January 11, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
New research shows the public’s dislike for door-to-door charitable appeals.
The New York Times Freakonomics blog looks at a recent study in which a flyer was dropped off at the houses of potential donors. The flyer announced the date and time when a fund raiser would stop by, giving people an opportunity to ignore the solicitor when they arrived.
Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the book Freakonomics, writes that the experiment “enables the researchers to measure the degree to which altruism is affected by social pressure.”
Perhaps to no surprise, the flyers led to a decline in the number of households answering their doors.
Mr. Dubner jokingly speculates that such research could lead to a “do-not-knock” registry like the do-not-call list for business telephone solicitors.
The research was led by John A. List, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Mr. List has conducted a variety of experiments that look at people’s attitudes toward fund raising.
Read The Chronicle’s article about Mr. List’s studies. (A paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view this article.)
