Thank You for Reading this Blog

 

Thank You for Reading this Blog

Thank you too for not smoking.

Sounds different from “Read this Blog” and “Don’t Smoke,” right? Why this shift from a command to what we could call “anticipatory” gratitude or compliance?

The act of thanking you for something you haven’t done yet relies on shrewd psychology. The psychologists have a term for it: presuppositional compliance. A Google search told me that this constitutes “thanking someone in advance for an action to make it socially awkward for them to refuse.”

A polite approach is less bossy than a direct command; we prefer to be thanked rather than being ordered around. Then there’s positive reinforcement, which heightens the chances of us obeying the rule. The rule is still there; despite our hotel room sign thanking us oh-so-politely in advance, we’ll still be liable for a $400 cleaning fee if we do smoke.

Consider anti-littering signs: “Thank you for not littering” is a step beyond “Don’t litter.” These two approaches reflect a shift in tone from what has been termed “authoritarian” to “nudging.”

The nudging messages are subtle in the way they elicit our response. Google again: “Human social contracts dictate that when someone treats us with respect (by saying ‘please’ or ‘thank you’), we feel a subconscious obligation to return the favor by cooperating.”

I encountered similarly manipulative wording on a recent Delta flight, delayed for two hours. We were told, “Thank you for your patience.” The gratitude was accompanied by repeated apologies. But this announcement could be termed “retroactive presuppositional compliance.” The unspoken message was, “If you weren’t patient, you should have been; that’s how polite people behave in these situations.” Unlike choosing not to litter or smoke, we had no option but to wait.

We’re done. But in parting let me thank you for celebrating National Chewing Gum Day today.

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