Does the presentation of a successful written description on ebay rely on inference?

[colic2bullsgirlore]

I believe it does. What about you? Some background below but I reckon "as you sow so shall you reap" to me has just

not got the same sting as "as u so sew shall you repe" but by using some comprehension skills that create an inference

  I am able to recognize the second phrase,however, if many of those garbled phrases are grouped together then

that task (for me anyways) becomes a laborious chore.

http://www.criticalreading.com/inference_reading.htm

Inference: Reading Ideas as Well as Words

Ideally, speakers mean what they say and say what they mean. Spoken communication is not that simple.

Much of what we understand—whether when listening or reading—we understand indirectly, by inference.

Listening involves a complex combination of hearing words, analyzing sentence structure, and attempting to find

meaning within the context of the given situation.

The situation with the written word is no different. A text does not contain a meaning.

Readers construct meaning by what they take the words to mean and how they process sentences to find meaning.

Readers draw on their knowledge of the language and of conventions of social communication.

They also draw on other factors, such as knowledge of the author (“Would Henry say such a thing?), the occasion (“No

one knew such things then!”), or the audience (“He’d never admit that publicly.”)

They infer unstated meanings based on social conventions, shared knowledge, shared experience, or shared values.

They make sense of remarks by recognizing implications and drawing conclusions.

Readers read ideas more than words, and infer, rather than find, meaning

http://www.speechlanguage-resources.com/inference-and-reading.html

Inference and Reading: Much of what an author writes is implied.

Authors expect their readers to fill in the gaps.

So, to truly comprehend or understand much of what an author writes, we, as readers, have to use our inference skills.

The more we are able to do this the better our inference and reading comprehension becomes.

And successful inference of written text is often reliant on us having good word and world knowledge.

[gec2002]

"With a lot of my items (craft supplies) facts are better than anything else, they'll require buyers to use their imagination to envisage what to create with them ect. It just sucks when they use their imagination in place of the facts. Smiley LOL"

Here's an ad that only gives a couple of facts, but the facts no information about the item being sold (its size, colour, etc) yet it still sells the brand, and the product.  I think its a brilliant ad.

https://youtu.be/OxunzQQNgQM

Sorry OP getting somewhat away from your original question, however the ad does rely heavily on inference.

[digital*ghost]

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@gec2002 wrote:

  I think its a brilliant ad.

https://youtu.be/OxunzQQNgQM

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Cheers, haven't seen that one before.

(I did have to google the claim in that ad, though  i.e. the first marathon runner died - well, so the story goes, but while he may have died after running 25 [40km] miles to deliver a message, he'd also run 150 miles [240km] over two days just prior to that, so there was supposedly a little bit more to it than humans - especially those wearing Nikes - being able to conquer an initially difficult or life threatening feat, which is the message I presume they wanted to send   ). 

Nike can advertise their brand (as opposed to specific products) a bit more successfully than the average eBay seller, though. I do try, (re: branding) but focus is heavily on the product in listings. 

[englishrosegardens]

I didn't watch the ad in the link but if it's a Nike ad then I'd say it wouldn't actually convince anyone to buy Nike shoes, rather it helps justify a decision they've already made to buy them.

I think this whole thread misses the point, which is that inference and perception are two completely different things.  If you infer something it means you've worded things in a way that will lead people to certain assumptions, whether or not they're true.  Perception is about interpretation of what you've said - rather than what you haven't said.

I won't buy from sellers who don't fully describe an item.  I have in the past but 99.99999% of the time I was disappointed with what I received.  I figured out long ago that sellers with scant descriptions often got higher prices because the imagination will almost always imagine a product to be what we want it to be (if we aren't shown otherwise).  I was interested to hear not long afterwards that studies had confirmed this.  Those days of high auction prices for goods with minimal descriptions is long gone because too many people have had their fingers burnt.

My buyers can't actually see the product before they buy and I have to be their eyes and ears, therefore I like them to know exactly what they're getting so that they're pleased with their purchase and come back for more.

[gec2002]

"I didn't watch the ad in the link but if it's a Nike ad then I'd say it wouldn't actually convince anyone to buy Nike shoes, rather it helps justify a decision they've already made to buy them.

I think this whole thread misses the point, which is that inference and perception are two completely different things.  If you infer something it means you've worded things in a way that will lead people to certain assumptions, whether or not they're true.  Perception is about interpretation of what you've said - rather than what you haven't said."

Sorry but how can you make a conclusion about the ad when you didn't watch it.  If you viewed it and took that stance fair enough, but to my way of thinking the ad is a good example inference.  Maybe you wouldn't see it that way, but as you haven't viewed it how would you know???