Noah Goldstein

17 percent of homeowners in a posh neighborhood agreed to it. But astonishingly, the researchers were able to obtain a 76 percent compliance rate from a different set of residents from the same neighborhood simply by making one seemingly insignificant addition to their request. What was the addition, and what does that tell us about how to persuade others effectively

different research assistant approached this separate group of residents two weeks

different research assistant approached this separate group of residents two weeks prior to this burdensome request and asked them if they’d be willing to display a very small, relatively inconspicuous sign in their window that read BE A SAFE DRIVER. Because it was such a small request, almost all of these residents agreed. Two weeks later, when someone else came to their home and asked them if they’d be willing to place the large billboard on their otherwise perfectly manicured lawn, they were much more inclined to agree

The evidence suggests that after agreeing to the request, the

residents came to see themselves as committed to worthy causes, such as safe driving. When these homeowners were approached a couple of weeks later, they were motivated to act consistently with this perception of themselves as concerned citizens

For example, one astute sales expert advises, “The general idea is to pave the way for full-line distribution by starting with a small order…. Look at it this way—when a person has signed an order for your merchandise, even though the profit is so small it hardly compensates for the time and effort of making the call, [he or she] is no longer a prospect—[he or she] is a customer

potential clients who are reluctant to use your service may be more inclined to do so if they’re first asked to take a small step, such as agreeing to an initial ten-minute appointment

In response to this very inconvenient request, 22 percent of the homeowners agreed—pretty

survey will involve five or six men from our staff coming into your home some morning for about 2 hours to enumerate and classify all the household products that you have. They will have to have full freedom in your house to go through the cupboards and storage places. Then all this information will be used in the writing of the reports for our public service publication

However, the researchers called a second set of residents three days before this invasive request. In the first call, they were asked:

We are calling you this morning to ask if you would answer a number of questions about what household products you use so that we could have this information for our public service publication, “The Guide.” Would you be willing to give us this information for our survey