Ask for Small Things First

thing. We know from experience that people usually buy products because they perceive them as valuable in some way.

Salespeople send us birthday cards or season’s greetings because they know this makes us more likely to visit them the next time we need a product they sell. Supermarkets give out product samples. Ice cream stores let you taste before you buy. In a seminal study on reciprocity, Denis Regan (1971) finds that subjects bought more of something they did not need after they received an unsolicited can of soda while they were involved in another activity. A more recent study finds that when pharmaceutical representatives take doctors to lunch, those doctors order more of the name-brand prescription (almost always priced higher) (DeJong et al., 2016).

We need to borrow from this research with one important caveat in our efforts to motivate students. Avoid resentment by expecting nothing in return. Keep in mind that challenging students have often learned not to trust and are initially wary of people who treat them well. As a result, they are likely to persist with their antics until they become convinced that you truly care. Advertisers know the more exposure there is to their product, the more likely a consumer is to buy it.

As educators, we want to influence our students to work and learn. Make it a habit to initiate at least one positive interaction every day. Small favors and appreciations can be very effective tools. Little things can include doing a high five or fist bump, offering a secret handshake, sending a student a birthday card, writing a positive note to the student or his or her parents, sending websites related to a student’s interest, posting a student’s interesting comment or response on a social media platform, or making students valued helpers.

Suggestion

Think of all the little things people do to make you enjoy being recognized or noticed. Which of these things might some or many of your unmotivated students enjoy? Think of salespeople you like, admire, or simply go to when you want to buy a product.