Commitments & Consistency

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“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”
Leonardo Da Vinci

People fulfill written, public, and voluntary commitments.

If you need something done, there are a couple of ways to make people feel committed.

One way is good turns. Do something nice for the person and they feel committed to return the favor or nicety. This works some of the time, not all of the time.

An even more powerful persuasive technique is to get them to make the commitment public. When someone makes a public commitment, they are much more likely to follow through. This technique is extremely powerful as individuals, once they have made a public commitment, like to remain consistent with who they are.

Here’s a "Jim" of a story

Here’s an example. Let’s say that you have an employee, and his name is Jim. Jim is responsible for turning in the daily sales reports. Every day Jim is late turning in the reports.

You have spoken to Jim on numerous occasions telling him that the reports must be turned in on time. Nothing seems to work. You are now frustrated, you could fire Jim, but he has some great qualities that could prove to be an extremely valuable asset to the company. Jim has numerous clients that love him, and he values his relationships with these clients.

How can we help Jim? Unknowingly we have done a disservice to Jim as well as ourselves. Jim is just acting consistently with who we said that he is. “Jim is always late with the reports”. You have labeled Jim, the other employees have labeled Jim, and now he is behaving consistent with his label because that is what is expected of him.

It sounds crazy, but it is true, we have to be careful what we believe and what labels we allow others to give us.

How do you fix the problem?

You have Jim commit publicly to getting the reports done on time, but you also commend him for something that he values. This needs to be done subtly and caringly, or you will create animosity and Jim will react in hurt and anger instead.

You simply call a staff meeting. You ask everyone for reports on what they are doing, what they are working on etc… When you get to Jim, you ask him about the sales reports. You come up with a definitive time that the sales reports need to be turned in. You ask the others to help Jim and to make sure that they have their information to him in plenty of time for him to reach this goal. You ask Jim, if he agrees to have the reports done and turned in by 11. You wait for his affirmative reply.

You thank him, and then compliment him on his sales and the value that he adds to the company. You are not finished. After the meeting thank Jim for his commitment, and then, send an email to everyone with a few minutes from the meeting. Make sure that you again let everyone know that they need to have their reports in as Jim will need them to make his daily 11 o’clock deadline.

You send Jim a private email as well thanking him again, and letting him know how that you are happy about getting the reports on time. Let him know that you have passed around the email to everyone, and that they all know that he must have the reports in by 11:00. Go on to explain a little how the reports will be helpful in serving the customers that Jim values so highly. Ask him to send a response, letting you know that he received and read the email.

Jim has now committed publicly, he has been given a new label, and he sees how his reports will help his customers.

Psychologically there seems to be a strong correlation about taking an action to solidify commitments. Make them public, and get them in writing.

* In the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, college students were asked to estimate the length of lines projected on a screen.

Group A. Were asked to write down their answers, sign them and hand them in.
Group B. Were asked to write their choices down on an erasable slate, and then erase their answers
Group C. Were asked to think of the answers and keep them to themselves

The experimenters then presented all three groups with evidence that their initial choices may have been wrong.

Group C, the ones that kept the answers to themselves, were easily persuaded to reconsider their answers.

Group B, were more loyal to their original answers and were not easily swayed from their answers

Group A, were the most reluctant to shift, they would not be persuaded that their answers were incorrect. They were committed to their answer and wanted to stay consistent.

Individuals will go through an amazing amount of personal and interpersonal pressure to remain consistent. Even in situations where it is not sensible to be that way. Consistency allows us to move through life much of the time without having to be introspective, without having to think through each process or decision that confronts us. Pros and Cons are diluted in Consistency, we just “keep the course” and follow through with our consistent behavior even if it is a path to our own detriment.

How can we use commitment and consistency in Marketing or in a positive way? Think about Jim’s story. Here is another quick story about a Puppy that changed a little boy’s label.

The story of the Puppy

Recently I was getting my hair cut and I was having a nice conversation with my hair stylist. She told me that her 7-year-old son Tyler was terrifed of dogs. Tyler would go into a panic attack every time he saw a dog. I asked the obvious question if he had ever been attacked by a dog, or seen anyone be attacked by a dog.

She said no. She said she could not understand why he was so frightened. She was even more distressed as she was to watch her sister’s brand new 6-week-old puppy for two weeks while her sister traveled. They had brought the puppy over to introduce to Tyler, and Tyler climbed up on the couch screaming, afraid to let his feet even off the couch if the puppy was nearby.

I asked Mary if she had discussed this with her son. I asked her if she had asked him why he was afraid, and IF her son had heard her use the words he is “afraid of dogs” or he is “scared to death” of dogs. I know I would hate to be scared to death of anything.

She said yes, that he had heard her speak to her husband this way as well as to friends over the phone. He had been labeled and formed a belief that yes, he was afraid of dogs. He was now performing in a way that was consistent with his label, what was expected of him.

I asked Mary if she would be willing to perform a very simple experiment that I thought might help. She readily agreed.

When your sister brings the puppy over, please have her keep the puppy in the dog carrier. I then want you to sit down on the floor with Tyler in front of the crate and I want you to talk to Tyler. I want you to tell Tyler that this is a baby puppy that is very fragile. This baby puppy needs an older brother, a friend, someone to look after him because he is very lonely. Tell him that this puppy will completely depend on him for love, and for food. Remind him that this puppy needs all of the things that a good mother or father would give. Tell him that you would like him to assume the role as the puppy’s father, as the provider. If the puppy is sick, he will let you know. Remind him that the puppy needs him just like he needs his parents. Let him also know that he will set up puppy rules and discipline the puppy, and help potty train the puppy.

Mary was very excited about this idea. I told her this would allow Tyler to create a new, more powerful belief in who he was. That now you would free him from being “scared to death” of dogs, and be more of a caretaker – a provider.

Last week I went back to Mary. I could tell that she was very excited. She said that she had talked with Tyler and that Tyler had assumed the role of the dog’s caregiver. She said that when they had to return the puppy to her sister that Tyler was very upset, and held the puppy in his lap all the way to her house.

Tyler and Mary have now decided to get their own dog. Being committed to consistency can control us and deprive us of things that can add value to our lives. But, if we find a positive way to change our beliefs and immediately replace that change with something empowering and fulfilling, we can break through the mold of consistency. Changed thinking can change behavior.


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* 1996 Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Delia Cioffi and Randy Garner