Communicating Persuasively: Email or Face-to-Face?
By ahmed_vnit
@ahmed_vnit (147)
India
March 25, 2007 9:42am CST
"Our intuitive understanding is that face-to-face communication is the most persuasive. In reality, of course, it's not always possible to meet in person, so email wins out. How, then, do people react to persuasion attempts over email? Persuasion research has uncovered fascinating effects: that men seem more responsive to email because it bypasses their competitive tendencies (Guadagno & Cialdini, 2002). Women, however, may respond better in face-to-face encounters because they are more 'relationship-minded'. But is this finding just a gender stereotype?"
1 person likes this
1 response
@SageMother (2277)
• United States
25 Mar 07
It could be sterotyping but it ignores another factor.
Women, in the past, have been easily intimidated and trained to avoid conflict. A face to face talk allows intimidation through dramatization and confrontational body language. When aware of those factors, a woman can over ride her tendency toward agreement to avoid confrontation and hold her ground.
