Chapter 12 Writing Persuasive Messages 1) In general, the best persuasive messages ________ the audience's motivations. A) avoid mentioning B) downplay C) openly address D) dismiss Answer: C Explanation: C) The best persuasive messages pay close attention to their audience's motivation—the forces that drive people to satisfy their needs. If the message can harness the motivation of its audience, the message is likely to be a success. 2) Marketers use quantifiable characteristics known as ________ and psychological characteristics known as ________ to help them understand the needs of an audience. A) social graphics; intuitional data B) demographics; psychographics C) crowdsourcing; regionalism D) psychometrics; cryptography Answer: B Explanation: B) To understand and categorize audience needs, you can refer to specific information, such as demographics (quantifiable characteristics) and psychographics (psychological characteristics). 3) As a human need that affects motivation, self-actualization involves the need to A) cultivate lifelong involvement. B) feel a sense of accomplishment. C) reach one's full potential as a human being. D) control situations or exert authority over others. Answer: C Explanation: C) Psychologists Kurt Goldstein and Abraham Maslow popularized self-actualization as the desire to make the most of one's potential. 4) When you're writing a persuasive message, you can encourage a positive response by A) using polite and positive language. B) taking steps to establish your credibility. C) understanding and respecting cultural differences. D) all of the above. Answer: D Explanation: D) Encourage a positive response to your persuasive messages by (1) using positive and polite language, (2) understanding and respecting cultural differences, (3) being sensitive to organizational cultures, and (4) taking steps to establish your credibility. 5) Which of the following is not an example of demographic information? A) Age B) Occupation C) Lifestyle D) Income Answer: C Explanation: C) Age, occupation, and income are all demographic characteristics. Lifestyle is one of the psychographic categories, which include attitudes, personality, and other personal and psychological traits. 6) Personality, lifestyle, and attitudes are assessed through A) demographic surveys. B) psychographic studies. C) inkblot tests. D) examinations of census data. Answer: B Explanation: B) Psychographics include personal and psychological characteristics that serve to categorize people into groups. These categories include attitudes, personality, lifestyle, and other similar traits. For example, one psychographic group might include people with extroverted personalities. 7) If you can't be sure which medium will be best to convey your persuasive message to a diverse audience, you should A) choose the one that is most economical. B) select the one that is easiest to use (such as email). C) use two or more media at the same time. D) choose one at random and see how well it works. Answer: C Explanation: C) If one medium doesn't seem clearly better than the rest, try using a combination of two or more media. For example, you might combine social media promotion with radio advertisements. When more than one medium is used, make sure that your campaigns complement one another with respect to approach and content. 8) If a supervisor tells a worker who consistently arrives late, "I know you don't want to have your pay docked," the supervisor is addressing the worker's need for A) safety and security. B) acceptance. C) status and esteem. D) self-actualization. Answer: A Explanation: A) The threat to dock pay falls into the category of financial security, which in turn falls under the general human need for safety and security. 9) Most persuasive messages combine A) truth and falsehood. B) current and very old evidence. C) logical and emotional factors. D) many major points all at once. Answer: C Explanation: C) Emotional appeal gets your audience to care about your message. Logical factors appeal to whether or not the proposition makes sense and provides an advantage to the user. The balance of these two factors must be just right to be persuasive. 10) Your success as a businessperson is connected closely to your ability to convince others to A) accept new ideas. B) change old habits. C) act on your recommendations. D) all of the above. Answer: D Explanation: D) No matter where your career leads, your success will depend on your ability to create effective persuasive messages. 11) With regards to persuasive messages in social media, the AIDA approach is limited because it A) cultivates long-term relationships. B) focuses on one-time events. C) lacks persuasive elements. D) uses a multidirectional, conversational approach. Answer: B Explanation: B) The AIDA approach essentially talks at audiences, not with them, and it focuses on one-time events, not long-term relationships. Therefore, a conversational approach is more suited to today's social media. 12) Circular reasoning is a logical fallacy that involves A) reducing a wide range of choices to a simple "either/or" scenario. B) using irrelevant evidence to support your argument. C) trying to support a claim by restating it in different words. D) attacking an opponent's character, rather than countering his or her argument. Answer: C Explanation: C) Circular reasoning is a logical fallacy in which you try to support your claim by restating it in different words. 13) When you're composing a persuasive message, all of the following except ________ are common mistakes that you need to avoid. A) using a hard-sell approach B) promoting compromise C) relying solely on great arguments D) assuming that persuasion is a one-shot effort Answer: B Explanation: B) Successful persuasion is often a process of give-and-take, particularly in the case of persuasive business messages. 14) In a ________, your goal may be nothing more than convincing your audience to re-examine long-help opinions or admit the possibility of new ways of thinking. A) persuasive retrenchment B) persuasive presentation of ideas C) persuasive request for action D) persuasive claim or request for adjustment Answer: B Explanation: B) When dealing with ideas, the objective of a persuasive message may simply be to encourage people to consider a new idea. 15) When it comes to persuasive messages, the direct approach A) is rarely used. B) is often preferable with a receptive audience. C) is used only by top management. D) does not require inclusion of justifications or explanations. Answer: B Explanation: B) The direct approach is likely to be successful only with audiences that are receptive to your message. Receptive audiences will tune right in to the details of the proposal if they are interested in what you are selling. If the audience has no prior interest in your topic, it is likely to ignore the message. 16) AIDA stands for A) appeal, indirect, direct, action. B) anticipate inquiry in doing adjustments. C) assume, insist, describe, act. D) attention, interest, desire, action. Answer: D Explanation: D) Using the AIDA model to persuade someone to purchase your product, you first work to gain the attention of your audience, then try to secure a genuine interest in your product. This is followed by creating the desire on an emotional level to obtain your product and finally carrying out the action to actually purchase the product. 17) When using the AIDA approach to persuasion, which of the following would be the best opening to your message? A) How are you today? B) I know you've heard this all before, but ... C) Are you spending way too much on prescription drugs? D) This is an important message. Answer: C Explanation: C) A good opening avoids an overly pushy, "hard-sell" approach that tends to be off-putting to audiences. Instead, it makes an intriguing appeal to both emotion and logic for something that the audience is likely to care about. If the opening seems intriguing to the audience, it should be considered a success. 18) The purpose of the interest section of a persuasive message is to A) capture attention. B) show that your product is well-suited to your audience. C) increase the audience's desire to take the action recommended in the message. D) get the reader to act immediately. Answer: B Explanation: B) Building interest is largely a matter of showing that the product you provide is relevant and useful in some way to your audience. Audience members should come away from the interest stage thinking, "That item might be useful to me." 19) When using the AIDA approach to persuasion, the closing should A) urge the audience to take the action you are requesting. B) provide additional evidence and detail not covered in the desire section. C) explain the steps needed to implement your ideas. D) do all of the above. Answer: A Explanation: A) Persuasion is useless without action. You can drum up enormous interest and desire on the part of your audience for your product, but if the audience is not moved to take action, your message is not successful. For this reason, inducing the audience to take action is a critical final step in your message. 20) An effective ending for a persuasive message would be: A) Simply take the enclosed coupon to any of our service centers by June 15 for your free oil and filter change. B) Please respond as soon as possible because this offer is not likely to last very long. C) Wouldn't you like to save some money? D) Be sure to tell all your friends about this exciting offer. Answer: A Explanation: A) The choice that focuses on action is by far the best here. Note that a key to promoting action is to make the action easy and simple for the audience. If the audience needs to take complicated or difficult steps in the process, it is unlikely to take action. 21) The key to a successful action phase in the AIDA model is A) getting readers to change their minds. B) increasing the audience's awareness of your product or service. C) making the action you propose simple and easy. D) creating a win-lose situation, with you as the winner. Answer: C Explanation: C) Consumers have many choices. If you want them to take action on your product, you need to remove all obstacles to taking that action. That is why, for example, magazine subscription ads include a pre-paid "bill me later" card that customers just pop in the mail. Companies know customers are much more likely to make a purchase if the process is quick and easy to carry out. 22) The AIDA approach for persuasive messages should be used with A) the direct approach only. B) the indirect approach only. C) either the direct or the indirect approach. D) neither the direct nor the indirect approach. Answer: C Explanation: C) The AIDA approach is ideal for the indirect approach, but it also works well with the direct approach. With the direct approach, the main idea is simply given up front and used as the focus of the attention stage in the AIDA process. 23) Using the AIDA approach with social media A) requires the same steps as the AIDA approach with conventional media. B) does not work at all. C) requires a different, more interactive approach. D) requires a more rigid approach. Answer: C Explanation: C) The AIDA approach can be adapted for social media, but it requires a much more conversational, interactive way of operating. With social media, you can't expect a one-way interaction with your audience in which you tell them things and they listen. Instead, you need to create a two-way conversation about your product that you can influence, but can't fully control. 24) An advertisement stating that a new resort offers "freedom and comfort along with $20 savings per month" is using A) an emotional appeal. B) an analogy. C) an inductive appeal. D) both logical and emotional appeals. Answer: D Explanation: D) Both logical and emotional appeals are being used. The emotional part of the message refers to "freedom and comfort." The logical part of the message refers to the $20 savings. 25) An analogy lets you A) reason from one specific piece of evidence to another specific piece of evidence. B) reason from one specific piece of evidence to a general conclusion. C) reason from a generalization to a specific conclusion. D) do all of the above. Answer: A Explanation: A) An analogy makes a comparison between two seemingly different things. For example, an automobile is to gasoline as a human is to food. The auto uses gas for fuel while the human uses food for fuel. 26) Which of the following uses a deductive approach to persuasion? A) Because the stock market has been falling lately, share prices of our company stock will probably also decline. B) Because the stock price of our company fell, the entire market will probably also decline. C) Our stock price is like a marathon runner, slowly making progress towards our goal. D) None of the above. Answer: A Explanation: A) Deductive reasoning takes a generalization and applies it to a particular situation. For example: the decline of the entire market is a generalization that is being used to predict something specific, the decline of an individual stock price. 27) When writing persuasive messages, one way to avoid faulty logic is to A) avoid induction. B) avoid deduction. C) avoid praising your opponent. D) avoid hasty generalizations. Answer: D Explanation: D) An example of a hasty generalization is to think that if a mediocre baseball team wins three games in a row, it has solved all its problems. Obviously, you need a sampling of more than three games to draw the conclusion that the team is now a success. 28) One way to overcome audience resistance to your message is to A) use the hard-sell approach. B) address all possible concerns that your audience has. C) emphasize the positive. D) do all of the above. Answer: B Explanation: B) The key to overcoming resistance is to anticipate audience objections and concerns. If you can address these concerns before the audience brings them up, all the better. For example, a new music download system might have security concerns. Informing your audience that you have hired a well-known security firm to eliminate virus problems is an example of addressing that concern. 29) When preparing a persuasive request for action, it is vital to A) show that you understand and respect the audience's concerns. B) emphasize how you will benefit if the request is fulfilled. C) emphasize the negative consequences of not complying with the request. D) make yourself look good in the reader's eyes. Answer: A Explanation: A) Being sensitive to your audience's concerns can help you turn your request into action. For example, when requesting a colleague's help in monitoring inventory, the colleague might be concerned about working extra for no pay. You can address that concern by saying, "I have checked with the corporate office and they have already allocated funds to pay overtime wages." 30) When writing a persuasive request for action, you should A) use the hard-sell approach. B) demonstrate that helping you will solve a significant problem. C) ask for more than you actually want so that you'll have a cushion for negotiation. D) avoid flattery. Answer: B Explanation: B) Convincing your audience of the importance of your request is critical. They are much more likely to take action if they are confident that they are solving an important problem, especially if solving the problem is beneficial to them. 31) When writing a persuasive claim letter, you should A) assume that the other person has no interest in helping you. B) use a confident and positive tone. C) mention as many additional complaints as possible about the company. D) say you have already contacted an attorney (even if you really haven't). Answer: B Explanation: B) Maintaining a positive and confident tone is one of the keys to a good persuasive claim letter. The other key is to master the facts and particulars of the case and present them clearly to your audience. The easier it is for your audience to understand the nature of your problem, the more likely your problem is to be resolved successfully. 32) In marketing and sales messages, what is the primary difference between selling points and benefits? A) Selling points are positive whereas benefits are not. B) Selling points focus on the user rather than the product. C) Selling points focus on the product rather than the user. D) None of the above is correct. Answer: C Explanation: C) Selling points focus on key features of a product. For an electric car, selling points might include that it emits no pollution and runs without gasoline. Benefits focus on advantages for the reader. Benefits for an electric car might be that it provides a tax break and it impresses the neighbors. 33) A ________ helps a potential buyer move through the purchasing process without having to make an immediate decision; a ________ encourages a potential buyer to make a purchase decision immediately. A) marketing message; product push B) measured response; content quotient C) persuasive appeal; purchase message D) marketing message; sales message Answer: D Explanation: D) Marketing messages usher potential buyers through the purchasing process without asking them to make an immediate decision. Sales messages then take over by encouraging potential buyers to make a purchase decision then and there. 34) When you're writing promotional messages for social media, use ________ to initiate and facilitate discussions in your networked community. A) traditional promotions B) bait-and-switch tactics C) conversation marketing D) opt-in scenarios Answer: C Explanation: C) Use conversation marketing to initiate and facilitate conversations in your networked community of customers, journalists, bloggers, and other interested parties. 35) Whereas ________ focus on what the product does, ________ focus on what the user experiences or gains. A) wants; needs B) selling points; benefits C) benefits; selling points, D) actionable features; desirable benefits Answer: B Explanation: B) Selling points focus on what the product does. Benefits focus on what the user experiences or gains. 36) If the audience for your marketing or sales message promoting a new security system is made up of wealthy professionals, the consumer benefit you would most want to emphasize is A) protection of the consumer's property. B) the low cost of the system. C) the low monthly payments for the service. D) easy, do-it-yourself installation. Answer: A Explanation: A) A wealthy audience is less concerned about price or easy installation than it is about protection of its property. 37) In marketing and sales messages, the best way to handle potential objections is to A) avoid mentioning them. B) identify them up front and try to address as many as you can. C) explain why the objections aren't really important. D) suggest that anyone who has them simply needs to do more research. Answer: B Explanation: B) If you wait for the audience to discover problems they are likely to hold those problems against you. If you anticipate objections ahead of time the audience is more likely to accept the flaws and move on. 38) Successful marketing and sales messages begin with A) an understanding of audience needs. B) an awesome marketing campaign. C) a persuasive call to action. D) an all-out effort to recruit marketing personnel. Answer: A Explanation: A) As with every other business message, successful marketing and sales messages start with an understanding of audience needs. 39) If price is one of your strong selling points, you should A) mention special offers, such as volume discounts, before actually stating the price. B) decrease the perception that the price is high. C) break the total price into smaller units. D) give the price a place of prominence in the message. Answer: D Explanation: D) Any strong selling point should always be featured prominently in a message. If price is what you think your audience is interested in, it should be featured in a prime location in your message. 40) Which of the following would not be an effective technique for gaining audience attention in sales messages? A) Offering an exciting product benefit B) Encouraging people to place an order C) Offering a unique solution to a common problem D) Appealing to people's emotions Answer: B Explanation: B) Effective attention-getting techniques might include offering an exciting product benefit, a piece of interesting news, an appeal to people's emotions or sense of financial value, or a unique solution to a common problem. 41) The desire phase of a conventional marketing or sales message should A) cut through "the clutter" to get your audience's attention. B) build interest in the product or service that the message is promoting. C) expand on your explanation of how the product or service will benefit them. D) include a persuasive call to action. Answer: C Explanation: C) Once you've given the audience some information to start building their interest, the next step is to boost their desire for the product or service by expanding on your explanation of how it will benefit them. 42) Which of the following would be the best wording in a marketing or sales message? A) The Never-Off whole-house generator requires professional installation. B) The Never-Off whole-house generator provides either 110 volts for standard use or 220 volts for washers and driers. C) The Never-Off whole-house generator automatically provides the 110 volt power your family needs during electrical outages. D) The Never-Off whole-house generator smashes all your doubts about generators and tosses them in the trash. Answer: C Explanation: C) The best approach balances logic and emotion, fact and description. A balanced approach includes some technical information (110 volts) as well as some emotional appeal—safety for your family during power outages. 43) Marketers use ________ to track the online behavior of website visitors and serve up ads based on what their interests appear to be. A) cyber stalking B) crowdsouring C) social convergence D) behavioral targeting Answer: D Explanation: D) Behavioral targeting tracks the online behavior of website visitors and serves up ads based on what they appear to be interested in. 44) Unlike more traditional promotional messages, those written for social media A) are less interactive. B) enable companies to engage in conversations about their products and services. C) allow for less transparency and openness with customers. D) save money by allowing companies to rely on the news media to distribute important messages. Answer: B Explanation: B) Persuasion for social media is an interactive conversational process in which companies initiate and facilitate conversations in a networked community of customers, journalists, bloggers, and other interested parties. 45) An ethical persuasive argument A) is a contradiction in terms. B) focuses on how the audience's actions will benefit the sender. C) includes any evidence the sender can come up with, whether or not it's relevant. D) focuses on being both truthful and nondeceptive. Answer: D Explanation: D) There is a difference between being truthful and being nondeceptive. Being truthful strictly requires that no lies or falsehoods are told. Being nondeceptive goes a step further, ensuring that all relevant information is supplied, and no information is presented in a manipulative or misleading way. 46) Successful professionals understand that persuasion is the attempt to get your audience to make the choices you want them to make—even if those choices are not in their best interest. Answer: False Explanation: Persuasion should not involve getting people to go against their better interest. Instead, persuasion should be thought of as the process of changing the attitudes, beliefs, or actions of your audience. 47) Demographic information includes people's psychological characteristics, such as personality, attitudes, and lifestyle. Answer: False Explanation: Demographics is limited to non-psychological characteristics such as age, income, gender, and educational level. 48) Regardless of the audience's specific needs, if your product is good and your message is clear, you will likely persuade them to make a purchase. Answer: False Explanation: Needs more or less trump all other factors. It would be hard for an air conditioner company to sell to people in Alaska no matter how great its products were and how well its message was expressed. People in Alaska simply don't need air conditioners. 49) Most persuasive messages take the direct approach. Answer: False Explanation: For persuasive messages, the indirect approach is typically standard. The direct approach is used only when audiences are judged to be receptive. 50) If you possess little authority in your organization, the direct approach will generally be best for the persuasive messages you send to colleagues. Answer: False Explanation: Low status within your company indicates that you may need to persuade many of your colleagues to do what you want them to do. In contrast, a high-status employee will get action on his or her requests almost 100 percent of the time. 51) Using simple language in persuasive messages usually increases your credibility with a skeptical audience. Answer: True Explanation: A skeptical audience is likely to be particularly mistrustful of attempts to talk "over their heads" by citing fancy-sounding scientific and technological terms. A much better approach is to keep things simple and build a sense of trust and common understanding with the audience. 52) One of the best ways to gain credibility for your message is to support it with objective evidence. Answer: True Explanation: The better the source of your evidence, the more credible your product looks. Thus, an educational product that has been approved by a prominent teacher's organization, for example, looks more attractive than a product that has been endorsed only by paid users. 53) When it comes to persuasive messages, an up-front hard-sell approach is usually the most successful. Answer: False Explanation: High-pressure hard-sell tactics usually backfire on the people who employ them. The pressure of the tactics makes audiences so uncomfortable that they tend to reject the message even if it otherwise has appeal to them. 54) In the attention phase of a persuasive message, your goal is to make the audience want to hear about your idea. Answer: True Explanation: The attention phase is all about catching the eye of your audience. You can do that in a variety of ways, appealing primarily to reason, the emotions, or both reason and emotions. 55) The interest section of a persuasive message emphasizes the relevance of your product or idea to your audience. Answer: True Explanation: The interest section of a persuasive letter builds a case for the product or idea that you are promoting. It answers questions about your product or idea, and addresses the concerns that your audience may have about your product or idea. 56) The AIDA model can be used with both the direct and indirect approaches for persuasive messages. Answer: True Explanation: The AIDA model is designed to be used with the indirect approach. However, the model also works well with the direct approach, putting the main idea of your message right up front in the attention phase of the process. 57) Most persuasive messages combine logical and emotional appeals. Answer: True Explanation: Successful persuasive messages almost always are a blend of emotional and logical appeal. The particular balance of emotion to logic depends on how skeptical the audience is and how much it actually needs the product or idea you are providing. 58) Deductive reasoning moves from specific evidence to a general conclusion. Answer: False Explanation: Deductive reasoning moves in the opposite direction—from the general conclusion to the specific instance or example. 59) Induction refers to reasoning from a generalization to a specific conclusion. Answer: False Explanation: Inductive reasoning moves in the opposite direction—from the specific instance to the formation of a general conclusion. 60) An example of faulty logic is to assume that one event caused another just because the two seem to coincide in time or place. Answer: True Explanation: An example of this type of faulty logic occurs when you assume that sales totals of your sunglasses line increased as a result of your ad campaign—when what actually happened was that the additional sales were the result of a well-known celebrity suddenly being seen wearing your glasses in public. 61) If you are trying to persuade a hostile audience to take action, you should meet their hostility with your own belligerence to show that you are as tough as they are. Answer: False Explanation: Dealing openly, honestly, and fairly is the best way to win over a hostile audience. Meeting an audience's hostility with more hostility simply confirms their negative view of you and your issue. 62) If you anticipate objections to your persuasive message, it is best not to bring them up. Answer: False Explanation: Addressing objections to your message is effective in gaining the trust of your audience. Anticipating those objections even before the audience brings them up is an even more effective way to win an audience over. That is why it is important to think about your audience's possible objections ahead of time before you encounter them. 63) Most persuasive business messages involve requests for action. Answer: True Explanation: The bulk of your persuasive business messages will involve requests for action. 64) Most persuasive claims and requests for adjustment use the direct approach. Answer: True Explanation: Claims and requests for adjustment are usually fairly straight-forward situations of "what happened?" and "how can you fix it?" Therefore, a direct approach in which the problem is described up front works best with these kinds of problems. 65) When addressing a persuasive claim or request for adjustment, you should appeal to your audience's sense of fair play, goodwill, or moral responsibility. Answer: True Explanation: Be as fair as possible and assume your audience shares your goodwill and sense of fairness. In many cases, acting in the most ethical and responsible way can influence others to respond in kind and emulate your behavior. 66) In a message promoting a new laptop, a selling point would be the computer's lightning fast performance whereas a benefit would be, "never having to worry about having enough space for your photos, music, movies, and documents." Answer: True Explanation: Selling points focus on features of the product itself, such as lightning fast performance. Benefits focus on advantages for the audience, such as the convenience of not running out of storage space. 67) Successful marketing and sales messages match the product's selling points to the audience's primary needs or emotional concerns. Answer: True Explanation: A good example of matching selling points to needs is a hybrid car whose primary selling point, its great gas mileage, matches its customers' emotional needs, the desire to feel that they are helping the world by burning less fossil fuel and creating less pollution. 68) A good way to gain attention for a persuasive campaign for an electric car would be a series of graphs and technical data that show how efficient the car is. Answer: False Explanation: Gaining the attention of an audience should involve exciting them in some way. Most people find graphs and data to be the opposite of exciting, so this is a poor way to get an audience's attention. 69) Because promotional messages are not legally binding contracts in most states, it is usually acceptable to imply offers or promises you cannot deliver. Answer: False Explanation: Tactics such as "bait and switch" in which one item is advertised, but the customer is switched to another item when he or she comes in, are illegal in many places. Practices that aren't technically illegal but are still deceptive are clearly unethical and should not be done. 70) You usually do not need permission to use a person's name or photograph in a marketing or sales message. Answer: False Explanation: You need to get permission to use real people in an ad whether they are celebrities or simply ordinary citizens. 71) ________ is the process of changing an audience's attitudes, beliefs, or actions. Answer: Persuasion Explanation: Persuasion is the art of convincing people to think or behave differently than they have in the past. 72) ________ information includes age, gender, occupation, income, and education. Answer: Demographic Explanation: Demographic information focuses on vital statistics that are easily measured and quantifiable, such as age and income. 73) ________ include information about an individual's personality, attitudes, lifestyle, and other psychological characteristics. Answer: Psychographics Explanation: Just as demographics give a profile of the outward statistics of a population—age, gender, job status, education, and so on—psychographics give a profile of the inner aspects of a population—personality, attitudes, beliefs, and so on. 74) It is particularly important to establish ________ with a skeptical or hostile audience, in order to convince them that you know what you're talking about and that you're not trying to mislead them. Answer: credibility Explanation: A hostile or negative audience doesn't trust you. The only way to gain their trust and establish credibility is to be open and straight with them, and offer them something of interest. 75) Persuasive messages often follow a specialized four-phase format called the ________ model. Answer: AIDA Explanation: AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, action, the four phases for organizing persuasive messages. 76) A(n) ________ appeal is based on the audience's feelings or sympathies rather than its rational assessment of the facts. Answer: emotional Explanation: An emotional appeal is aimed at a person's emotions and feelings rather than his or her logical sense. 77) ________ is reasoning that works from a generalization to a specific conclusion. Answer: Deduction Explanation: An example of deduction can be seen in a train schedule. If all of the trains have been 15 minutes late today, you might expect the 5:30 train to arrive at 5:45. 78) ________ reasoning is a logical fallacy in which you try to support your claim by using the premise of your statement. Answer: Circular Explanation: An example of circular reasoning can be seen in a student saying, "I'm a straight A student. How can you give me a B on my report card?" 79) A marketing or sales message begins with an effort to gain the audience's ________. Answer: attention Explanation: A marketing or sales message follows the same basic AIDA model: attention, interest, desire, action. Attention is the first item in that sequence. 80) ________ messages take a customer through the purchasing process without requiring a purchase. Answer: Marketing Explanation: Marketing messages promote sales, but they do not require a customer to make a purchase. Instead, a marketing message functions as a guide through the purchasing options. 81) ________ are the most attractive features of an idea or product. Answer: Selling points Explanation: A selling point is an attractive feature of a product that appeals to customers. A selling point of an iPad is how easy the device is to use. 82) ________ are the particular advantages that readers will realize from the features of a product or idea. Answer: Benefits Explanation: One benefit you get from buying an all-solar house is that you aren't affected by local power outages. 83) The fact that the new hybrid car gets 56 miles per gallon in highway driving is a(n) ________ point for the car. Answer: selling Explanation: A selling point is an attractive feature of a product that appeals to customers. High gas mileage appeals to customers, so it is a selling point. 84) In the practice of ________, behaviorally targeted ads from one website follow an online shopper when he or she moves on to other websites. Answer: remarketing Explanation: In remarketing, behaviorally targeted ads follow users as they move from website to website. 85) In marketing, ________ are enthusiastic fans of your company and its products. Answer: champions Explanation: Champions are the best types of customers a company can have. By enthusiastically spreading the word about your products, champions function as free advertising. Champions are even better than advertising because they are more persuasive than ads and they sometimes defend the company against unfair attacks or criticism. 86) In preparing to write persuasive messages, what two types of information are vital to assess the needs of your audience? Answer: Demographics (the age, gender, occupation, income, education, and other quantifiable characteristics of your audience) are very important. Psychographics (the personality, attitudes, lifestyle, and other psychological characteristics of your audience) are also vital to consider in customizing your message for your audience. 87) When is it a good idea to use the direct approach for persuasive messages? Answer: Using the direct approach for persuasive messages can be effective when your audience is ready to hear your proposal or when you've been building your case through several indirect messages and now it's time to make your request. 88) What does AIDA stand for? Answer: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. 89) When your AIDA message uses an indirect approach and is delivered by email, what are two goals to keep in mind as you write the subject line? Answer: One challenge in this situation is to make the subject line interesting and relevant enough to capture reader attention. At the same time, however, you have to do so without revealing your main idea. 90) Rewrite the following email subject line to make it more interesting without revealing the main idea: "The case for switching to new medical insurance provider." Answer: A more effective subject line would be something such as "Instant savings on medical insurance premiums." 91) What are three methods of reasoning you can use when making a logical appeal? Answer: Logical appeals can take place through analogy, induction, or deduction. 92) List three categories of common persuasive business messages. Answer: Most persuasive business messages fall into one of three categories: (1) persuasive requests for action, (2) persuasive presentation of ideas, and (3) persuasive claims and requests for adjustment. 93) Briefly explain the difference between selling points and benefits, and then give an example of each. Answer: Selling points are the most attractive features of an idea or product. Benefits are the particular advantages that readers will realize from those features. The fact that a mobile phone comes with a bluetooth headset is a selling point, but the convenience the buyer will enjoy because of the headset is a benefit. 94) What role does conversation marketing play in promotional messages for social media? Answer: In the social media landscape, consumers often look to other consumers for product information, not to the companies that market those products. Consequently, companies are using conversation marketing, rather than traditional promotion, to facilitate conversations in network communities of customers, journalists, bloggers, and other interested parties. 95) Why is it especially important in marketing and sales messages to avoid implying offers or promises you cannot fulfill? Answer: In many states, marketing and sales messages are binding contracts. Therefore, dishonesty in a sales message can lead to unfavorable legal action. For ethical reasons, it is always vital to avoid making promises you and your organization cannot keep. 96) Describe at least five strategies for establishing credibility when preparing persuasive messages. Answer: (1) Use simple language. Your audience is likely to be cautious, watching for fantastic claims, insupportable descriptions, and emotional manipulation. (2) Support your message with facts. The more specific and relevant your evidence, the better. (3) Identify your sources. Tell your audience where your information comes from and who agrees with you. (4) Be an expert. Know your subject area thoroughly. (5) Establish common ground—help your audience identify with you by appealing to shared beliefs, attitudes, and background experiences. (6) Be objective. Your ability to acknowledge all sides of an issue will help you present fair and logical arguments. (7) Display your good intentions. Your willingness to keep your audience's best interests at heart will help you create ethical persuasive messages. 97) Describe each of the four phases of the AIDA model for persuasive messages. Answer: (1) Attention: Make your audience want to hear about your idea. Find some common ground on which to build your case. (2) Interest: Explain the relevance of your message to your audience. (3) Desire: Make readers want to change by explaining how the change will benefit them. Answer in advance questions that your audience might have, and back up your claims with relevant evidence. (4) Action: Ask your audience to take the specific action you suggest. 98) Explain how to balance emotional appeals and logical appeals to persuade an audience. Answer: Generally speaking, persuasive business messages rely more heavily on logical appeals than emotional appeals, since the main idea is to save money, improve quality, and so on. It is important, however, to avoid the assumption that business decisions are purely logical and therefore ignore the emotional component. For example, you might be able to build a strong logical case for acquiring another company, based on projected financial return and other objective factors. However, the managers making the decision will experience a range of emotions, such as fear of making a wrong move that could be career-threatening. To find the optimum balance between emotional appeals and logical appeals, consider four factors: (1) the actions you hope to motivate, (2) your reader's expectations, (3) the degree of resistance you need to overcome, and (4) how far you feel empowered to go to sell your point of view. 99) If potential customers are likely to object to the price of your product or service, what can you do? Answer: If price is a likely objection, look for ways to increase the perceived value of the purchase and decrease the perception of high cost. For example, if you're marketing exercise equipment for the home, you could say that its total cost is less than a year's worth of health club dues. 100) Briefly explain several guidelines for adapting marketing and sales messages for social media. Answer: Use the following guidelines to adapt promotional messages for social media: (1) Facilitate community building. Make sure customers and other audiences can connect with your company and each other. (2) Listen at least as much as you talk. A variety of automated tools can help you. (3) Initiate and respond to conversations within the community. Provide the information customers need to evaluate your products and services. (4) Provide information that people want. Content marketing helps you build relationships by demonstrating that you understand and care about meeting potential customers' needs. (5) Identify and support your champions. They can help spread your message, defend you against detractors, and help other customers use your products. (6) Be real. Trying to fool the public is unethical and likely to backfire. (7) Integrate conventional marketing and sales strategies at the right time and in the right places. Don't abandon AIDA and other similar tools for specific tasks, such as conventional advertising. Test Bank for Business Communication Today Courtland L. Bovee, John V. Thill 9780132971294, 9780134562186, 9780135900239, 9780132539555
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