a direct request to purchase raffle tickets or received the request after having a favor done for them by a confederate, a pregiving message. Results indicate that friends comply more with requests than strangers and that their compliance is constant across message types. Among strangers, the pregiving message produced more compliance than the direct request.