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De relatieve frequentie van verschillende evidentietypen

Overtuigende teksten, waarin lezers worden aangespoord een bepaalde handeling te verrichten, winnen in overtuigingskracht wanneer evidentie wordt gebruikt om het waarschijnlijk te maken dat de handeling tot voordelen leidt. Een corpus van Nederlandse (n = 22) en Franse persuasieve voorlichtingsbrochures (n = 22) is geanalyseerd op de frequentie van het gebruik van vier typen evidentie: statistische, anekdotische, causale en expertevidentie. De resultaten laten zien dat cultuur van invloed is op de relatieve frequentie van de typen evidentie. Meer specifiek wordt de hypothese dat expertevidentie vaker zou vóórkomen in het Franse corpus bevestigd. Dit suggereert dat tekstschrijvers uit verschillende culturen wellicht andere ideeën hebben over welke typen evidentie het meest overtuigend zijn.

  • Hornikx, J. (2003). De relatieve frequentie van verschillende evidentietypen in Nederlandse en Franse persuasieve voorlichtingsbrochures. In: L. van Waes, P. Cuvelier, G. Jacobs & I. de Ridder (Eds.), Studies in Taalbeheersing, volume 1 (pp. 206-217). Assen: Van Gorcum. [pdf]
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Review of “Persuasion: theory & research”

In this second edition of Persuasion: theory & research, Daniel O’Keefe gives a state-of-the-art overview of theories and research in the field of persuasion. The author has succeeded in providing an introductory text for (under)graduate students that discusses classic and more current theoretical perspectives that have been or will be prominent for the study of persuasive effects (chapters 2-6).

  • Hornikx, J. (2003). Review of “Persuasion: theory & research (2nd edition)” by Daniel O’Keefe. Document Design, 4 (3), 284-287. [pdf]
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Cultural influence on the relative occurrence of evidence types

Persuasive texts, such as advertisements or public information brochures, are written to convince the readers to behave in a certain manner, like buying a DVD-player or stop smoking. These texts are generally characterised by pragmatic argumentation, by which an action is recommended on the basis of its favourable consequences. In order to enhance the persuasive power of these texts, writers can support their claims with different types of evidence, like statistical information or anecdotes. The text writers’ preference for certain types of evidence might be influenced by their cultural background. A cross-cultural corpus study consisting of Dutch and French persuasive brochures will be presented. We will first outline our theoretical framework by discussing the role of pragmatic argumentation (section two) and evidence types (section three) in persuasive communication.

  • Hornikx, J., Starren, M., & Hoeken, H. (2003). Cultural influence on the relative occurrence of evidence types. In F. H. van Eemeren, J. A. Blair, C. A. Willard, & A. F. Snoeck Henkemans (Eds.), Proceedings of the fifth conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation (pp. 531-536). Amsterdam: Sic Sat. [pdf]