persuasion

What is persuasion

What is persuasion

the process of creating, reinforcing, or changing people's beliefs or actions.

Benefits of studying persuasion

-the instrumental function

(develop communication competence)

-knowledge and awareness

(overcome habitual persuasion)

-the defensive function

(third person effect)

-the debunking function

-well being and self worth

third person effect

the assumption by most people that others are more prone to being influenced by persuasive messages (such as those in media campaigns) than they themselves are

Persuasion vs. Propaganda

Persuasion-

Propaganda- the dissertation of biased ideas and opinions often using lies and deception. has a specific agenda, institutional in nature.

Pure persuasion means

all the ingredients for what most people would consider to be persuasion are present.

borderline persuasion

Less clear-cut cases of influence. Example moving because someone smells bad

dual process model of persuasion

a model that accounts for the two basic ways that attitude change occurs - with and without much thought

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

a model of persuasion maintaining that there are two different routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

peripheral route persuasion

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

Heuristic Model of Persuasion

assumption that individuals rely on two different modes of information processing.

systematic processing

Processing of information in a persuasive message that involves careful consideration of message content and ideas.

heuristic persuasion

the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion. relies on mental shortcuts

Unimodel of Persuasion

A single route to persuasion. simply more or less thought in messages

examples of peripheral cues

-reciprocation: the reciever agrees with the message because of the internal drive to return the favor

-consistency: using thoughts from the past

-social proof: peer pressure

-liking

-authority

-scarcity

information processing theory

theory argues that to be persuaded, you must attend to and comprehend a persuasive message. then compare own position to the source

Order of information processing

attention

comprehension

agreement

retention

decision making

action

Standardized self report scales

-Likert scales

-Semantic differential scale

(1) strongly agree, (2) agree, (3) neutral, (4), disagree, (5) strongly disagree

Likert Scale

do you think snakes are the best pets?

(1) strongly agree, (2) agree, (3) neutral, (4), disagree, (5) strongly disagree

semantic differential scale

bad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 good

potent (strong-weak)

activity (active-passive)

scale uses bipolar adjective pairs to measure attitudes?

criticism of attitude scales

social desirability- people will want to show the most positive qualities

-dont want to appear unintelligent

-agree with any statement (acquiescence bias)

Theory of Reasoned Action

Assumes that people are rational decision makers who make use of all the information available to them.

-Intentions are the best guide to their behavior

subjective norm component.

Ask to make a plan to walk more, 20 minutes a day

subjective norms

an individual's perceptions about whether significant others think he or she should (or should not) perform the behavior in question

Theory of Planned Behavior

Behavior is not always in our control, internal and external (lack of knowledge or skills)

(limited resources).

important people in my life would disapprove if I smoked cigarettes, I should be less likely to smoke cigarettes.

attitude-behavior consistency

there should be a correlation between attitudes and behavior.

example: the more unfavorable a persons attitude is towards something (cancer), the more they will be yearning to prevent it

Persistance of attitudes

attitudes are interrealted and exist in elaborate social networks. attitudes formed via central processing are more persistent than peripheral processing

branding

distinctive product image that is linked to favorable qualities. may be tangible or intangible in nature

Methods of Maintaining Consistency

-Denial

-Bolstering

-Differentiation

-Transcendence

-Communicating

-modifying one or both attitudes

denial

denying or ignoring any inconsistency. "i really dont like that jacket after all"

Bolstering

rationalizing or making excuses. "that cow is already dead, so what difference does it make"

Transcendance

focusing on a higher or larger level. "no one is perfect"

communicating

convincing others to change or that they did the right thing. "ill just have to convince my friends that I'm not a hypocrite when they see me in my new jacket"

three main assumptions of consistency

1. whenever there is a consistency among our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, we live in a psychological harmony

2. inconsistency is unpleasant and causes tension

3. people will strive to deny, reduce, or eliminate psychological inconsistency through attitude belief/change

balance theory

a theory holding that people try to maintain balance among their beliefs, cognitions, and sentiments

Triangle for balance theory

P- person (bottom left)

O-other person (top)

X-attitude object (bottom right)

limitations of balance theory

• Only 1 triad at a time

• Not accounting for the strength of the attitudes

• Not clear which element will change to restore the balance

cognitive dissonance

after making a decision or performing a behavior, a person worries whether he or she did the right thing. the person is therefore motivated to reduce the resulting dissonance. post decision theory

TCD is concerned with the relationships among cognitions

what can be done to reduce dissonance

Changing cognitions- change one to make it consistent with the other

Adding positive cognitions- add one or more consonant cognitions

Altering importance

counter attitudinal advocacy

stating an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one's private belief or attitude. shift not complete change. get them to persuade themselves

psychological reactance

Situations in which people react defensively to rules, laws or other restrictions placed upon them by others

reactance steps

1. people percieve an unfair restriction on their actions

2. a state of reactance is activated

-emotional intensive state

3. the person must act to remove the reactance

examples of psychological reactance

• Censorship (Recordings censored or banned are more desirable, making the brands more popular, increasing sales)

• Limited Editions and Supply (Consumers are willing to pay more for the privilege of owning one of the few items in the series; limited edition means freedom to purchase is decreased)

• The scarcity rule (if you dont buy it today you may never be able to

what is credibility

judgments made by a perceiver (message recipient) concerning the believability of a communicator. RECIEVER BASED. perceptual phenomenon

Primary Credibility

expertise, trustworthiness, goodwill

Secondary Credibility

dynamism/extroversion, composure, sociability

the sleeper effect

the delayed impact of a message may be more effective than its initial impact. the message might grow on the receivers

absolute sleeper effect

occurs when a message from a high-credibility source loses favor over time, whereas a message from a low-credibility source gains favor over time

relative sleeper effect

both messages lose favor over time, but the high-credibility message loses more favor than the low-credibility message. more common

ways to enhance credibility

-Cite evidence for your position, identify the sources of your evidence, including your own qualifications