 Kate McAuliff earns class credit while going door-to-door collecting donations from students to benefit The Greater Boston Food Bank.
| |
It is not often that university term projects cross the line that divides intellectual exercise from "practical" action. This was the intent, however, for Kevin McIntyre, a professor in the psychology department, when he allowed students in his Social Psychology class to choose "Persuasion Techniques and Charitable Giving" as a topic for their final project of the fall semester.
Eight groups of 13 students were doing "what social psychologists do" by using persuasion techniques learned in class to collect donations for The Greater Boston Food Bank. The only stipulations were that the data collection take place in a public area, that the chosen techniques be administered randomly and consistently, and that all of the data be recorded and then summarized in a report detailing a hypothesis, the method, the results, and a conclusion. When the project ended in December, the Food Bank was presented with $1,015, which was used to distribute 2,081 meals to the hungry of eastern Massachusetts.
Jessie Hartman, A&S '10, along with partner Claire Specht, A&S '10, covered Edmond's Hall using the "foot-in-the-door" and "legitimizing small favors" techniques. The foot-in-the-door method of persuasion calls for the asker to propose a small amount of money and then later raise the amount after the small request has been accepted. The legitimizing small favors technique calls for the asker to make a statement such as, "Would you be willing to donate money - anything would help, even a penny." This method eliminates any excuse for not complying and serves to threaten the self-conception of being generous.
Hartman reported that there were 68 total participants, with 36 in foot-in-the-door and 32 in legitimizing small favors. Of the 36 students in foot-in-the-door, 28 agreed to make a donation, and 23 donated more than $1. The overall success rate was 82 percent, and the average donation was $2.54. This technique raised $61.32. On the other hand, 27 of the 32 participants in legitimizing small favors agreed to donate an average of $3.40, leading to a total of $91.88. In total, Hartman and Specht collected over $150 using both methods.
