Business Communication Today, 12e (Bovee/Thill)
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
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
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.
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.
5) Which of the following is not an example of demographic information?
A) Age
B) Occupation
C) Lifestyle
D) Income
6) Personality, lifestyle, and attitudes are assessed through
A) demographic surveys.
B) psychographic studies.
C) inkblot tests.
D) examinations of census data.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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