Saturday, October 18, 2008

Commitment - Consistency Theory

How committed are you? Be it to a brand of detergent or your significant other, an individuals’ commitment is influenced by countless factors. Commitment can begin as a handshake or a small donation or even a junk e-mail with an interesting subject line. Once something reaches the threshold of capturing attention it can grow to be much more.

I believe Commitment - Consistency Theory is best represented in a children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. Giving the mouse a cookie encourages the mouse to ask for a glass of milk and many requests follow that. Similarly, agreeing to sign a petition may result in e-mails that request donations or further involvement and interaction. “Freedman and Fraser’s (1966) seminal work found that compliance with a small initial request positively influenced compliance with a larger, related, subsequent request (Vaidyanathan & Aggarwal, 2005, pp. 234)."

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Use caution when giving your valuable time and energy. A commitment can be an isolated event; it is ok to say “no”.

Joffe Numeroff, L. (1985). If you give a mouse a cookie. New York: Harpers Collins Publishers.


Vaidyanathan, R. & Aggarwal, P. (2005). Using commitments to drive consistency: Enhancing the effectiveness of cause-related marketing communications. Journal of Marketing Communications, 11(4), 231-246.

1 comment:

James Lutz said...

Rachel,
I always remember the "under-promise and over-deliver" rule, but being dyslexic, I often get that backwards.

I thing being generous and giving is noble...until we tap the same people too many times. Its great when others step up and take a turn.

Although I had the "no" word mastered as a 2 year, old, I forgot how to say it as a grownup. How nice it sounds to use it again once in awhile!
Jim