Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

216 Understanding Intuitive Decision Making

Vivid pictures can also enhance the persuasive appeal of verbal information.^105 In a study

of print ads, one group of consumers was shown a version of a print ad for facial tissues that

used a vivid color photograph of a fl uffy kitten to communicate the product’s softness. Another

group was shown either a version of the ad that verbally described the attribute of softness or

one that included color photographs conceptually irrelevant to the product’s softness. Consum-

ers developed stronger beliefs about the softness of the brand of tissue, as well as more favorable

attitudes toward the brand, when they saw the ad with the vivid color photo of the kitten.^106

Compared to ads without images of the advertised product, ads that include images of the product

also produce more defi nite consumer intentions to buy.^107 Compared to warning labels without pictures,

warnings labels with images increase compliance.^108 For instance, cigarette warning labels that include a

graphic image of the negative effects of smoking dramatically lower consumer intentions to smoke.^109

Vivid Modality Effects: The Power of Speech, Video, and Live Performance

Even more persuasive than written words or static images, are spoken words and moving images.

Messages presented in the more vivid video or audio modality have a signifi cantly stronger persuasive

impact than the same messages presented in the less vivid written modality.^110 In addition, the more

sophisticated the presentation technology the more likely it is to bias audience decisions. In a study

that compared the effects of the written word to an animated slide show, both experts and novices

in the domain of football were asked to rate the likely success of a new football recruit. The par-

ticipants were given either a “low-tech” typed summary of the recruit’s statistics, a “moderate tech”

printed handout of the stats in PowerPoint charts, or a “high-tech” animated slide show of the stats

in PowerPoint charts. For both novice and expert judges, the greater the technological sophistication

of the presentation, the more highly they rated the projected success of the new football recruit.^111

Live performances can also have a persuasive impact. In fact, the vivid visual cues in live perfor-

mances can have an even greater impact on the audience than the content the audience is evaluating.

For example, venture capitalists and other investors often neglect the content of entrepreneurs’ pitches

and instead overweight the vivid visual elements of the entrepreneurs’ performance when making

investment decisions. When watching presentations by CEOs, fi nancial analysts tend to respond to

the visual elements of the CEOs’ performance in a way that leads them to make less accurate fore-

casts of the fi rms’ future earnings.^112 Job applicants are more likely to accept an offer after a brief

face-to-face meeting with a recruiter than after reading detailed recruiting literature.^113

Surprisingly, professional musicians primarily use visual criteria to judge musical performances,

even though they report that sound is the most important criterion in their evaluations. Music ensem-

bles that win international recognition are those that display more convincing visible leadership and

attention-getting group dynamics. Sound-only recordings actually inhibit a judge’s ability to identify

the winning group.^114

The fi rst six slides of two slide presentations on the following pages illustrate the persuasive

impact of information presented in a vivid, attention-getting style. A team of MBA students who

tried to make the business case that an electric utility they dubbed “Southern Company” should

build new nuclear reactors produced the fi rst slide presentation. A second team opposed to South-

ern Company building new reactors developed the second slide presentation. Even without reading

the bullet points of either slide presentation, guessing which team won the debate is not diffi cult.

Although both teams addressed the audience’s decision criteria and used many facts and fi gures to

support their claims, notice that only the second team incorporated vivid charts, graphs, and pho-

tographs into their slide deck. And notice that only the second team began each slide with a title

that made a vivid claim.