How to motivate people to do good for others
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0:01 - 0:04How can we get people to do more good,
-
0:05 - 0:09to go to the polls,
give to charity, conserve resources, -
0:09 - 0:12or even to do something as simple
as washing their mugs at work -
0:12 - 0:15so that the sink isn't
always full of dirty dishes? -
0:15 - 0:17(Laughter)
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0:17 - 0:21(Applause)
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0:21 - 0:23When I first started
working on this problem, -
0:23 - 0:25I collaborated with a power company
-
0:25 - 0:29to recruit customers for a program
that prevents blackouts -
0:29 - 0:31by reducing energy demand during peaks.
-
0:32 - 0:34The program is based
on a tried-and-true technology. -
0:34 - 0:37It's one the Obama
administration even called -
0:37 - 0:40"the cornerstone to modernizing
America's electrical grid." -
0:41 - 0:44But, like so many
great technological solutions, -
0:44 - 0:46it has a key weakness:
-
0:48 - 0:49people.
-
0:50 - 0:51People need to sign up.
-
0:52 - 0:56To try to get people to sign up,
the power company sent them a nice letter, -
0:56 - 0:58told them about
all the program's benefits, -
0:58 - 1:01and it asked them to call
into a hotline if they were interested. -
1:01 - 1:02Those letters went out,
-
1:02 - 1:05but the phones, they were silent.
-
1:06 - 1:09So when we got involved,
we suggested one small change. -
1:09 - 1:11Instead of that hotline,
-
1:11 - 1:16we suggested that they use sign-up sheets
that they'd post near the mailboxes -
1:16 - 1:17in people's buildings.
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1:18 - 1:21This tripled participation.
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1:23 - 1:24Why?
-
1:26 - 1:30Well, we all know people care deeply
about what others think of them, -
1:30 - 1:33that we try to be seen
as generous and kind, -
1:33 - 1:35and we try to avoid
being seen as selfish or a mooch. -
1:36 - 1:41Whether we are aware of it or not,
this is a big part of why people do good, -
1:41 - 1:46and so small changes that give people
more credit for doing good, -
1:46 - 1:48those changes can make
a really big difference. -
1:48 - 1:51Small changes like
switching from a hotline, -
1:51 - 1:54where nobody will ever find out
about your good deed, -
1:54 - 1:56to a sign-up sheet
-
1:56 - 1:59where anyone who walks by
can see your name. -
2:01 - 2:04In our collaborations with governments,
nonprofits, companies, -
2:04 - 2:07when we're trying to get people
to do more good, -
2:07 - 2:09we harness the power of reputations.
-
2:10 - 2:12And we have a simple checklist for this.
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2:12 - 2:16And in fact, you already know
the first item on that checklist. -
2:17 - 2:19It's to increase observability,
-
2:19 - 2:22to make sure people find out
about good deeds. -
2:23 - 2:26Now, wait a minute, I know
some of you are probably thinking, -
2:26 - 2:28there's no way people here thought,
-
2:28 - 2:31"Oh, well, now that
I'm getting credit for my good deed, -
2:31 - 2:32now it's totally worth it."
-
2:32 - 2:34And you're right.
-
2:34 - 2:35Usually, people don't.
-
2:36 - 2:39Rather, when they're making
decisions in private, -
2:39 - 2:41they worry about their own problems,
-
2:41 - 2:45about what to put on the table for dinner
or how to pay their bills on time. -
2:45 - 2:48But, when we make
their decision more observable, -
2:48 - 2:51they start to attend more
to the opportunity to do good. -
2:52 - 2:55In other words, what's
so powerful about our approach -
2:55 - 2:59is that it could turn on
people's existing desire to do good, -
2:59 - 3:02in this case, to help
to prevent a blackout. -
3:03 - 3:05Back to observability.
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3:05 - 3:07I want to give you another example.
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3:07 - 3:08This one is from a collaboration
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3:08 - 3:11with a nonprofit that gets out the vote,
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3:11 - 3:14and it does this by sending hundreds
of thousands of letters every election -
3:14 - 3:18in order to remind people and try
to motivate them to go to the polls. -
3:19 - 3:21We suggested adding
the following sentence: -
3:22 - 3:26"Someone may call you to find out
about your experience at the polls." -
3:27 - 3:30This sentence makes it feel
more observable when you go to the polls, -
3:31 - 3:34and it increased the effect
of the letter by 50 percent. -
3:37 - 3:40Making the letter more effective reduced
the cost of getting an additional vote -
3:40 - 3:42from 70 dollars down to about 40 dollars.
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3:43 - 3:45Observability has been used to do things
-
3:45 - 3:48like get people
to donate blood more frequently -
3:48 - 3:51by listing the names of donors
on local newsletters, -
3:51 - 3:52or to pay their taxes on time
-
3:53 - 3:56by listing the names of delinquents
on a public website. -
3:56 - 3:58(Laughter)
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4:00 - 4:01What about this example?
-
4:03 - 4:07Toyota got hundreds of thousands of people
to buy a more fuel-efficient car -
4:07 - 4:10by making the Prius so unique ...
-
4:10 - 4:12(Laughter)
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4:13 - 4:15that their good deed
was observable from a mile away. -
4:16 - 4:19(Laughter)
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4:19 - 4:21Alright, so observability is great,
-
4:21 - 4:25but we all know, we've all seen
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4:25 - 4:27people walk by an opportunity to do good.
-
4:28 - 4:31They'll see somebody
asking for money on the sidewalk -
4:31 - 4:34and they'll pull out their phones
and look really busy, -
4:34 - 4:38or they'll go to the museum and they'll
waltz right on by the donation box. -
4:38 - 4:40Imagine it's the holiday season
-
4:40 - 4:44and you're going to the supermarket,
and there's a Salvation Army volunteer, -
4:44 - 4:45and he's ringing his bell.
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4:45 - 4:47A few years ago, researchers in San Diego
-
4:47 - 4:51teamed up with a local chapter
from the Salvation Army -
4:51 - 4:53to try to find ways to increase donations.
-
4:54 - 4:56What they found was kind of funny.
-
4:57 - 4:59When the volunteer
stood in front of just one door, -
5:00 - 5:03people would avoid giving
by going out the other door. -
5:05 - 5:06Why?
-
5:07 - 5:11Well, because they can always claim,
"Oh, I didn't see the volunteer," -
5:11 - 5:13or, "I wanted to get
something from over there," -
5:13 - 5:14or, "That's where my car is."
-
5:16 - 5:17In other words, there's lots of excuses.
-
5:19 - 5:22And that brings us
to the second item on our checklist: -
5:22 - 5:23to eliminate excuses.
-
5:25 - 5:26In the case of the Salvation Army,
-
5:26 - 5:30eliminating excuses just means
standing in front of both doors, -
5:30 - 5:32and sure enough, when they did this,
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5:32 - 5:33donations rose.
-
5:35 - 5:37But that's when things got kind of funny,
-
5:37 - 5:39even funnier.
-
5:40 - 5:42The researchers
were out in the parking lot, -
5:43 - 5:46and they were counting people
as they came in and out of the store, -
5:46 - 5:50and they noticed that when the volunteers
stood in front of both doors, -
5:50 - 5:52people stopped coming
out of the store at all. -
5:52 - 5:55(Laughter)
-
5:55 - 5:59Obviously, they were surprised by this,
so they decided to look into it further, -
5:59 - 6:04and that's when they found that there
was actually a third, smaller utility door -
6:04 - 6:06usually used to take out the recycling --
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6:06 - 6:08(Laughter)
-
6:08 - 6:11and now people were going out that door
in order to avoid the volunteers. -
6:11 - 6:14(Laughter)
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6:14 - 6:17This teaches us
an important lesson though. -
6:18 - 6:22When we're trying to eliminate excuses,
we need to be very thorough, -
6:22 - 6:24because people are
really creative in making them. -
6:24 - 6:27(Laughter)
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6:30 - 6:32Alright, I want to switch to a setting
-
6:32 - 6:34where excuses can have
deadly consequences. -
6:36 - 6:40What if I told you that the world's
deadliest infectious disease has a cure, -
6:41 - 6:44in fact, that it's had one for 70 years,
-
6:44 - 6:46a good one, one that works
almost every time? -
6:48 - 6:49It's incredible, but it's true.
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6:50 - 6:52The disease is tuberculosis.
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6:52 - 6:55It infects some 10 million people a year,
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6:55 - 6:57and it kills almost two million of them.
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6:58 - 7:02Like the blackout prevention program,
we've got the solution. -
7:02 - 7:03The problem is people.
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7:04 - 7:06People need to take their medication
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7:06 - 7:08so that they're cured,
-
7:08 - 7:10and so that they don't
get other people sick. -
7:12 - 7:14For a few years now,
we've been collaborating -
7:14 - 7:16with a mobile health startup
called Keheala -
7:16 - 7:19to support TB patients
as they undergo treatment. -
7:19 - 7:22Now, you have to understand,
TB treatment, it's really tough. -
7:22 - 7:25We're talking about taking
a really strong antibiotic -
7:25 - 7:27every single day for six months or more.
-
7:27 - 7:30That antibiotic is so strong
that it will make you feel sick. -
7:30 - 7:32It will make you feel nauseous and dizzy.
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7:32 - 7:34It will make your pee turn funny colors.
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7:35 - 7:38It's also a problem because
you have to go back to the clinic -
7:38 - 7:40about every week
in order to get more pills, -
7:40 - 7:44and in sub-Saharan Africa
or other places where TB is common, -
7:44 - 7:46now you're talking
about going someplace pretty far, -
7:46 - 7:49taking tough and slow public transport,
-
7:49 - 7:51maybe the clinic is inefficient.
-
7:51 - 7:54So now you're talking about taking
a half day off of work every week -
7:54 - 7:57from a job you desperately
can't afford to lose. -
7:58 - 8:01It's even worse when you consider the fact
that there's a terrible stigma, -
8:01 - 8:05and you desperately don't want people
to find that you have the disease. -
8:05 - 8:08Some of the toughest stories we hear
are actually from women -
8:08 - 8:11who, in these places where
domestic violence can be kind of common, -
8:11 - 8:14they tell us that they have to
hide it from their husbands -
8:14 - 8:16that they're coming to the clinic.
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8:18 - 8:21So it's no surprise
that people don't complete treatment. -
8:22 - 8:24Can our approach really help them?
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8:24 - 8:26Can we really get them to stick it out?
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8:28 - 8:29Yeah.
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8:30 - 8:34Every day, we text patients
to remind them to take their medication, -
8:34 - 8:36but if we stopped there,
-
8:36 - 8:38there'd be lots of excuses.
-
8:38 - 8:39"Well, I didn't see the text."
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8:39 - 8:42Or, "You know, I saw the text,
but then I totally forgot, -
8:42 - 8:44put the phone down
and I just forgot about it." -
8:44 - 8:46Or, "I lent the phone out to my mom."
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8:48 - 8:50We have to eliminate these excuses
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8:50 - 8:52and we do that by asking patients
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8:52 - 8:55to log in and verify
that they've taken their medication. -
8:56 - 8:58If they don't log in, we text them again.
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8:58 - 9:00If they don't log in,
we text them yet again. -
9:01 - 9:04If, after three times,
they still haven't verified, -
9:04 - 9:06we notify a team of supporters
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9:06 - 9:08and that team will call and text them
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9:08 - 9:10to try to get them back on the wagon.
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9:11 - 9:12No excuses.
-
9:14 - 9:17Our approach, which, admittedly,
uses all sorts of behavioral techniques, -
9:17 - 9:21including, as you've
probably noticed, observability, -
9:21 - 9:22it was very effective.
-
9:23 - 9:25Patients without access to our platform
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9:25 - 9:28were three times more likely
not to complete treatment. -
9:32 - 9:33Alright,
-
9:33 - 9:34you've increased observability,
-
9:34 - 9:37you've eliminated excuses,
-
9:37 - 9:39but there's still a third thing
you need to be aware of. -
9:41 - 9:44If you've been to Washington, DC
or Japan or London, -
9:44 - 9:46you know that metro riders there
-
9:46 - 9:49will be very careful to stand
on the right-hand side of the escalator -
9:49 - 9:51so that people can go by on the left.
-
9:52 - 9:55But unfortunately,
not everywhere is that the norm, -
9:55 - 9:58and there's plenty of places
where you can just stand on both sides -
9:58 - 9:59and block the escalator.
-
9:59 - 10:01Obviously, it's better for others
-
10:01 - 10:03when we stand on the right
and let them go by, -
10:03 - 10:06but we're only expected
to do that some places. -
10:07 - 10:08This is a general phenomenon.
-
10:08 - 10:10Sometimes we're expected to do good
-
10:10 - 10:12and sometimes not,
-
10:12 - 10:15and it means that people
are really sensitive to cues -
10:15 - 10:18that they're expected to do good
in a particular situation, -
10:20 - 10:23which brings us to the third
and final item on our checklist: -
10:23 - 10:25to communicate expectations,
-
10:25 - 10:27to tell people,
-
10:27 - 10:29"Do the good deed right now."
-
10:31 - 10:33Here's a simple way
to communicate expectations; -
10:33 - 10:36simply tell them, "Hey, everybody else
is doing the good deed." -
10:36 - 10:40The company Opower
sends people in their electricity bill -
10:40 - 10:43a small insert that compares
their energy consumption -
10:43 - 10:46with that of people
with similarly sized homes. -
10:47 - 10:50And when people find out that their
neighbors are using less electricity, -
10:50 - 10:52they start to consume less.
-
10:52 - 10:56That same approach, it's been used
to get people to vote or give to charity -
10:56 - 10:58or even reuse their towels in hotels.
-
11:00 - 11:01What about this one?
-
11:02 - 11:05Here's another way
to communicate expectations; -
11:05 - 11:09simply do it by saying, "Do the good deed"
just at the right time. -
11:12 - 11:13What about this one?
-
11:14 - 11:17This ticker reframes
-
11:17 - 11:20the kind of mundane task
of turning off the lights -
11:20 - 11:23and turns it instead
into an environmental contribution. -
11:24 - 11:27The bottom line is,
lots of different ways to do this, -
11:27 - 11:29lots of ways to communicate expectations.
-
11:29 - 11:31Just don't forget to do it.
-
11:31 - 11:33And that's it.
-
11:33 - 11:34That's our checklist.
-
11:36 - 11:41Many of you are working on problems
with important social consequences, -
11:41 - 11:44and sometimes you might need
to motivate people to do more good. -
11:46 - 11:49The tools you learned today
can help you with this. -
11:49 - 11:52And these tools, they don't require
that you raise additional funds -
11:52 - 11:55or that you develop
any more fancy technologies. -
11:55 - 11:57They just require harnessing reputations
-
11:57 - 12:01by increasing observability,
eliminating excuses -
12:01 - 12:03and communicating expectations.
-
12:04 - 12:05Thank you.
-
12:05 - 12:10(Applause)
- Title:
- How to motivate people to do good for others
- Speaker:
- Erez Yoeli
- Description:
-
How can we get people to do more good: to go to the polls, give to charity, conserve resources or just generally act better towards others? MIT research scientist Erez Yoeli shares a simple checklist for harnessing the power of reputations -- or our collective desire to be seen as generous and kind instead of selfish -- to motivate people to act in the interest of others. Learn more about how small changes to your approach to getting people to do good could yield surprising results.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:22
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How to motivate people to do good for others |