• Legend Letters
  • Posts
  • The Question-Behavior Effect (How To Better Persuade People To Do Something)

The Question-Behavior Effect (How To Better Persuade People To Do Something)

Author

Howie Chan
February 04, 2024

How many times have you said "I'll go to the gym five times a week" or "I will stop scrolling mindlessly on social media" only to not hit those goals?

It turns out that there is a way to help us better persuade people, including ourselves.

This is the Question-Behavior Effect.

In a research analysis 104 question-behavior studies across 51 published and unpublished papers, it was found that questions are better than statements to elicit a behavior change.

Consider these two statements:

"I will stop scrolling mindlessly today"

"Will I not scroll mindlessly today?"

Research has shown that the 2nd statement works better at persuading yourself to act. The study also suggests that turning a statement into a question can greatly influence behavior for more than six months after the original question was asked.

Isn't that amazing?

Next, I'll share some reasons why this happens and one thing research has shown to significantly boost this effect.

BASE PRINCIPLE

Ask, don't tell. That's the Question-Behavior Effect (QBE).

WHAT IF?

What if you were better able to persuade yourself to do the things you ought to be doing? What if you were able to get your team or your kids to do something difficult?

Why does QBE work?

It has to do with cognitive dissonance. (I wrote about how Benjamin Franklin used cognitive dissonance to turn enemies into friends ​HERE​)

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort a person feels when their behavior does not align with their values or beliefs.

~ Medical News Today

When we ask someone to answer a question, a person will typically answer the question that aligns with who they think they are, reinforcing their commitment to an action.

In fact, in a 1,534 person research study published in 2018 in the ​Journal of Experimental Social Psychology​, researchers looked at regular QBE and dissonance-enhanced QBE - this is where participants were given messages to reinforce their identity as a healthy person.

They then measured how they affected six different health behaviors (eg. reduce unhealthy snacking) after 4 months using a self-reported questionnaire.

The participants were split into three groups:

  1. QBE

  2. Dissonance-enhanced QBE

  3. Control

The results?

The dissonance-enhanced QBE intervention outperformed the control condition in all analyses. Findings supported the idea that magnifying dissonance increases the impact of the QBE.

IMPORTANT: Ask a YES or NO question to avoid any excuses.

Here are a few ways to use QBE:

  1. Self-motivation: Ask yourself yes/no questions to boost motivation in challenging areas.

  2. Influencing others: Use questions to gently confront and encourage behavior change in others, such as punctuality in a partner or productivity in employees.

  3. Marketing: Companies can use questions in ads to prompt consumers to reflect on their achievements and encourage purchases.

  4. Public service announcements: Campaigns can use questions to make individuals directly consider their values and decisions, like voting or vaccinations, instead of repeating known benefits or dangers.

"Persuasion is often more effectual than force"

~Aesop

You are a lifelong learner with a drive towards action.

Will you try this method of persuasion? 😉

Live your legend 🤘🏽,

Howie Chan

Creator of Legend Letters

Sources:

Spangenberg, Eric R., et al., A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Question–Behavior Effect, Journal of Consumer Psychology, July, 2016 - ​LINK​

  1. Morin, Amy, Study Reveals A Conversation Trick That Motivates People To Change Their Behavior, Forbes, January 22, 2016 - ​LINK​

  2. Wilding, Sarah, Using the Question-Behavior Effect to Change Multiple Health Behaviors: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, March 2019 - ​LINK

Two More Ways I can Help You:

1/ Strategy Hour

Book a 1:1 call with me and we can talk about brand strategy, self-mastery and/or LinkedIn growth (I grew from 7K to 35K followers in 3 months).

2/ Personal Brand Clarity Program

Three 1:1 coaching sessions to get clarity on your story and your brand so you can attract what and whom you want into your life.