Does the use of the term "thanks in advance" obligate you to perform whatever request is being made?

Nah. I think it’s just a way to be polite to those that choose to fulfill the request. It’s not assigning you an obligation. When I write emails to my professors, asking them a question, I always end it with “Thanks” even if they can’t answer my question. I guess it’s just a way to be respectful, show appreciation. I see what you mean, how it can seem assuming, but I think it’s just a function of etiquette more than anything.

Absolutely not. I often receive items such as magazines, craft materials, address stickers and other sample items, where the sender puts “thank you in advance” as a sales gimmick to get me to send them money. The Post Office has decreed that any item sent to me without my request is a gift, and I will not pay for my gift.

Certainly not. It’s their way of evading the obligation to thank you after the fact. You owe nothing.

It’s just a polite and persuasive way to convince you to feel contributing and to do what they want.

It means “I’m squeezing you.”

I’ve wondered about this before – for myself and whether or not to add it in. It has always been about politeness and not pressure.

It means “I’m squeezing you politely.”

Hmmm…..I always use this at the end (or almost always) of my requests for information from the Fluther Family of Friends. And, no, I’m just being polite——as in, “Thank you in advance if you do decide to answer this and I don’t see your answer right away because I am busy doing the 501 things I didn’t get to do yesterday and I don’t want you to think I’m rude if I don’t get back to thank you right away.”

So, no….it doesn’t obligate you to anything, really. At least, that’s how I interpret it.

I use thanks in advance in case I forget to say thanks at a later date :)

Not really, but it certainly makes it more difficult to bag out

I don’t think “thanks in advance” obliges people being asked to respond, but I think it indicates that the asker assumes a response on behalf of those being asked.

I avoid using this term as I don’t like to assume that people will respond to my requests, and thus, that I will have anyone to thank. I also think it’s a little lazy: If someone is going to bother responding to my request or helping me out in some way, the least I could do is spend a second thanking them personally if or when they do respond. Obviously, this depends on the number of people you are asking for help and the nature of your request, but in many cases, a personal thank you isn’t impractical.

I’m sure others don’t go through this same thought process as I do, and that the phrase doesn’t have the same connotations for everyone, so I wouldn’t assume that other people were being presumptuous and/or lazy. I just think there are other, less ambiguous phrases that you can use to indicate (potential) thanks or appreciation for someone’s time.

It is thanking the people in advance who do contribute in your example, not really pressuring them to contribute. However, with the United way there is pressure in most companies to contribute, but it is not because of the thanks in advance statement, it is usually because companies are horrible about “requiring” 100% participation and you probably hear more than once that the company is in their United Way mode for the year hoping everyone will have their pay attached.

Other times though it is a sentence just showing appreciation. I use it when I am pretty sure there will be action taken with or without thanking them ahead of time.

It does not obligate you in the least.

No no no no no.

Another persons words obligates you to nothing.

Nope! Not obligated at all but it certainly can be perceived as manipulative at the very least.

It’s not something anyone ever says aloud, though, is it? I can’t imagine anyone speaking those words. If you’re interacting in person, they just say “thank you”—when you’ve done something or when you’ve agreed to do something.

When it’s on paper or virtual paper, especially in a form letter, nobody is really saying it. The person who wrote the words is just doing an assignment as a mouthpiece and will never know if you performed as requested or not. Hence no true thanks after the fact. Relying on your courtesy reflex (with attending sense of obligation) without actually showing you the same courtesy.