The Actual Practice of Compliance Seeking

Abstract

We specify 2 independent theoretical frameworks in which it is a practical necessity to engage in compliance seeking incrementally and interactively in order to establish the social meanings of solicitation and of response. One theoretical framework ties social meaning to the interactional positioning of solicitation and response; the second framework ties social meaning to the way solicitation and response each are framed relative to shared cultural or other premises about persuadables and about the rights and obligations of each party. Accordingly, the chief communication mechanism that promotes compliance must be a give-and-take process in which each party can influence, and accommodate, the other's understanding of what solicitation and response mean. We analyze 2 naturally occurring compliance-seeking episodes and find support for our initial theorizing and discuss consequences for theory.