PsychologicalMANIPULATIVE

Bogey Technique

What it is

Pretending that an issue you don't care about is very important to you, then "conceding" it in exchange for something you actually want.

How it works

You identify something the other party can give easily but which you frame as a painful sacrifice for you. By dramatically conceding this fake priority, you create reciprocal pressure for the other party to concede on something that actually matters to you. You trade something worthless for something valuable.

Real-world examples

  • •In a job negotiation, insisting on a corner office (which you don't care about) then trading it for a higher signing bonus.
  • •A vendor demanding an impossibly short delivery timeline, then "conceding" to a normal timeline in exchange for a price increase.
  • •In diplomacy, making a dramatic public concession on a symbolic issue to gain ground on a substantive one.

Ethical guidelines

  • ●The bogey technique is standard negotiation but becomes dishonest when the manufactured importance is extreme.
  • ●If discovered, it damages trust and credibility for future negotiations.
  • ●Use judiciously — sophisticated counterparts will recognize the pattern.

How to defend against it

  • ►When someone concedes "painfully," ask yourself whether the issue is genuinely important to them or manufactured.
  • ►Don't automatically reciprocate concessions — evaluate each trade on its own merits.
  • ►Research which issues actually matter to the other party before negotiating.

From the Defense Playbook

Decide Before You Look (Pre-commitment)minutes

Fix your criteria, budget, walk-away point, or answer in writing before you see the offer, the anchor, or the pressure, so that the decision is made by the cool version of you.

Every playbook entry states how strong its evidence is and when not to use it. Browse the full playbook.

References

  1. Lewicki, R. J., Saunders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2010). Negotiation (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin
    Standard treatment of 'the bogey' as a named hardball tactic: pretending an issue of little importance is very important in order to trade it later for concessions on issues that actually matter — the entry's definition — together with the difficulty of detecting it and the recommended counters.
  2. Cialdini, R. B., Vincent, J. E., Lewis, S. K., Catalan, J., Wheeler, D., & Darby, B. L. (1975). Reciprocal concessions procedure for inducing compliance: The door-in-the-face technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31(2), 206–215
    The reciprocity mechanism the entry relies on: a visible concession by one party creates pressure on the other to concede in return, even when the first party's concession cost it nothing real.
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