buy a new computer in the next six months, you’ll be 18 percent more likely to go out and get one. But
it only works if you already feel good about the intention that the question targets. Studies show that
asking questions about your plans to floss your teeth and avoid fatty foods significantly enhances the
odds that you will actually floss and eat healthy. These are desirable actions, so questions open the
door for you to persuade yourself to engage in them.* But if I ask about your plans to do something
undesirable, questions don’t work. For example, are you planning to eat some chocolate-covered
grasshoppers this month?
After thinking about it, you’re probably even less likely to do it. In the examples that we’ve
covered so far, the givers were selling desirable products to interested customers. When Bill
Grumbles was selling HBO, he had customers who were open to a better cable product. When
Kildare Escoto and Nancy Phelps sell glasses, they have patients who need new frames or lenses.
How do givers change the minds of audiences who aren’t so receptive?
michael s
(Michael S)
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