Framing Persuasive IT Communication : The Effect of Nomenclatures

A nomenclature is a set of language concepts that a professional uses to form a primary message to be conveyed to an interlocutor. Understanding the effect of nomenclatures on persuading business managers about the value of a new IT resource is critical for technology developers as well as IT managers. Nevertheless, the literature on IT communication is silent about the influence of nomenclature on persuasion. Five persuasion theories (i.e., argumentation theory (AT), construal-fit theory (CFT), language expectancy theory (LET), elaboration likelihood model (ELM), and heuristics-systematic model (HSM)) have the potential to explain the effect of nomenclatures. However, these theories provide different and sometimes opposite predictions. This study investigates which theory can more accurately predict the credibility of claims made about a new technology. An experiment is conducted using three nomenclature types, namely, technical, architectural, and business nomenclatures. The result shows that argumentation theory can predict the effect of these nomenclatures on credibility more accurately than other theories