Argument
Quality
Another
factor that influences the kind of thoughts receivers
have is argument quality or strength. Strong arguments have
been consistently found to create more favorable thoughts, and
fewer unfavorable thoughts, than weak arguments (Benoit,
1987;
Petty & Cacioppo, 1984). Strong arguments, thus, have been
found to be more persuasive than weak ones (Benoit,
1987;
Cacioppo, Petty, & Morris,
1983;
Petty,
Cacioppo, &
Goldman, 1981). Furthermore, the influence of argument quality
is greater on involving than uninvolving topics (Andrews &
Shimp, 1990;
Petty &
Cacioppo, 1984). So, persuaders can
increase the likelihood that an audience will have favorable
thoughts by working hard to include strong, high quality
arguments in persuasive messages.
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