Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · chapter 3 · id influence-c3-03-the-lowball-technique-in-car-s

“The 'lowball' technique in car sales -- getting an initial commitment then raising the price -- works because the commitment creates psychological inertia that prevents withdrawal even when conditions change.”

needs contextconfidence: medium⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending

Receipts

Cialdini et al. (1978), Low-Ball Procedure for Producing Compliance, JPSP 36(5)DOI registry: valid

Participants who initially agreed to a favorable deal and then had the deal worsened still complied at higher rates (56.4%) than those who received only the worse deal from the start (31.6%).

Burger & Petty (1981), The Low-Ball Compliance Technique, JPSP 40(3)DOI registry: valid

Replicated the lowball effect in a series of studies. The effect appears reliable but smaller than in the original Cialdini study.

This claim is a stable, citable object. If you can falsify a verdict, tell us — corrections are loud here.