In a recent press release, Authors Bob M. Fennis (Utrecht
University, the Netherlands), Loes Janssen (University of Twente,
the Netherlands), and Kathleen D. Vohs (University of Minnesota)
[and Vohs is one of my favorite reads. In marketing and social psych
...there just aren't any better]...found that... questions that seem like
polite chitchat actually soften you up for a pitch. And this strategy
succeeds at increasing donations.
The next time a telemarketer opens with a friendly
question, you might stop and wonder why. A new study in the Journal
of Consumer Research shows that it is surprisingly effective when
salespeople or fundraisers ask how your day has been or which
football team you support before broaching the subject of a purchase
or donation.
"Across six field and lab studies we found that influence agents'
initial questions deplete the self-control resources that are needed
to resist an unwanted influence attempt," write the authors.
"This
state of reduced self-control renders consumers vulnerable to the
persuasion ploys foisted upon them by influence agents, thereby
resulting in increased willingness to acquiesce to the agent."
The researchers broke down the process into two stages. The first is
the initial question, or series of questions, that softens up the
listener and gets him or her to essentially yield to the request.
The first step takes away some of the resources we might normally
use to control our spending and refuse the request.
The second stage
is when the actual donation appeal is made. In a state weakened by
answering questions, we end up giving more, the authors explain.
So when a telemarketer asks "How are you today?" consumers can
be considerately skeptical of what is coming next.
KEYPOINT:
"The initial act of answering seemingly harmless questions is enough
to produce a state of mindlessness which increases the odds of
complying with a larger target request," the authors conclude.
[Bob M. Fennis, Loes Janssen, and Kathleen D. Vohs. Acts of
Benevolence: A Limited‐Resource Account of Compliance
with Charitable Requests. Journal of Consumer Research,
April 2009 DOI: 10.1086/593291]
Risky Decisions
Today people feel like every decision they make is a risk.
And that is not necessarily a foolish frame.
But....because most people are paralyzed by risk, they become
more likely to put off doing business with you today.
There's a lot of times this makes sense. There's a lot of times
this doesn't.
You are persuading someone to make a decision. In fact,
every communication includes some level of persuasion.
Cool?
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"This
state of reduced self-control renders consumers vulnerable to the
persuasion ploys foisted upon them by influence agents, thereby
resulting in increased willingness to acquiesce to the agent."
