Baby Photos Might Get Your Lost Wallet Returned
We normally go in for thin and streamlined wallets ’round this blog, but Scottish researchers suggests a (cute) baby photo is a seriously worthy addition to any wallet. It might just pressure your wallet’s finder into mailing it your way.
Ridiculously relevant photo by makelessnoise.
Psychologists in Edinburgh left 240 test wallets “lost” around city streets last year, each containing a mailing address that a good Samaritan could act on. In the plastic photo frame of equal numbers of wallets, pictures of “a smiling baby, a cute puppy, a happy family or a contented elderly couple” were inserted, or no image was left at all. Some wallets also contained papers indicating the owner had recently donated to charity.
So, what happened?
The baby photograph wallets had the highest return rate, with 88 per cent of the 40 being sent back. Next came the puppy, the family and the elderly couple, with 53 per cent, 48 and 28 respectively. At 20 per cent and 15, the charity card and control wallets had the lowest return rates.
It’s worth noting that 42 percent of all the wallets were returned, a higher number than the research team, or most hardened urbanites, would expect. The baby photograhs, however, may have added extra motivation by triggering an evolutionary compassion toward “vulnerable infants”, which the study’s psychologist cite as the underlying factor in those wallet’s higher return rates.
The takeaway? If your wallet’s got a photo frame not getting any real use (for the time being, at least), consider stocking it with best result from a photo search for adorable | “cute as a button” | precious. It might just tip your finder toward empathy, and you’ll at least have a clever explanation when your friends find it.
Want to keep your wallet? Carry a baby picture [Times Online via Boing Boing]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@2DaysTillTheState_GitEmSteveDave: Oh no! It is a nice photo though. :) They won't even change it for free when the card expires?
Erin Schwendemann
@David: When I first read, I thought it must have something to do with thinking a person with a infant has a new expense in their life and really needs this back b/c finances have to be tough enough for them. Extending that, it would not apply if they realize you can afford the nice expensive gadgets. That's not what I was thinking by the time I reached the end though.
jupiterthunder
@strabes: I thought about doing the same thing, but my wallet doesn't have picture holders, so I really don't know what I'd do with it.
mclifford82
And what if I put a picture of Warren Buffett?
Skid-Vicious
Just received that Paul Smith wallet (see previous week) I ordered, I doubt ANY baby picture will get that returned if I lost it...
SigmundTheSeaMonster
"All of the wallets were stuffed with the same set of everyday items, including raffle tickets, discount vouchers, and membership cards. None of them contained money, however. "
Frankly, the contents of the wallets skewed the results here. No credit cards, no valid ID, no cash. The fact is that, without the wallets containing anything of real value, the finder has little motivation for returning it.
The baby picture might tip the scales just the slightest bit, but this study isn't really representative of "real world" results.
This reminds me of the Tweenbots research project going on in NYC.
http://www.tweenbots.com/
Cute little robots are helped by strangers because of a smiley face.
@2DaysTillTheState_GitEmSteveDave:
Probably depends on the way your Exes look...
daron
Definitely just printed a picture of the baby at the top of this post and put it into the ID slot in my wallet. It's kind of weird having a picture of someone else's baby in there, but I don't have kids so this will have to do.
also make sure you put a label with your phone number in it. most people who find it will call you. but if they have to work to figure out how to contact you, your odds of a return go down.
AlbertCoral
I assume this applies to phones also. We used the "Close Call" app for iPhone to do this, with a lost-and-found number. Not sure how to customize the "lock" screen on my WM6 Standard phone, though.
Cheng-Jih Chen
@davebm: Please, for Goodness' sake stop the knee jerk reaction of photo + child = paedo's dream. There always have been and always will be nasty/sick people - don't let them rule your world! D'you honestly believe that they would not otherwise know of the whereabouts of a child?
Crispin Veall
Mmm, they didnt really state whether the wallet that was returned with the money in it (if it originally had any). Also, this could be a pedo's dream - finding a wallet with your children in and a forwarding address. Personally, as much as I love my family, I wouldnt stick in any pictures/forwarding addresses - keep the wallet, I probably needed a new one anyway
davebm
Will this also work for digital cameras - if I put a set of newborn baby photos at the start of the memory card?
Although I can indeed see the baby picture effectively pushing the "aaawwh" button of the wallet-finder, I think the take-home message here is that 42% of the wallets were returned. Being one of those "hardened urbanites" that you described, this statistic indeed renewed a bit my faith in humanity!
And, that's a bit important for me at the moment, because I'll soon be adding (what I'm sure will be) a very cute baby picture to my wallet.
Talk about a win-win situation!
Well, in one of my wallets there is a picture of one of my first Ex's melted into the plastic frame, and in the other, there's a credit card w/another Ex on it. Will either of those make the finder feel sorry for me, and add an extra $20 into the wallet before returning it?
This makes sense--I think that most people are pretty decent, and helping establish a little human connection is likely to prompt others to "do the right thing." The photograph forces the finder to consider the person who lost (or planted, in this case) the wallet beyond the wallet itself.
sweetmonkey
@SigmundTheSeaMonster: Same thought here. My Marc Jacobs wallet is so full of awesome that I wouldn't think anyone would return it if I lost it.
Surely having a piece of paper with your mailing address on it in your wallet will just encourage more credit card abuse online.
I like the idea of the OP, but I would never put my address in my wallet and make it that much easier for a thief to max out my credit cards.