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14 presenting ideas

Honey’s findings are supported by more recent research, by Christopher Carpenter* and
others that, in most contexts, suggesting someone do something, but then adding a
comment such as “but you are free to choose an alternative” leads to significant increases
in compliance with the initial request.

Activity

Take one of your offerings and re-phrase it as a suggestion. Remember this is not as
simple as offering a choice of two different colors - the suggestions must be well thought-
out and sufficiently different to provide real choice and potential for ownership by the
buyer.

*Source: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of the “But You Are Free” Compliance-Gaining Technique,
Christopher J. Carpenter (2012)

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