[SOCPSY] Chapter 7 Persuasion

Persuasion

Process by which a message induces change in belief, attitudes or behaviors .

Primacy Effects

Other things being equal, infomation presented first usually has the most influence

Recency Effects

Information presented last sometimes has the most influence

what paths lead to persuasion?

- central route: explicit attitudes

- peripheral route: implicit attitdues

Central Route of Persuasion

Focusing on the argument. It occurs when interested people focus on the argument and respond with favorable thoughts.

- enduring change

Peripheral Route of Persuasion

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

- ex. trusting the experts

- more effective in commercials/TV

what are the elements of persuasion?

1. communicator

2. message

3. how the message is communicated

4. audience

communicator

- effective persuaders know how to convey a message effectively

factors

1. credibility

2. attractiveness and liking

Credibility

Believability; a communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy; a perception of a speaker's knowledge, trustworthiness, and warmth and believability

factors of credibility

1. perceived expertise

2. speaking style

3. perceived trustworthiness

perceived expertise

someone more knowledgeable

experts > non-experts

speaking style

speaking confidently and fluently

- straightforward = competent, credible

- not good to speak too much

- balance between talking and listening

perceived trustworthiness

- listening to a communicator we trust

- believe negative > positive

- believes the communicator is not trying to persuade them

- someone else convey your expertise

- people don't care enough to analyze the evidence automatically infer that the product is special

- direct eye contact doesn't improve persuasion

attractiveness and liking

more attractive

- physical attractiveness for superficial judgments

- similarity also makes for attractiveness = tend to like people who are like us

Sleeper effect

a delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it.

message content

- what that person says

1. reason vs. emotion

2. message context

3. one-sided vs. two-sided appeals

4. primacy vs. recency

reason vs. emotion

argument can be both reasonable and emotiona

- depends on the audience

- well-educated; rational appeals

- thougthful audiences; central route, reasoned arugments

- uninterested audiences; peripheral route, more affected by their liking of communicator

- matters how people's attitudes were formed

- information based attitude -> more information may be needed

effect of good feeliings

association w/ good feelings enhanc persuasion

- rose-colored glasses: impulsive decisions

- unhappy people = produce more cogent persuasive messages

- products associated with humor >

effect of arousing fear

evoking negative emotions

- fear arousing message can be potent

- works best if a message leads people ot to only to fear the severity and likelihood of a threatened event but also to perceive a solution and feel capable of implementing it

- using preventative product

- humor can mitigate some negative effects of fear appeals

- ex. smoking ads

message context

fear-then-relief approach

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

Low-ball technique

A tactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the ante. People who receive only the costly are less likely to comply with it.

door-in-the-face technique

a strategy for gaining a concession. after someone first turns down a large request, the same request counteroffers with a more reasonable request

one-sided vs. two-sided appeal

- acknowledging the opposing arugemnts might confuse the audience and weakent he case

- a message might seem fairer and be more disarming if it recognizes the opposition's arugments

- if audience is exposed to opposing views, two-sided appeal

Primacy effect

The tendency to show greater memory for information that comes first in a sequence.

Recency effect

information presented last sometimes has the most influence. recency effects are less common than primary effects

the tendency to show greater memory for information that comes last in a sequence.

- forgetting creates this when time separates the two messages and when the audience commits itself soon after the second message

Channel of communication

the way the message is delivered - whether face-to-face, in writing, on document, or media ad

active experience or pasisve reception

written and visual appeals are passive and relatively ineffective

- mere exposure to an unfamiliar stimuli breeds liking

- mere repetition can make things believable

- mere repetition also serves to increase its fluency which increases believability = credibility

- the more familiar people are with an issue, the less persuadable they are

- active experience strengthens attitudes

- amplify the idea behind what we have done esp when we feel responsible

- influence when rooted in our own experience = more confident, stable, less vulnerable

personal vs. media influence

persuasions studies demonstrate that the major influence on us is not media but our contact with people

ex. word of mouth

Two-step flow of communication

the process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others

media influences penetrate the culture in subtle ways

opinion leaders

individuals perceived as experts

what is the best form of media?

the more lifelike the medium, the more persuasive its message

live face-face, videotaped, audiotaped, written

- best comprehended and recalled when written

- TV lets person focus on peripheral cues

the influence of adults on children

communication flows from adults to children

2 audience characteristics

- age

- thoughtfulness

life cycle explanation

attitudes change as people grow older

generational explanation

atittudes do not change; older people largely hold onto attitudes they adopted when they were young

- attitudes are changeable and formed tend to stabilize thru middle adulthood

- young people might be advised to choose their social influences carefully

- adolescent and early adult experiences are formative because they made deep and lasting impressions

- middle-aged people change over time

resoluteness

resistance to attitude change peaks in midlife = ppl occupy higher social roles

- can also be susceptible to change

what is a crucial aspect of central route persuasion?

responses it evokes in a person's mind

What factors lead to counterargument?

1. knowing that someone is going to try to persuade you

2. persuasion is enhanced by a distraction that inhibits counterarguing -> distraction precludes our processing an ad

3. uninvolved audiences use peripheral cues

need for cognition

The motivation to think and analyze. Assessed by agreement with items such as "The notion of thinking abstractly is appealing to me" and disagreement with items such as "I only think as hard as I have to."

what are ways to stimulate people's thinking?

1. by using rhetorical questions

2. by presenting multiple speakers

3. making people feel responsible for evaluating or passing along the message

4. by repeating the message

5. getting people's undistracted attention

- stimulating thinking. makes strong messages more persuasive and weak message less persuasive

wat are the practical implications

effective communicators care about how their audience is likely to react

how can persuasion be resisted?

to understand an assertion is to believe it

- standing up for your convictions make you less susceptible

Attitude inoculation

exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available

poison parasite defense

combines strong counterarguments with retrieval cues that bring those arguments to mind when seeing the opponent's ads

what are real-life applications of inoculation programs?

1. smoking

2. advertising

inoculating children against peer pressure to smoke

less likely to smoke

- emphasize strategies for resisting social pressure

- use attractive peers to communicate information

- trigger the student's cognitive processing

inoculating chidlren against the influence of advertising

immunize young children against the effects of TV

- have trouble distinguishing commercials from programs and fail to grasp their persuasive intent

- trust TV rather indiscriminately

- desire and badger their parents for products

- gullible, vulnerable, easy sell

implications of attitude inoculaion

building resistance eto brainwashing is not just stronger indoctrination into one's current beliefs

Our attitudes do predict our behavior when these other influences on what we say and do are minimal, when the attitude

is specific to the behavior, and when the attitude is potent

When people are motivated and able to think about an issue they are likely to take the

central route

When people are distracted, uninvolved, or busy they are likely to take the

peripheral route

What route of persuasion focuses on cues that trigger automatic acceptance

peripheral route

Billboards and television commercials/media use what form of persuasion

peripheral route

Explicit and reflective route of persuasion

central route

Implicit and automatic route of persuasion

peripheral route

Swiftly changes explicit attitudes

central route

More slowly builds implicit attitudes

peripheral route

What route of persuasion leads to more enduring change

central route

What type of message is most effective when written

difficult messages

Factors to peripheral route persuasion

Easily understood familiar statements

Visual images

Based more on feelings than on logic

Beauty and pleasure

Based on the number of arguments

Who is delivering the message

How long is the message

Does the person speak fast

When the choice concerns matters of personal value, taste, or way of life ______________ is more important.

Similarity

On judgments of fact, dissimilar, yet ____________, seems more important.

credible

Persuasion Principles

Authority, Liking, Social Proof, Reciprocity, Consistency, Scarcity

Is reason or emotion more persuasive?

Depends on the audience

Well-educated or analytical people respond to which type of persuasion?

Reason or Rational

Thoughtful, involved audiences often travel which route to persuasion, and are more responsive to reasoned arguments?

central

Uninterested audiences more often travel which to persuasion and are more affected by their liking of the communicator?

peripheral

What often enhance persuasion, partly by enhancing positive thinking, and partly by linking good feelings with the message.

Good Feelings

Arousing fear

Evokes negative emotions and can be potent; often the more aroused the better, except when it deals with pleasurable activities (smoking, drinking, sex, etc.) then the result is often denial.

discrepancy

Sending a message that goes contrary to the norms of the audience; disagreement produces discomfort, and discomfort prompts change (dissonance)

What kind of appeal is most effective with those who already agree

one-sided

Two-sided appeal

acknowledges opposing arguments works better with those who disagree, who are aware, or who will be aware of opposing views

Manner of communication

A persuasive speaker must deliver a message that is also understandable, convincing, memorable and compelling.