Stories, humor, and rhetorical questions are among rhetorical techniques used in advertisements and personal selling. The aim is to change and/or strengthen customer attitudes. But researchers at Ohio State University and University of Minnesota find that some of these rhetorical techniques make a sale less likely if the customer has doubts.
Rhetorical questions are yes/no questions to which the answer is felt to be so obvious that no reply is necessary. Examples include “Wouldn't it be fun to have this couch in your living room by tonight?,” and “Do you want to miss this wonderful opportunity?” The researchers say that if a shopper is concerned about the quality of the store, the salesperson, the product, or the format of the ad that aroused their interest, you should soften any rhetorical questions. One way to soften is to use the questions infrequently. Research findings suggest using rhetorical questions no more than three times in your ad or sales presentation around cautious consumers.
Another way to soften the rhetorical is to introduce it by asking the customer’s permission and presenting the rhetorical as a statement instead of a question. You could say something like, “May I tell you a question I’ve considered when making this kind of purchase decision?” The customer is much more likely to say yes than no, and by them giving you permission to go on, the psychological barriers to persuasion are relaxed.
With other rhetorical techniques like stories, you could ask something like, “To illustrate why I think this item is the right one for you, may I tell you briefly about what really happened recently to one of my customers?” With rhetorical techniques like humor, though, asking in advance (“May I say something funny to you now?”) ruins the impact. So with cautious shoppers, cut the comedy.
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