How does the message content influence persuasion?

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How does the message content influence persuasion?



The content of the message is (obviously!) very important. What do you think works better: reason or emotion? Does the logic of the argument work better or is it better to touch on people's emotions? The answer of course, like every good social psychological question, is "it depends".

People are often swayed by emotional arguments when there is little cost to them. For example, advertisements that focus on emotion are good for low-cost consumer products such as soft drinks and other consumables. However when we are dealing with high-cost items such as cars or computers, more cognitive or reason based advertising often works better.

If you look at the Super Bowl advertisements linked below, you'll notice that many of them try to make you laugh. Indeed, many made me laugh (my favorite was the Dodge Charger commercial).

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