Communication strategies affected by audience opposition, feedback and persuasibility

Three experiments were conducted to assess the effect of audience characteristics upon message strategies chosen by communicators. In each experiment subjects selected the arguments they would use in a persuasive communication. Communicators who expected an audience which was initially opposed to the argued position tended to select arguments which focused on problems and issues, rather than on solutions, that is, a seemingly cautious strategy (Experiment I). There was some evidence that the underlying cause for this strategy was a desire to avoid rejection by the audience, because it was most apparent when the audience was expected to give evaluative feedback (especially in person) to the communicator (Experiment II). In addition, communicators expecting a difficult to persuade audience selected stronger arguments, interpreted as “trying harder” (Experiment III).