(a continuation of my notes on Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini.)
Just tell me that you’ll tell me why?
People are more likely to say “yes” to a request if they have been given a reason for the request.
Okay, we don’t need a Ph.D. to tell us that, but what is surprising is that often the reason itself isn’t important, what’s important is that there is a reason.
For example, in Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion, Cialdini gives an example of a study where people waiting in line at a copier were asked to let someone in ahead of them.
When the asker just said, “Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine,” people said yes 60 percent of the time. But when she gave a reason and said “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush,” they said yes 94 percent of the time.
No surprise there.
But when they change things up, things start to get interesting. In a different test, rather than saying “because I’m in a rush,” the asker said, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies,” people said yes 93 percent of the time.
Wow.
This shows how important it is to give a reason for our actions, even if it’s not a complete or useful explanation. Saying “because I need to make some copies” doesn’t add any information, of course she wants to make some copies. But it does trigger something in the listener that makes them more likely to say yes.
The lesson here is simple. Give people a reason to say yes. Always.
I wish this worked that well for fundraising. “Excuse me, I work for ICPJ. Can you make a $5,000 donation because I need to make some copies?”
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[...] Last but certainly not least, a fast-growing contingent of activists and non-profit organizations are taking up study of persuasion in order to amplify their capacity to do good in the world. Whether increasing donations, recruiting more volunteers, or educating the public, Influence is providing the basic tools for doing these tasks more effectively. A cool example of an activist blog delving into the secrets of the art is The Warp Report. [...]
[...] reason given need not be a good one at all to dramatically increase compliance with the request. In The Warp Report, Chuck Warpehoski, who is actively involved with the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, [...]
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