Neuromarketing nuggets: In praise of pre-commitment
- Sun, July 31 2011
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
Today and tomorrow here on the blog, I’m going to highlight a couple of fascinating psychological studies and take a stab at applying them to the work of nonprofit marketing. Both were featured in Roger Dooley’s wonderful Neuromarketing blog.
First up is a study that shows that asking people about their intentions to do something increases the probability they will take action later.
According to Roger Dooley:
Researchers Jonathan Levav and Gavin Fitzsimons ran a series of experiments involving behavior prediction of activities like flossing, reading, and eating healthier foods. In each case, the subjects were more likely to engage in the behavior if they predicted they would do so. In addition, the researchers found that being able to visualize the behavior bolstered the effect. There’s actually a large body of research on this topic. Other investigators have found that a statement of intent to purchase a car increases the probability of such a purchase in the ensuing months. One set of experiments performed by Chris Janiszewski and Elise Chandon showed that merely asking people about their intentions (dubbed “mere measurement” by social scientists) caused an increase in behaviors which were considered positive or pleasurable by the subjects and related the effects to “response fluency.” Perhaps the most relevant work for Neuromarketing readers is a paper published by Pierre Chandon, Vicki Morwitz, and Werner Reinartz, which found, measuring intentions increases the likelihood of repeat purchase incidence and shortens the time until the first repeat purchase.
So what’s a nonprofit marketer or fundraiser to do?
1. If you’re trying to get people to take action, ask for people to make a commitment to the action ahead of time. It’s easier for people to agree to do something down the road than to take action now—and when the time for action comes, they’ll be more likely to follow through with your request. Think about applying this to your programs, calls for volunteers or fundraising appeals.
2. If possible, get people to say yes to a future action in public. This further increases the likelihood they will comply with your request later. Pledges and petitions are great tools to try.
To paraphrase Roger - and apply this to nonprofits - here’s the bottom line: Instead of telling people make a change or give you support, ask them first whether they are willing. If they say yes, they will be well primed for taking action later.
Comments
Great stuff about the psychology of commitments and follow-through. I find the same action of asking for a commitment also works to deepen engagement with an organization. When I’ve asked someone to blog, post a comment, etc. on behalf of the nonprofit, and they agree, they are likely to do so. True, not everyone follows through. But I believe that the action of a.) asking and b.) them agreeing deepens the relationship to the organization. And that is one step closer to the organization than before.