Business Communication Today, 11e (Bovee/Thill)
Chapter 10 Writing Persuasive Messages
1) In general, the best persuasive messages ________ the audience’s motivations.
A) avoid mentioning
B) downplay
C) openly address
D) dismiss
2) Which of the following is not an example of demographic information?
A) Age
B) Occupation
C) Lifestyle
D) Income
3) Personality, lifestyle, and attitudes are assessed through
A) demographic surveys.
B) psychographic studies.
C) inkblot tests.
D) examinations of census data.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) 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.
7) 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.
8) AIDA stands for
A) appeal, indirect, direct, action.
B) anticipate inquiry in doing adjustments.
C) assume, insist, describe, act.
D) attention, interest, desire, action.
9) 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.
10) 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.
11) 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.
12) 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.
13) 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.
14) 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.
15) 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.
16) 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.
17) 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.
18) 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.
19) 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.
20) 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.
21) 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.
22) 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.
23) 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).
24) 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.
25) A common effective approach to presenting the benefits of a product is to
A) describe them with highly complex terms.
B) show them in a list or a table.
C) list the features, and challenge the audience to figure out the benefits.
D) choose one direct benefit and one indirect benefit.
26) 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.
27) 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.
28) In marketing and sales messages, you can deemphasize the price of your product by
A) mentioning it in the middle of a paragraph.
B) stating it right at the beginning.
C) commenting on how wealthy your readers probably are.
D) doing all of the above.
29) 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) compare the price to the cost of some other product or activity (“This exercise equipment
costs less than a health club membership”).
C) break the total price into smaller units (“Just six easy payments of $19.95 each will bring you
this lovely collector’s item”).
D) give it a position of prominence, such as in the headline or as the last item in a paragraph.
30) Which of the following would not be an effective technique for gaining audience attention in
sales messages?
A) Stating your product’s strongest benefit
B) Emphasizing how badly you need some sales to remain open
C) Explaining how your product offers a solution to a problem
D) Promising savings
31) The interest phase of a sales message should
A) begin with a “hard sell” that makes audiences want to hear more.
B) help the audience understand how your idea will benefit them.
C) emphasize attractive features and important details.
D) avoid any attempts at answering potential objections.
32) 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.
33) In a marketing or sales message, product claims are supported
A) primarily by testimonials from satisfied customers.
B) by testimonials from paid reviewers.
C) information from rival products.
D) by solid evidence from a credible source.
34) 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.
35) 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.
36) 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.
37) To devise an effective persuasive message, you need to analyze audience members and then
appeal to their desires and interests.
38) Demographic information includes people’s psychological characteristics, such as
personality, attitudes, and lifestyle.
39) 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.
40) Most persuasive messages take the direct approach.
41) If you possess little authority in your organization, the direct approach will generally be best
for the persuasive messages you send to colleagues.
42) Using polite language in business-related persuasive messages weakens your argument and
reduces your chance of success.
43) When preparing persuasive messages for audiences in high-context cultures, you will be
most successful if you use an aggressive, hard-sell approach.
44) Using simple language in persuasive messages usually increases your credibility with a
skeptical audience.