The impact of rhetorical strategies on innovation decisions: an experimental study

This study addresses a potentially significant deficiency of the extant innovation adoption paradigm: its inability to account for rhetorical actions as a component of the innovation decision process. A multi-stage empirical methodology was created and used to investigate how decisionmakers might be affected by arguments supporting an innovation, and how different arguments might influence the adoption process. Unlike most prior research, the arguments were generated systematically and the experimental treatments were developed based on empirical evidence. The results indicate that rhetorical action did influence the choices made by potential adopters. This research thereby suggests new elements and methods that may be used to better study and understand the innovation adoption decision.