The Persuasive Power of Regulatory Nonfit

A wealth of research has shown that people are more persuaded by appeals that fit their regulatory focus than those that do not. This research provides the first evidence that nonfit appeals may be more persuasive than fit appeals, but only when people are motivated and able to process nonfit information. Specifically, we find that nonfit appeals are more persuasive under high-involvement conditions, whereas fit appeals are more persuasive under low-involvement conditions (Experiment 1). Further, we find that the nonfit effect on persuasion is the result of heightened processing engagement (Experiments 2 and 3), whereby people are more discerning of argument strength (Experiment 3).