Aids to Audience Decision Making 167members, their effectiveness varied signifi cantly. The number of Chamber members who paid their
dues on time more than doubled when the revised letter was sent out in place of the original. The
Chamber member’s think-aloud comments about the original mailing indicate he was making a
budgetary decision rather than the compliance decision the Chamber wanted from him. He saw the
mailing as more of a request for a donation than as a fi nancial obligation that must be paid on time.
The revised mailing is titled with the label of the genre of the mailing— Invoice. In addition, therevised mailing includes textual features that are characteristic of that genre: It uses an invoice format as
opposed to a letter format; it is addressed to a specifi c person in the accounts payable department who
is responsible for paying the bills; and it demands, rather than requests, payment of the amount due.