Mindfulness Limits Compliance with the That's-Not-AU Technique

The authors assessed whether That's-Not-All (TNA) influence techniques are mindless phenomena. A psychology club gourmet chocolate sale displayed either large or small boxes of chocolate. When passersby asked for the price of the chocolate, they were given a TNA offer or a control offer Inquirers were also told no reason, a placebic reason, or a good reason for buying the chocolate. The box price increased mindfulness. People considering the large box were persuaded by the real reason more than by the placebic reason, whereas people considering the small box were equally persuaded by placebic and real reasons. The TNA offer was effective in selling the small box of chocolate (76% for TNA vs. 45% for control) but not the large box (18% for TNA vs. 24% for control). These findings suggest that the TNA effect works only when people are mindlessly considering the offer.