Grammatical variations in persuasion: Effectiveness of four forms of request in door‐to‐door solicitations for funds

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to assess the comparative effectiveness of four forms of request in door‐to‐door solicitations for funds for a charitable organization. The techniques were (a) polite imperative, (b) agreement question, (c) information question, and (d) statement. These forms were expected to differ, in descending order, in the amount of pressure to comply that they seem to exert on the respondent. A rationale for expecting these differences was based on the structural constraints inherent in the grammatical forms. The polite imperative, which was predicted to exert the most pressure, was the most effective in soliciting funds, particularly for female solicitors and solicitors who were more attractive. Predictions based on grammatical constraints could not account for all of the fund‐raising data, however, nor could they be fully substantiated in independently assessed judgments of perceived pressure.