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.
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.
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.
47) Demographic information includes people’s psychological characteristics, such as
personality, attitudes, and lifestyle.
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.
49) Most persuasive messages take the direct approach.
50) If you possess little authority in your organization, the direct approach will generally be best
for the persuasive messages you send to colleagues.
51) Using simple language in persuasive messages usually increases your credibility with a
skeptical audience.
52) One of the best ways to gain credibility for your message is to support it with objective
evidence.
53) When it comes to persuasive messages, an up-front hard-sell approach is usually the most
successful.
54) In the attention phase of a persuasive message, your goal is to make the audience want to
hear about your idea.
55) The interest section of a persuasive message emphasizes the relevance of your product or
idea to your audience.
56) The AIDA model can be used with both the direct and indirect approaches for persuasive
messages.
57) Most persuasive messages combine logical and emotional appeals.
58) Deductive reasoning moves from specific evidence to a general conclusion.
59) Induction refers to reasoning from a generalization to a specific 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.
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.
62) If you anticipate objections to your persuasive message, it is best not to bring them up.
63) Most persuasive business messages involve requests for action.
64) Most persuasive claims and requests for adjustment use the direct approach.
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.
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.”
67) Successful marketing and sales messages match the product’s selling points to the audience’s
primary needs or emotional concerns.
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.
69) Because promotional messages are not legally binding contracts in most states, it is usually
acceptable to imply offers or promises you cannot deliver.
70) You usually do not need permission to use a person’s name or photograph in a marketing or
sales message.
71) ________ is the process of changing an audience’s attitudes, beliefs, or actions.
72) ________ information includes age, gender, occupation, income, and education.
73) ________ include information about an individual’s personality, attitudes, lifestyle, and other
psychological characteristics.
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.
75) Persuasive messages often follow a specialized four-phase format called the ________
model.
76) A(n) ________ appeal is based on the audience’s feelings or sympathies rather than its
rational assessment of the facts.
77) ________ is reasoning that works from a generalization to a specific conclusion.
78) ________ reasoning is a logical fallacy in which you try to support your claim by using the
premise of your statement.
79) A marketing or sales message begins with an effort to gain the audience’s ________.
80) ________ messages take a customer through the purchasing process without requiring a
purchase.
81) ________ ________ are the most attractive features of an idea or product.
82) ________ are the particular advantages that readers will realize from the features of a
product or idea.
83) The fact that the new hybrid car gets 56 miles per gallon in highway driving is a(n)
________ point for the car.
84) In the practice of ________, behaviorally targeted ads from one website follow an online
shopper when he or she moves on to other websites.
85) In marketing, ________ are enthusiastic fans of your company and its products.
86) In preparing to write persuasive messages, what two types of information are vital to assess
the needs of your audience?
87) When is it a good idea to use the direct approach for persuasive messages?
88) What does AIDA stand for?
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?
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.”
91) What are three methods of reasoning you can use when making a logical appeal?
92) List three categories of common persuasive business messages.
93) Briefly explain the difference between selling points and benefits, and then give an example
of each.
94) What role does conversation marketing play in promotional messages for social media?
95) Why is it especially important in marketing and sales messages to avoid implying offers or
promises you cannot fulfill?
96) Describe at least five strategies for establishing credibility when preparing persuasive
messages.
97) Describe each of the four phases of the AIDA model for persuasive messages.
98) Explain how to balance emotional appeals and logical appeals to persuade an audience.
99) If potential customers are likely to object to the price of your product or service, what can
you do?
100) Briefly explain several guidelines for adapting marketing and sales messages for social
media.