Definition

Compliance refers to an overt, public action performed in accordance with a request from an external source. The request can be from another person(s) or from an object, such as an election billboard or marketing advertisement. Thus, compliance can occur in response to an explicit request, as in the former example, or an implicit request, as in the latter example. Regardless of the source of the request, if a person acts in line with the request, he or she is said to be complying with the request. Compliance does not refer to an inner state of acceptance of the behavior performed nor does it refer to an attitude change; rather, it simply refers to acting in accordance with the request. If a person acts in ...