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Application of compliance techniques to direct‐mail requests for charitable donations
Author(s) -
Weyant James M.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199602)13:2<157::aid-mar3>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - direct mail , compliance (psychology) , relevance (law) , psychology , direct marketing , donation , social psychology , internet privacy , computer science , advertising , business , political science , law
The possibility that psychological compliance techniques might be applied to increase the effectiveness of direct‐mail requests for charitable contributions is raised. Although there are few studies with direct bearing on this possibility, there is an extensive literature on compliance techniques in general and many studies on the effectiveness of such techniques when applied to verbal requests for contributions, most often in door‐to‐door campaigns. Research on the application of the foot‐in‐the‐door, door‐in‐the‐face, low‐ball, and legitimization‐of‐small‐donation techniques to verbal requests for charitable contributions is reviewed, and the relevance of these studies to potential direct‐mail applications is explored. The few attempts to apply the legitimization of small contributions to the direct‐mail mode, which have produced mixed results, are also reviewed and analyzed. It is suggested that successful application of compliance techniques to the direct‐mail mode may depend on careful modifications of the techniques to calibrate them optimally to direct mail, and to the particular situations in which campaigns are to be undertaken. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.