A Complete Guide to the Door-in-the-Face Technique

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Plus other persuasion tactics to try out

Co-authored by Kelli Miller, LCSW, MSW and Annabelle Reyes

Last Updated: April 5, 2024 Fact Checked

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Definition

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Examples

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Why It’s Effective

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How to Use It

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Door-in-the-Face vs. Foot-in-the-Door

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Other Compliance Techniques

Do you have a big favor to ask of someone, but you’re afraid they’re going to shoot you down? If so, you might want to consider using the door-in-the-face technique! This psychological compliance strategy involves making a big, unrealistic request, followed by a smaller, more reasonable one, and it tends to be very effective. If you want to learn more about this fascinating technique, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll go over what it is and how to use it. We’ll also cover a few other persuasion strategies you can try out, so keep reading!

Door-in-the-Face Technique Meaning

The door-in-the-face technique is a compliance strategy that involves making a large, unrealistic request, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request. Having first refused the more extreme ask, the respondent is more likely to agree to the second one (which was the real goal of the requester all along).

Section 1 of 6:

What is the door-in-the-face technique?

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The door-in-the-face (DITF) technique is a persuasion strategy. It is commonly studied in social psychology. First, the asker makes an extreme, unrealistic request that the other person is sure to turn down—effectively slamming the door in the asker’s face. The asker immediately follows up with a second, more reasonable request (which was the real request all along). ^{[1]
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- According to research, the recipient is much more likely to agree to the smaller request after first being presented with the larger, more outlandish option. ^{[2]
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It was introduced in 1975 by psychologist Robert Cialdini. In their original experiment, Cialdini and his colleagues approached students and asked if they would volunteer to be unpaid counselors at a juvenile detention center for two hours a week for two whole years. When the students refused, Cialdini and his team asked if they would volunteer to escort juveniles from the detention center on a two-hour trip to the zoo. ^{[3]
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- 50% of the students agreed to the second request when they were first presented with the more outlandish request.
- When a different group of students was presented with only the second, smaller request, only 17% agreed. ^{[4]
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- In other words, the experiment showed that people may be more likely to agree to a target request when they’re first presented with a larger request.

Section 2 of 6:

Examples of the Door-in-the-Face Technique

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The DITF technique is commonly used in sales and negotiations. It can also be used in personal situations when one person needs to ask a favor, but they’re worried the other person will refuse. ^{[5]
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Research source} Here are some examples:
- At a garage sale, a customer asks for the price of a desk. The seller first says $250, which he knows the buyer will turn down. After the buyer refuses, the seller says, “Okay, I think I could sell for $100.” Having already turned down the more outlandish price, the buyer is more likely to accept.
- When negotiating a pay increase, an employee first asks their boss for a 25% raise, though this request likely won’t be met. After their boss says no, the employee makes their true request for a raise of 15%.
- An entrepreneur is trying to get funding for his new business. He starts by asking a potential investor for $5 million dollars. When the investor refuses, the entrepreneur follows up with a request for a $1 million dollar investment.
- An employee of a non-profit organization asks someone if they would be willing to volunteer for a 5-hour beach clean-up. When the person says no, the employee asks if they’d be willing to donate $5 to the cause instead.
- A girl wants to borrow her older sister’s shirt. First, she asks to borrow a whole outfit and shoes, which her sister predictably refuses. She then says, “Okay, fine. Can I at least borrow the shirt?” Her sister is more likely to agree to this request because it seems more reasonable compared to the first one.