Why should I follow your command?

Posted by Laura Bergells

October 13, 2006

Call now. Click here. Buy today.

These are three common “calls to action” that you frequently see on e-commerce websites. And each call to action is direct and to-the-point. But what else can an ecommerce direct copy writer do to persuade web visitors follow these commands?

Give your visitors a reason why they should follow your command. For example, you can set a deadline, as in –

Buy today — free shipping on all orders placed by midnight tonight!

Or by giving away a special bonus –

Click here — free download available!

Or simply by being more welcoming –

Call now — operators are standing by!

Remember that magic word “because”. In each of the above three reasons, you give the reader a reason “why” they should follow your instructions.

Why is that important?

In his book Influence: Science and Practice, Robert Cialdini writes:

“A well known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do. Ellen Langer, a researcher, demonstrated this unsurprising fact by asking a small favor of people waiting in line to use a library copying machine:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am in a rush?”

The effectiveness of this request-plus-reason was nearly total: 94% of those asked let her skip ahead of them in line.

Compare that to the success rate when she only asked: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”

Under those circumstances, only 60% of those asked complied.

At first glance, it appears that the difference between the two requests was the additional information provided by the words “because I am in a rush.” But a third type of request tried by Langer showed that this was not the case.

It seems that it was not the whole series of words, but the first one, “because,” that made the difference. Instead of including a real reason for compliance, Langer’s third type of request used the word “because” and then, adding nothing new, merely restated the obvious:

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?“

The result was that 93% agreed, even though no real reason, no new information, was added to justify their compliance!

My mom knew that “because” is a magic word. As a tot, I would sometimes challenge her direct commands with the query that’s popular among many three year olds — “Why?”

And her answer was invariably,

“Because I said so!”

But if you are selling to a slightly more mature and less whiny audience, I suggest writing a better reason why!

Give your web audience a direct command — but also give them a compelling reason “why” they should follow your command.