Page 222 - The Social Animal

204 The Social Animal

strategy described above is a common and successful ploy called
lowballing, or throwing the customer a lowball.
What is going on in this situation? There are at least three im-
portant things to notice. First, while the customer’s decision to buy
is certainly reversible, there is a commitment emphasized by the act
of signing a check for a down payment. Second, this commitment
triggered the anticipation of a pleasant or interesting experience:
driving out with a new car. To have the anticipated event thwarted
(by not going ahead with the deal) would have produced dissonance
and disappointment. Third, although the final price is substantially
higher than the customer thought it would be, it is only slightly
higher than the price somewhere else. Under these circumstances,
the customer in effect says, “Oh, what the hell. I’m already here; I’ve
already filled out the forms—why wait?” Clearly, such a ploy would
not be effective if the consequences were somewhat higher, as in
matters of life and death.

The Decision to Behave Immorally How can an honest
person become corrupt? Conversely, how can we get a person to be
more honest? One way is through the dissonance that results from
making a difficult decision. Suppose you are a college student en-
rolled in a biology course. Your grade will hinge on the final exam
you are now taking.The key question on the exam involves some ma-
terial you know fairly well—but, because of anxiety, you draw a
blank. You are sitting there in a nervous sweat. You look up, and lo
and behold, you happen to be sitting behind a woman who is the
smartest person in the class (who also happens, fortunately, to be the
person with the most legible handwriting in the class). You glance
down and notice she is just completing her answer to the crucial
question. You know you could easily read her answer if you chose to.
What do you do? Your conscience tells you it’s wrong to cheat—and
yet, if you don’t cheat, you are certain to get a poor grade. You wres-
tle with your conscience. Regardless of whether you decide to cheat
or not to cheat, you are doomed to experience dissonance. If you
cheat, your cognition “I am a decent moral person” is dissonant with
your cognition “I have just committed an immoral act.” If you decide
to resist temptation, your cognition “I want to get a good grade” is
dissonant with your cognition “I could have acted in a way that
would have ensured a good grade, but I chose not to.”