The Effects of Directness of Face-to-Face Requests and Sex of Solicitor on Streetcorner Donations

Summary Approximately 3000 male and female pedestrians (mostly college students) were solicited for a donation to a charitable organization. Three male and three female undergraduates served as solicitors and made either a direct, face-to-face appeal or a less direct, impersonal appeal. As hypothesized, the direct appeal was more successful than the impersonal appeal. Also, donors receiving the direct appeal gave larger amounts when the traffic was comparatively light, but the proportion giving was unaffected by traffic density. The sex of the solicitor made a difference only with the impersonal appeal. Females may be viewed as more trustworthy in situations in which suspicion of the genuineness of the request is most relevant; face-to-face requests of a relatively nonsuspicious kind may appear equally trustworthy whether made by male or female solicitors.