Generally speaking, persuasive business messages rely more heavily on logical appeals than emotional appeals, since the main idea is to save money, improve quality, and so on. It is important, however, to avoid the assumption that business decisions are purely logical and therefore ignore the emotional component. For example, you might be able to build a strong logical case for acquiring another company, based on projected financial return and other objective factors. However, managers making the decision will experience a range of emotions, such as fear of making a wrong move that could be career-threatening. To find the optimum balance between emotional appeals and logical appeals, consider four factors: (1 ) the actions you hope to motivate, (2 ) your reader's expectations, (3 ) the degree of resistance you need to overcome, and (4 ) how far you feel empowered to go to sell your point of view.