A disrupt-then-reframe technique of social influence

Several theories of change imply that: disrupting a person's understanding of an event will facilitate a new representation of that event. The authors created a new influence technique involving a small disruption (stating th e price of a package of note note cards in pennies rather than dollars) and a direct reframing (saying, "It's a bargain"). Four studies showed that a disrupt-then-reframe (DTR) technique was influential in getting household r esidents to purchase cards supporting: a local charity. Studies 2 and 3 sho wed that the new technique required both the:disruption and the new reframi ng in that sequence. Study 4 showed the effect when sellers learned 1 sales script and were blind to other scripts. These studies establish the DTR te chnique and demonstrate the subtlety of some social influence.