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Chapter 5 Overview

• Theme: Social Psychology

• Focus: Understanding the elements of persuasion, social influence, and attitude change.

Lecture Objectives

• Key Topics:

  • Persuasion

  • Social Influence

  • Attitude Change

  • Elements of Persuasion

  • Resisting Persuasion

Social Influence

• Definition: The ways in which individuals are affected by the presence, words, or actions of others.

• Impact: Changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors.

Attitude Change

• Persuasion: An effort to alter beliefs and attitudes.

• Compliance: Responding behaviorally to a simple request (e.g., asking for notes after missing class).

Advertising and Marketing

• Advertising: A subsection of marketing focused on promoting products/services through paid media.

• Marketing: A comprehensive process involving:

  • Conceiving

  • Promoting

  • Distributing

  • Selling products/services

  • Market analysis

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

• Definition: A framework for understanding when people will carefully process persuasive messages.

• Key Components:

  • Central Route: Involves systematic processing; occurs when the audience is motivated and capable of processing detailed information.

  • Peripheral Route: Involves heuristic processing; takes place when audiences are distracted or less motivated.

The Central Route to Persuasion

• Application: Effective when recipients can relate to the content due to its relevance or their prior knowledge.

The Peripheral Route to Persuasion

• Application: Effective under conditions of distraction or low relevance; relies on non-content factors (e.g., attractiveness of the speaker).

Research on ELM

• Distraction Study: Examined how participant focus affects persuasion:

  • Strong arguments were persuasive without distraction; weak arguments required distraction for persuasion.

• Motivation Study: Investigated effects of personal relevance on attitude change:

  • Highly involved individuals were swayed by strong arguments.

  • Non-involved individuals were swayed by expert sources.

Elements of Persuasion

• Factors Influencing Persuasion:

  • The Communicator

  • The Message

  • The Audience

  • The Medium

The Communicator

• Source: Delivers the persuasive message.

  • Likability:

    • Components: similarity, physical attractiveness (Halo Effect).

  • Credibility:

    • Expertise: Knowledge and qualifications.

    • Trustworthiness: Perceived motives of the source.

    • Sleeper Effect: Time can diminish credibility differences.

  • Convert Communicators can sometimes compensate for trustworthiness through arguments against their self-interest.

The Message

• Quality of Message:

  • Length matters based on processes (central vs. peripheral).

  • Explicit Conclusions: More effective when clearly stated.

  • Vivid Examples: Memorable narratives influence persuasion (Identifiable Victim Effect).

  • One-sided vs. Two-sided Appeals: Two-sided messages can enhance credibility if presented correctly.

  • Primacy vs. Recency: Timing of message presentation affects persuasiveness depending on audience retention.

The Audience

• Mood: Influences the effectiveness of persuasive messages.

  • Positive environments increase persuasion likelihood.

• Intelligence: Highly intelligent audiences comprehend better but may resist contrary messages.

• Need for Cognition: Tendency to engage in thoughtful consideration can influence receptiveness to messages.

• Self-Monitoring: Individual differences in concern for public image affect how persuasive messages are received.

• Subject Motivation: The motivation level of the audience can determine the route of persuasion (systematic vs. heuristic).

Resisting Persuasion

• Attitude Inoculation: Prepares individuals to defend against persuasive attacks through exposure to weak arguments and counterarguments.

• Forewarning: Alerts individuals to upcoming persuasive messages which allows for preparation of counterarguments.

• Counterarguing: Involves actively opposing a counterattitudinal message, enhancing memory and reinforcing existing attitudes.