A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of the low-ball compliance-gaining procedure

Abstract Introduction The low-ball (Cialdini et al., 1978) 1 is a compliance-gaining technique consisting of making an attractive initial offer to get a person to agree to the request and then making the terms less favorable (target request). Objective and methods The effectiveness of this technique was evaluated in a meta-analysis using 17 references, 23 studies, 44 subgroups and a combined sample size of 4733. Results Analysis reported a weighted mean correlation coefficient of r  = .16 and a weighted mean odds ratio of OR = 2.47. Moderator analysis reported that the low-ball was more efficient with a high cost request in terms of effort for the participant and when the solicitation of the target request is deferred. Conclusion These findings appeared congruent with commitment theoretical explanation of the low-ball.