The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon 40 and 50 Years Later: A Direct Replication of the Original Freedman and Fraser Study in Poland and in Ukraine

Since the original Freedman and Fraser studies were published, a great amount of research using the foot-in-the-door tactic has revealed its effectiveness. Nevertheless, the effect sizes reported in meta-analysis studies tend to be low and the effect size obtained by Freedman and Fraser in their studies has never been obtained again. We conducted a direct replication of the original foot-in-the-door experiment in two time intervals and in two countries. The results indicate a drop of compliance over time. The results reveal that, while in 2003 the foot-in-the-door strategy was effective in Ukraine and ineffective in Poland, in 2013, the effect was insignificant in both Ukraine and Poland. The results are explained by high ecological validity of the foot-in-the-door procedure.