IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/germec/v23y2022i1p61-78n6.html

“Thanks in advance” – The negative effect of a polite phrase on compliance with a request

Author

Listed:
  • Bruttel Lisa

    (University of Potsdam, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, August-Bebel-Str. 89, 14482 Potsdam, Germany)

  • Nithammer Juri

    (University of Potsdam, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, August-Bebel-Str. 89, 14482 Potsdam, Germany)

  • Stolley Florian

    (University of Potsdam, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, August-Bebel-Str. 89, 14482 Potsdam, Germany)

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of the commonly used phrase “thanks in advance” on compliance with a small request. In a controlled laboratory experiment we ask participants to give a detailed answer to an open question. The treatment variable is whether or not they see the phrase “thanks in advance.” Our participants react to the treatment by exerting less effort in answering the request even though they perceive the phrase as polite.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruttel Lisa & Nithammer Juri & Stolley Florian, 2022. "“Thanks in advance” – The negative effect of a polite phrase on compliance with a request," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(1), pages 61-78, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:23:y:2022:i:1:p:61-78:n:6
    DOI: 10.1515/ger-2021-0020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/ger-2021-0020
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/ger-2021-0020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:23:y:2022:i:1:p:61-78:n:6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyterbrill.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.