Mediating Effects of Material Payment, Social Reinforcement, and Familiarity on Foot-in-the-Door Phenomena in Thailand

Abstract Material payment, social reinforcement, and familiarity were examined as possible mediating variables in the foot-in-the-door technique in the Thai society. Female college students in Thailand were randomly assigned to one of the eight possible combinations of the above three variables (e.g., material payment-social reinforcement-familiarity; no material payment-social reinforcement-familiarity; material payment-no social reinforcement-familiarity). At first contact, subjects were asked to respond to a 10-item checklist regarding environmental concerns. Four days later the same subjects were asked to travel a few miles from the college to plant trees as part of an environmental enhancement project. Verbal compliance (agreeing to go) and behavioral compliance (showing up at the appointed time and place for transportation to the planting site) were assessed and analyzed according to the experimental condition to which each subject was assigned. Social reinforcement significantly affected both verbal and behavioral compliance, whereas neither material payment nor familiarity affected either verbal or behavioral compliance. Social reinforcement was concluded to be a mediating variable in the foot-in-the-door phenomenon.