write it down. When you reach that goal, set another and write
that down. You’ll be off and running.^10
If the Amway people have found “something magical about writing
things down,” so have other business organizations. Some door-to-door
sales companies use the magic of written commitments to battle the
“cooling-off” laws recently passed in many states. The laws are designed
to allow customers a few days after purchasing an item to cancel the
sale and receive a full refund. At first this legislation hurt the hard-sell
companies deeply. Because they emphasize high-pressure tactics, their
customers often buy, not because they want the product but because
they are duped or intimidated into the sale. When the new laws went
into effect, these customers began canceling in droves.
The companies have since learned a beautifully simple trick that cuts
the number of such cancellations drastically. They merely have the
customer, rather than the salesman, fill out the sales agreement. Accord-
ing to the sales-training program of a prominent encyclopedia company,
that personal commitment alone has proved to be “a very important
psychological aid in preventing customers from backing out of their
contracts.” Like the Amway Corporation, then, these organizations
have found that something special happens when people personally
put their commitments on paper: They live up to what they have written
down.
Another common way for businesses to cash in on the “magic” of
written declarations occurs through the use of an innocent-looking
promotional device. Before I began to study weapons of social influence,
I used to wonder why big companies such as Procter & Gamble and
General Foods are always running those “25-, 50-, or 100 words or less”
testimonial contests. They all seem to be alike. The contestant is to
compose a short personal statement that begins with the words, “Why
I like...” and goes on to laud the features of whatever cake mix or floor
wax happens to be at issue. The company judges the entries and awards
some stunningly large prizes to the winners. What had puzzled me was
what the companies got out of the deal. Often the contest requires no
purchase; anyone submitting an entry is eligible. Yet, the companies
appear to be strangely willing to incur the huge costs of contest after
contest.
I am no longer puzzled. The purpose behind the testimonial contests
is the same as the purpose behind the political essay contests of the
Chinese Communists. In both instances, the aim is to get as many people
as possible to go on record as liking the product. In Korea, the product
was a brand of Chinese communism; in the United States, it might be
a brand of cuticle remover. The type of product doesn’t matter; the
Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D / 61