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Counting On Blood Donors: Increasing the Impact of Reminder Calls
Author(s) -
Lipsitz Angela,
Kallmeyer Katherine,
Ferguson Martha,
Abas Andrew
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1989.tb01239.x
Subject(s) - attendance , psychology , altruism (biology) , social psychology , law , political science
Two experiments were conducted to see if blood drive attendance could be increased by altering the content of reminder calls. In Experiment 1 college students received either a standard reminder (the place, time, and necessity of eating beforehand) or a commitment‐enhancing reminder in which they agreed to be “counted on”. Those in the latter condition were significantly more likely (p <.007) to attend a blood drive. Experiment 2 demonstrated that an alternate wording for the commitment‐enhancing message was possible; that a verbal response was necessary to ensure the commitment; and that a message enhancing altruism was not as effective. The studies suggest that asking for an additional commitment during a reminder call can appreciably increase blood drive participation rates.