Persuade her ‘in person’, him ‘by email’

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London, May 8 Want to persuade a woman? Do it in person instead of taking the online route, for a new study has revealed that the fair sex responds better in face-to-face encounters, while men can be easily swayed by an e-mail.

Researchers have found that although Internet has made negotiations faster and more convenient in some cases, women still tend to prefer social interaction to be truly convinced as they are more relationship-minded.

But, men generally prefer an email because it bypasses their competitive tendencies. In their study, Rosanna Guadagno and Robert Cialdini asked single-sex pairs of students to discuss the merits of introducing a new examination system both face to face and in an online chatroom.

Unknown to the other test subjects, one member of each couple was instructed to talk up the proposals. The all-female pairs were more likely to be persuaded when discussing their ideas in person as they're able to form a bond through eye contact, facial expressions and gestures, the researchers found. Male pairs responded in largely the same way to the proposals, regardless of whether they were put to them online or in person. The researchers then looked at whether the ability to persuade was influenced if the students had met and discussed ideas before. They found that if the women in their study had already established a relationship, they tended to agree more.

In contrast, the men who had met before then met again face to face showed a characteristic competitiveness, which meant they actually sought to establish their competence and independence by rejecting their partner’s ideas.

Those who had not met before reacted in the same way to the proposals no matter how they were presented, the study concluded. According to psychologist Ros Taylor, the results fitted with gender stereotyping that presents women as more relationship-focused and men as more task-focused.

“Women want to be sold things by somebody pleasant and we will be put off if that person does not fully engage. For men — although there are of course exceptions — it is more about the thing itself. “They are more focused on functionality and the relationship with the seller is of little consequence to them —it can be a friend in a pub or a message online, it’s what they’re after that is most interesting,” she said.