霍夫兰借鉴了亚里士多德的思想，后者指出说服能力取决于沟通者的道德品质、受众的情绪状态还有最重要的 — — 论证的逻辑性。
Hovland drew upon ideas dating back to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, which argued that persuasiveness is built on the communicator’s ethical character, the audience’s emotional state, and the logic of the argument, the latter being the most powerful.