Door-in-the-face technique refers to the method for achieving compliance in which a certain request is preceded by a much larger one.
The refusal of the first request, and the apparent concession on the part of the requester, makes people more likely to agree to the second demand, feeling that they should now make a concession of their own. It is a strategy for gaining a concession. After someone first turns down a large request (the door-in-the-face), the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request.
Other /More definition:
Door-in-the-face technique refers to a technique to get people to comply with a request, whereby people are presented first with a large request, which they are expected to refuse, and then with a smaller, more reasonable request, to which it is hoped they will acquiesce
Other definition:
Door-in-the-face technique refers to a a technique to get people to comply with a request, whereby people are presented first with a large request, which they are expected to refuse, and then with a smaller, more reasonable request, to which it is hoped they will acquiesce