Chapter 5 Flashcards

1
Q

T/F: Fear arousing messages are generally ineffective.

A

False.

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2
Q

T/F: Speakers who talk fast are viewed as less credible than those who talk with occasional hesitation.

A

False.

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3
Q

T/F: In research to date, messages that acknowledge opposing arguments are always more effective than messages which are one sided.

A

False.

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4
Q

T/F: In a debate, it is usually advantageous to be the last to present your side of the issue.

A

False.

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5
Q

T/F: Political advertising has little effect on voters in the general presidential election.

A

True.

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6
Q

T/F: In actual fact, television commercials for toothpaste and aspirin have little effect on the buying habits of the general public.

A

False.

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7
Q

T/F: People’s attitudes change considerably during adulthood.

A

False.

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8
Q

T/F: One way to strengthen existing attitudes is to challenge them.

A

True.

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9
Q

T/F: Associating a message with the good feelings one has while eating or drinking makes it more convincing.

A

True.

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10
Q

Describe the central route to persuasion.

A

AUDIENCE:
• Analytical and motivated

PROCESSING:
• High effort
• Elaborate
• Agree or counter-agree

PERSUASION
• Cogent arguments evoke enduring agreement

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11
Q

Describe the peripheral route to persuasion.

A

AUDIENCE:
• Not analytical or involved

PROCESSING:
• Low effort
• Use peripheral cues
• Rule of thumb heuristics

PERSUASION:
• Cues trigger liking and acceptance but often only temporary

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12
Q

How does supermarket marketing work?

A
  • Merchandise at eye level sells best
  • Merchandise at the end of a supermarket aisle or near the checkouts sells better
  • Bundle pricing (2 for $1 vs. 50 cents for 1) increases the sense of value
  • Every few months they change the layout of items on the store shelves
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13
Q

What is credibility?

A
  • perceived expertise

* perceived trustworthiness

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14
Q

How does classical conditioning persuade people?

A
  • One repetition is not enough
  • Conditioned responses are resistant to change
  • Associations between higher order and conditioned stimuli must fit properly
  • Celebrities must match the product
  • Discrimination occurs when the CS is paired with the UCS and another is not
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15
Q

What are the six persuasion principles?

A
  • Authority
  • Liking
  • Social proof
  • Reciprocity
  • Consistency
  • Scarcity
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16
Q

How does authority persuade?

A

• People defer to credible experts.

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17
Q

How does liking persuade?

A

• People respond more affirmatively to those they like.

→ Familiarity
→ Celebrity
→ Attractiveness
→ Shared Beliefs
→ Shared Group Membership
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18
Q

How does social proof persuade?

A

• People allow the example of others to validate how to think, feel, and act.

→ put others in a good mood and thus more likely to say yes

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19
Q

How does reciprocity persuade?

A

• People feel obliged to repay in kind what they have received.

→ door in the face
→ foot in the mouth
→ “and that’s not all”

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20
Q

How does consistency persuade?

A

• People tend to honour their public commitments.

→ foot-in-the-door
→ lowball procedure

21
Q

How does scarcity persuade?

A

• People prize what’s scarce.

→ playing hard to get
→ deadline technique

22
Q

How and when do people join cults?

A
  • People first join groups that reflect society’s “default values”.
  • People in transitional periods are most vulnerable.
23
Q

How do cults indoctrinate?

A

• Attitudes follow behaviour
→ Compliance breeds acceptance
→ The foot-in-the-door phenomenon

  • Persuasive elements
  • Group effects
24
Q

What are the qualities of cult leaders?

A
  • Create a social reality
  • Create a granfalloon (“proud and meaningless association of human beings”)
  • Generate commitment through dissonance reduction (foot in the door techniques)
  • Establish credibility and attractiveness
  • Send members out to proselytize the unredeemed
  • Distract members from thinking undesirable thoughts
  • Fixate members vision on a phantom
25
What are some questions to assess whether an organization is a cult?
* Are alternatives being provided or taken away? * Is your access to new and different information being broadened or denied? * Do you assume personal responsibility and control or is it usurped by the group and its’ leader?
26
How can persuasion be resisted?
• Strengthening personal commitment → Challenging beliefs → Developing counterarguments • Attitude inoculation: Exposing people to weak attacks on their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available • Real-life applications e.g., Inoculating children against peer pressure to smoke
27
What affected the American opinion on military action in Iraq compared to the rest of the world?
• culture-shaping occurring top-down → cultural elites control the dissemination of information and ideas • people in the U.S. and people elsewhere learned about and watched two different wars
28
When is appealing to central route processing more effective?
* ideas where people have to think carefully and mentally elborate * rely on their own thoughts in response as well as on the persuasive appeals * causes lasting and persistent change in attitude
29
When is appealing to peripheral route processing more effective?
• when needing superficial and temporary attitude change
30
What are the primary ingredients of persuasion?
* messenger * message * medium * audience
31
What is the sleeper effect?
* delayed impact of a message | * occurs when we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it
32
What makes a messenger perceived as an expert?
* say things the audience agrees with * introduced as someone knowledgeable * speak confidently
33
What makes a messenger perceived as trustworthy?
* looking straight in the eye * audience believes communicator is not trying to persuade them * argue against their own interests * talking fast
34
How do good feelings enhance persuasion?
* enhancing positive thinking * linking good feelings with the message * faster, impule decisions; cuts down on rumination
35
What are some examples of the effectiveness of fear-arousing persuasion?
* smoking goes down when viewing super edgy and graphic anti-promotion commercials * breast/testicular self-exams go up
36
What happens when fear-arousing communication is used to discourage pleasurable behaviour?
• no behavioural change, goes into denial
37
What is the most effective way to implement fear-arousing messages?
• fear severity and likelihood + offer a viable solution
38
What are some experiments that explored one-sided v. two-sided arguments and what were the results?
* acknowledging the inconvenience but adding it was important increased likelihood that people would recycle * in wwii radio broadcast study, one-sided was more effective with those who already agreed, two-sided was more effective with those who disagreed • simulated trials showed that two-sided arguments are better for people who are aware of opposing arguments → people will make up their own counterarguments if they have one-sided
39
What studies examine the primacy v. recency effect?
• Asch's study describing a person with terms going intelligent-envious gave better impressions than envious-intelligent → previous descriptors coloured later ones * success coming earlier for people are more able than those who successes come after early failures * candidates benefit from being first on ballot
40
What is the rule for passive v. active appeals?
• Persuasion decreases as the significance of the issue increases. → On minor issues, such as which brand of aspirin to buy, it's easy to demonstrate the media's power. → On more important issues, it is not impossible, but one shove won't do it.
41
Which two field experiments illustrated the strength of personal influence?
* people divided into three groups who weren't intending to vote, effectiveness of : media < mailings < in person * same with heart disease people
42
What is the two-step flow of communication?
• process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others
43
How does age affect persuade-ability?
* older = Conservative, younger = NDP | * younger people have very changeable attitudes that stabilize through middle adulthood
44
What breeds counter-arguing?
• warning that someone is trying to persuade you
45
What inhibits counter-arguing?
* disctraction | * low need for cognition
46
What is a cult?
group typically characterized by: * distinctive ritual of its devotion to a god or person * isolation from the surrounding culture * a charismatic leader
47
How does compliance breed acceptance in cults?
* new converts are made active members of the team through behavioural rituals, public recruitment, and fund-raising * greater personal commitment must be justified by believing
48
Using the factors known to affect the impact of persuasive communications, analyze cult persuasion.
THE COMMUNICATOR • charismatic leader perceived as expert and trustworthy THE MESSAGE • vivid and emotional message • warmth and acceptance offered THE AUDIENCE • vulnerable • young people under 25 in a transitional period of their life • white middle-class people who lack either "street smarts" or wariness • facing personal crisis or away from home