Input received from a personal digital assistant s keyboard can activate a wireless modem and direct a transmission to a destination. On a cellular phone, the dialing pad provides a parallel function. Here we examine the persuasive power of an analogy. Our goal is to identify conditions that facilitate or undermine an analogy s effectiveness. Persuasiveness of an analogy Previous research suggests that comparisons such as analogies and literal similarities prompt the association of message content with information already in a person s memory.
Analogies allow only structural relations to be mapped from a base to a target.
Thus, it seems likely that when processing an analogy, attention would be devoted primarily to the target s structural relations and not to surface attributes. Such a focus should be advantageous because structural relations are thought to provide more information about product benefits than surface attributes. In contrast, a literal similarity allows mapping of both structural relations and surface attributes. Although an analogy can be highly persuasive, two factors are likely to moderate its impact. One is the ability to detect and map common relations in the absence of surface attributes.