A comparison of two behavioral influence techniques for improving blood donor recruitment

This study was designed to test the viability of two multiple request techniques of behavioral influence for recruiting blood donors by telephone. The first technique utilizes a small antecedent request to encourage behavioral involvement and favorable disposition toward the target activity of the critical request to donate. The second approach frames the critical request as a concession following refusal of a very large request. The two techniques, dubbed the foot-in-the-door (FID) and door-in-the-face (DIF), respectively, were tested against a control condition on three donor groups: active donors, inactive donors, and nondonors. Thus, a three-by-three factorial design was used on 910 adults in a Midwest city. Although the DIF was outperformed by the control across all three donor groups, the authors recommend its continued study in face-to-face donor solicitation. Importantly, the FID approach produced more donations than the control condition among active donors (Z = 4.30; p less than .001), inactives (Z = 7.45; p less than .001), and nondonors (Z = 1.98; p less than .05). For managing the blood supply, the FID is particularly potent for rekindling donations from inactive donors. Additional research on means of penetrating the nondonor segment is recommended.