Concession Builds Commitment

Behaviour Change

In his research, Robert Cialdini (Cialdini 2006) stopped people on the street and asked them to chaperone a group of troubled youth on a one-day trip to the zoo. Only 17 percent of people said yes.

Some of the time he first asked people to spend two hours a week as a counselor for the youth for a minimum of two years (a larger request). In that case everyone said no. But if he then asked them to chaperone a group of troubled youth on a one-day trip to the zoo, 50 percent agreed. That’s nearly three times the 17 percent who agreed when they were only asked to chaperone. That’s concession working.

Ask for two years of weekly volunteering. Receive a horrified no. Retreat to one afternoon at the zoo. Suddenly the smaller request feels almost indecently reasonable.

The second ask has not changed. Its psychological price has.

A concession creates movement on both sides. The requester appears to have given something up, which invites reciprocity. The contrast also shrinks the remaining demand. In Cialdini’s study, more people agreed after the absurd first request—and more of those people actually showed up.

That last result matters. A reluctant yes extracted by pressure often evaporates before action. Here, the exchange may have made the final agreement feel more owned. The person did not merely surrender; they participated in reaching a middle ground.

Used badly, this is manipulative haggling using behavioural science as an alibi. Retailers invent a ridiculous anchor, politicians propose a horror, salespeople present a package nobody expects to buy. The “concession” was planned before the customer entered the story.

The ethical line is whether the opening request could genuinely have been accepted and whether the smaller option stands on its own. Negotiation needs genuine alternatives. A fabricated opening demand that exists only to distort comparison is just manipulation with nicer manners.

The zoo trip is still a real commitment. Saturday still needs travel arrangements and a named volunteer who will actually turn up. Record that agreement before celebrating the clever sequence of requests.