Assessing business proposals. Implications for style and structure of larger documents

Clients of IBM Netherlands, a subsidiary company of IBM, have been interviewed on their preferences concerning the business proposals IBM Netherlands provides. Next to particular questions, selection and reading tasks were performed. Some effects of the structure of proposals on information selection, and of the use of style variants in parts of the proposals were found. A document indicating its structure on the appropriate places is easier to access than a document with less indications, although this is not recognised by participants themselves; the use of a persuasive style in business proposals is evaluated negatively. Because little is known about experienced readers in a business context, these and additional results of the research are valuable. The results show, moreover, that 'reading to assess' may involve two distinct reading goals: 'reading to assess approval' and 'reading to assess opinion', leading to different reading strategies.