Case Study
Touch Compliance Studies (Nightclub, Phone Number, Petition)
Multiple independent studies
Three studies on brief, incidental physical touch and compliance. In a nightclub setting, women were more likely to agree to dance with men who lightly touched their forearm for about a second while asking. In a non-nightclub setting, the same light forearm touch increased women's odds of giving out their phone number when asked by a man. In a street-petition study, fundraisers asking passersby to sign a petition succeeded with 55% of people with no touch; touching the passerby once on the upper arm for a second raised that to 81%.
Result: a one-second incidental touch measurably raised compliance across all three settings. Phill Agnew explicitly flags discomfort recommending this tactic with strangers, but notes it's worth knowing for contexts where touch is already socially acceptable (a spouse, close friend, or family member).
Discussed in
- Episode 103 — The secrets salespeople won-t tell you