Want to ask a Big Favour? Ask for a little one first!

Writing about web page http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/

I was checking out the websites where our Adwords campaign for Neuromarketing 2008 were showing and was taken back to the Neurosciencemarketing Blog . The latest entry by Roger Dooley describes two experiments that showed that the best way to get a stranger to do you a big favour was to ask for a little one first.

His second case taken from the book, right, described how residents were persuaded to put 6×3 foot ‘Drive Carefully’ signs in their front gardens. Going straight in produced a commendable 17% success rate in an upmarket area. Asking to put a small sticker in the window first with the same message produces almost total acceptance but remarkably, 2 weeks later, 76% of these agreed to the big signs that needed holes in their lawns. Over 4 times the success rate just by asking for the little thing first. Why?

The psychology seemed to be a sort of subconscious feeling that having granted one request, it would be consistent to grant a somewhat bigger one.
(Roger Dooley )

We can also think about how our human collaborative evolution is built upon building relationships. I wonder if this two stage process also helps the requester. Even researchers cold calling need to build themselves up. We all put off asking for that big important deliverable. Does having a smaller thing to ask for first allow us to ask quicker and more naturally?

Of course the email autoresponder marketing experts have been up-selling using this phased ‘foot in the door’ for years.

If you are involved in a charity or need help for a big event check up the whole entry. It was certainly food for thought.

Robert McGonigle : 11 Sep 2008 11:14 |  Tags: Charity Cognitive Psychology Giving Neuroimaging Neuromarketing Neuroscience |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem