COM 102: Exam 2 Persuasion Unit

In Social Judgement Theory, how does ego involvement affect the size of latitudes?

Ego Involvement: how important issue is to OUR identity

• When belief gets stronger (HARDER TO PERSUADE)

  • Latitude of acceptance shrinks (accept fewer new ideas), Latitude of rejection expands (reject more ideas)

When belief gets weaker (EASIER TO PERSUADE)

• Latitude of acceptance expands (accepting more ideas), Latitude of rejection shrinks (rejecting fewer ideas)

What does Principle 1 say about how we evaluate persuasive messages?

When presented with a persuasive message, we use judgement categories (the latitudes) that happen in a split second to evaluate message

Principle 1 (continued)

What are the three judgment categories (latitudes) used to evaluate persuasive messages?

1. Latitude of Acceptance: likely to accept because no problems with message

2. Latitude of Rejection: absolutely disagree with msg → not accept

3. Latitude of Non-Com

Principle 2

Why is categorizing a msg (acceptance, rejection, non-commitment) crucial for persuasion?

• It determines which category persuasive message belongs in

Principle 3 (Belief Strength)

How does strength of belief (deep vs weak) change latitude of acceptance and rejection?

Belief stronger → harder to persuade (more important to identity)

Belief weaker → easier to persuade (less important to our identity)

Principle 4: Distorting info to fit our categories of judgement

• How do assimilation and contrast effects prevent persuasion?

• Assimilation: We’ll assimilate message CLOSE to our anchor if close to ours

• Rejection: Contrast msg if it’s REJECTING our anchor

Principle 5: Small/moderate discrepancies cause us to change anchor position

• Why do small vs large discrepancies from the anchor position affect persuasion differently?

Small changes → easier to persuade as closer to anchor

Large changes → harder to persuade bc farther from anchor

What is anchor position and why is it important for persuasion?

Anchor Position: One position that aligns with our beliefs the most

What does the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) explain about how people process persuasive messages?

• Explains how people process and evaluate persuasive messages through careful thinking (central route) or mental shortcuts (peripheral route)

What are the two main routes of persuasion in ELM?

• Central Route (Carefully thinking)

• Peripheral route (Short cuts)

What defines the central route of persuasion?

• Give ab example when choosing a new laptop

Central Route: people carefully think about messages and arguments

• THINKING ab. arg. or issue → ur using mental elaboration

  • Example: Choosing a laptop (thinking about if it’s better than other laptops, what kind of chip it has, to what extent it can be used, etc.)

What defines the peripheral route of persuasion?

Peripheral Route: mental shortcuts → avoid cognitive work to make a decision (faster to make decision too)

• Example: Choosing Laptop

  • Instead of functionality/technicality you can base decision off aesthetic, if family uses certain brand, etc.

How does central processing differ from peripheral processing?

Central Processing: thinking more carefully and longer on things

Peripheral Processing: thinking faster and easier on things (using less cognitive work)

What determines whether someone uses the central or peripheral route? (motivation / ability )

The more relevant an issue is, more motivated to use central processing (think more about it)

Why do strong vs. weak arguments matter more in central route?

• Because you can further evaluate or judge the persuasive message

Peripheral Processing (Big Idea) Why are most messages processed through peripheral route?

• Consistency, Social Proof (doing things because other people do it too), Liking (making decisions bc we like ppl or they like us), Authority, Scarcity (sometimes when we think something is scarce we make it desirable)

What are the six key peripheral cues (heuristics) in ELM?

• Reciprocation, Consistency, Social Proof (doing things because other people do it too), Liking (making decisions bc we like ppl or they like us), Authority, Scarcity (sometimes when we think something is scarce we make it desirable)

How do heuristics (like authority & scarcity) influence decisions w/o deep thinking?

• Authority: If someone is our boss, then we do something because it’s their role (we don’t rlly have an option)

• Scarcity: when we think something is scarce we make it desirable)

Concept (Main Idea)

What does Cognitive Dissonance Theory explain about human behavior and consistency? What does inconsistency create?

• Humans have a strong desire to behave and think consistently

  • Inconsistency creates → Dissonance (mental stress)

  • motivation of theory is to reduce dissonance and increase consistency

Core Assumption:

Why do people feel motivated to reduce dissonance?

• Dissonance creates mental discomfort → motivated to reduce by restoring consistency between their thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors

Cognitive Elements:

What are the 3 cognitive elements in Cognitive Dissonance Theory? (TBB)

Thoughts, beliefs, behaviors

Difference between consonance and dissonance?

Dissonance: when two elements are distant

• Example: I care about the environment, but I don’t do things that reciprocate that

Consonance: agreement between two or more cognitions

What determines the magnitude of dissonance?

• The number/proportion of dissonant cognitive elements

• Importance of those elements to the person

Fundamental assumption: when we experience dissonance we don’t like it → want to decrease

Three main ways people reduce dissonance?

1. Change one of the dissonant elements (usually to make it consonance)

2. Add in consonant elements (what's gonna make me feel better in the moment) (adding happy thoughts basically)

3. Change the importance of cognitive elements

• Example: An ex wants to get back with you, peace is disturbed → dissonance is created → you can apply these in that situation

• Change to consonance

• Add happy thoughts

• Change importance

How does selective exposure help prevent or reduce dissonance?

hint: seeking info to..

• People will seek out information that will reduce any dissonance they feel 

  • And they will avoid info that they will not want to encounter

• Example: Feeling uncertain about someone, so you seek info about them

• Or If want to avoid → blocking their social medias, or never checking on their socials again

Four ways to reduce post decision dissonance? (so like doing something but then ur unsure about it or it’s kinda bad)

ex: like talking to your ex again → and unsure about it (so trying to prevent that unsureness)

or starting to date your ex again

• Ways to reduce Decisional Dissonance 

  • Festinger says you can reduce post decision dissonance in 4 ways: 

    • 1. Revoke the decision 

    • 2. Increase the attractiveness of your decision (convince yourself its good) 

    • 3. Decrease the attractiveness of what you rejected 

    • 4. View the consequences of the alternatives as similar

Why does minimal justification lead to attitude change?

• When doing something w/ little or no external reward (& dissonance is experienced) → people internally justify the behavior by changing their attitude to align with what they did

• Minimal justification leads to attitude change because when people do something with little or no external reward, they experience dissonance between their behavior and their beliefs, so they internally justify the behavior by changing their attitude to align with what they did.

How can Cognitive Dissonance Theory be used as a persuasion strat? (in terms of using no big rewards for something)

Making someone do a challenging task without a big reward can make them convince themselves it was worthwhile, increasing attitude change.

What is rhetoric and main purpose?

• Rhetoric → Art of persuasion, using effective writing or speaking to get an audience to believe or do something without losing integrity

What do rhetorical studies teach people to do?

• How to use communication to persuade

• Analyze texts to identify persuasive tools

Who is considered father of communication and what is his key text on persuasion

Aristotle & “The Rhetoric

Three rhetorical proofs Aristotle identified?

Ethos (ethical, credibility) Pathos (emotional), Logos (Logical)

The five canons: (think about what could be used for a good presentation)

What does each canon focus on? What r the five canons

Invention → strong arguments

Arrangement → avoid complication of msg

Style → help audience learn easily and pleasantly

Delivery → presentation of content

Memory → processes of retaining msg content

Rhetorical Techniques (Examples)
Q: Give examples of how famous speakers use rhetoric to persuade.

• I have a dream - MLK 

• Winston Churchill → using “we” transcendence (we shall FIGHT on the beaches,  we shall fight in the fields, etc.) 

Resonance theory? How does it relate to persuasion?

Resonance Theory: Effective messages resonate with the feelings that are INSIDE the audience in contrast to those that attempt to transfer info from sender to receiver (resonating with people has to do with what they feel inside, instead of js giving info)

What is Narrative paradigm (Walt Fisher) and how does it view humans differently from the Rational World Paradigm?

Narrative Paradigm: humans are STORY TELLING beings

→ all meaningful communication occurs via storytelling

→ stories more persuasive than local arguments

→ Nell Fisher argued we were narrative compared to Rationale Paradigm

Rational World: Thinking rationally (not narratively)

• Rational world 

  • People are rationale 

  • The world is a set of logical puzzles we solve through rationality 

  • We make decision based on arguments 

  • The type of speaking determines arguments 

Four Key Principles of Narrative Paradigm? (Ig key concepts that define it)

1. People are storytellers

2. we make decisions based on “good reasons”

3. History, biography, culture, etc. determine “good reasons”

4. World is set of stories from which we choose

   1. Ex: teacher being scared of dogs wouldn’t logically make that much sense because a cat got killed by pack of dogs once, buttt if u tell the story it’ll make more sense

What is Narrative Rationality? What three things do ppl use during this? (CEF)

• A way to evaluate stories

3 things

• Coherence

• External Consistency

• Fidelity

What is coherence during Narrative Rationality?

“Does the story actually make sense, does it hold it together?”

What is fidelity during Narrative Rationality?

Extent to which a story rings true, to which an audience believes, knows, matches with their expectations/experiences

Why are stories more persuasive than logical arguments?

people connect to them emotionally and use them to form “good reasons” based on their own values and experiences.

How do values function in the Narrative Paradigm?

values are central, they shape how people interpret stories and provide the reasons people use to make decisions and take action.

Main idea of the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO)?

Communication is the key to making organizations and sustaining them

What four ways do our interactions and communication create, recreate, and change orgs?

1. Membership negotiation

2. Self structuring

3. Activity Coordination

4. Institutional Positioning

Membership Negotiation

Organizations are defined in part by their members ?

1. Self structuring

2. Institutional Positioning

3. Membership negotiation

4. Activity Coordination

Any process that serves to steer the organization (or part of it)?

1. Self structuring

2. Institutional Positioning

3. Membership negotiation

4. Activity Coordination

Self Structuring

Activity Coordination

Organizations have purposes —> member activity directed, in part towards those purposes

• Who will address every task? → requires ongoing communication

Institutional Positioning

Communication outside of the organization, to other entities?

1. Self structuring

2. Institutional Positioning

3. Membership negotiation

4. Activity Coordination

How could one message serve multiple “flows” at once?

One message can serve multiple flows by addressing different organizational needs at the same time.

For example, a company-wide email about a new policy could:

• Help self-structuring (establish rules/procedures)

• Support activity coordination (tell employees how to act)

• Reinforce membership negotiation (show expectations of being a member)

So, a single piece of communication can contribute to multiple aspects of how the organization is created and maintained.