Multiple Deescalating Requests,Statistical Information,and Compliance: A Field Experiment1

Although prior research on influence has identified numerous techniques for increasing donation rates (see e. g., Cialdini, 1988), the problem of increasing donation sizes has been neglected. We conducted a field experiment in a telemarketing fundraising context to examine the effectiveness of three influence techniques for increasing the size of donations. The results indicate that the multiple-deescalating-requests technique was effective for increasing donation sizes. However, statistical information-based techniques were ineffective. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.