Influence: Science and Practice

Dayton, Ohio -- I just started reading Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini. I'm only a chapter into it and it's already fascinating, with many implications for direct mail and face-to-face fundraising.

Cialdini (a former fundraiser and salesperson, and currently a professor of social psychology) discusses the factors that cause someone to say "yes," and which techniques most effectively use those factors to get someone to say "yes." For example, does asking a question in different ways change the response of the person being asked?

Cialdini says that giving a reason for your request -- ANY reason -- significantly improves "yes" responses. A study tested this by having a person ask to cut in line at the copier in a library. When the person asked, "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine," only 60% of those asked said "yes." But when the question was changed to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush," 94% of those asked responded with a "yes."

It seems simple enough. The person is in a rush, so you let them go ahead, right? But when the question was changed again, this time to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies," 93% of those asked still responded with a "yes" -- even though a real reason wasn't given. (Of course you have to make copies.)

This is going to be one interesting book. As I read chapters, I'll write more about the fundraising implications.