Chapter 7 Flashcards
Persuasion’s power enables us to? (3)
- promote health or to sell addiction
- advance peace or stir up hate
- enlighten or deceive
Efforts to persuade are sometimes? (3)
- diabolical
- controversial
- beneficial.
The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors; neither inherently good nor bad.
Persuasion
A message’s ______ and _______ elicit judgments of good or bad.
Purpose and content
The bad type of persuasion
Propaganda
The good, more factually based and
less coercive than propaganda.
Education
We call it ______ when we believe it,
________ when we don’t. (Lumsden et al., 1980).
Education
Propaganda
2 routes to persuasion
The Central Route
The Peripheral Route
Route that is focusing on the arguments; occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts; can lead to more enduring change; Explicit and Reflective
The Central Route
Route that is focusing on cues that trigger automatic acceptance without much thinking; occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness; using simple rule-of-thumb heuristics; Implicit and Automatic
The Peripheral Route
Example of simple rule-of-thumb heuristics
trust the experts
long messages are credible
4 Ingredients/Elements of Persuasion by Social Psychologists
- The Communicator (who says what?)
- The Message (what?)
- How the Message is Communicated (by what method)
- The Audience (to whom?)
Element of persuasion where social psychologists have found that who is saying something does affect how an audience receives it
The communicator
What Makes a Communicator More Persuasive than Another? (2)
Credibility
Attractiveness and liking
Perceived expertise and trustworthiness; believability.
Credibility
A delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, such as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it.
Sleeper effect
3 Factors that Influence the Credibility of a Communicator:
Perceived Expertise
Speaking Style
Perceived Trustworthiness
Factor that Influence the Credibility of a Communicator where saying things, the audience agrees with
will make you seem smart; “congenial views seem more expert” phenomenon; helps to be seen as knowledgeable on the topic.
Perceived expertise
Factor that Influence the Credibility of a Communicator where another way to appear credible is to speak confidently and fluently; charismatic, energetic, confident-seeming
person who speaks fluently is often more
convincing; it’s not good to speak too much and not listen, a balance between talking and listening is the best approach.
Speaking style
Factor that Influence the Credibility of a Communicator where we are more willing to listen to a
communicator we trust; trustworthiness is higher if the audience believes the communicator is not trying to persuade them; If you want to persuade
someone, start with information, not arguments; another effective strategy is to have someone else convey your expertise.
Perceived trustworthiness
6 Persuasion Principles
Authority
Liking
Social Proof
Reciprocity
Consistency
Scarcity
Persuasion principle where Establish your expertise; people defer to
credible expert; identify problems you
have solved and people you have served.
Authority
Persuasion principle where people respond more affirmatively to those they like; Win friends and influence
people. Create bonds based on similar interest, praise freely.
Liking
Persuasion principle where people allow the example of others to validate how to think, feel, and act; Use “peer power”—have respected others lead the way
Social proof
Persuasion principle where people feel obliged to repay in kind what they’ve
received; Be generous with your
time and resources. What goes around, comes around.
Reciprocity
Persuasion principle where people tend to honor their public
commitments Instead of telling
restaurant reservation callers “Please call if you change your plans,” ask,
“Will you call if you change your plans?” and no-shows will drop.
Consistency
Persuasion principle where people prize what’s scarce; Highlight genuinely exclusive information or
opportunities.
Scarcity
Having qualities that appeal to an audience; an appealing communicator (often someone similar to the audience) is most persuasive on
matters of subjective preference; we’re more likely to respond to those we like
ATTRACTIVENESS AND LIKING
2 Forms of Attractiveness
Physical Attractiveness
Similarity
Form of attractiveness where arguments, especially emotional ones, are often more influential if they come from the people, we consider
beautiful; attractiveness matters most when people are making superficial judgments
Physical Attractiveness
Form of attractiveness where we tend to like people who are like us; people who act as we so, are likewise more
influential.
Similarity
Element of persuasion where it matters not only who says something but also what that person says.
Message content
Choice of reason or emotion in persuasion depends on the audience
Reason vs Emotion
3 types of audiences
Well-educated or analytical people
Thoughtful
Uninterested
Type of audiences who are responsive to rational appeals
Well-educated or analytical people
Type of audiences who are involved audiences which often travel the
central route to persuasion; they are
more responsive to reasoned
arguments.
Thoughtful
Type of audiences who more often travel the peripheral route; they are more affected by their liking of the communicator.
Uninterested
Often enhance persuasion, partly by enhancing positive thinking and partly by linking good feelings with the message
The effect of good feelings
Messages can also be effective by evoking negative emotions such as fear; Experiments show that, often, the more frightened and vulnerable people feel, the more they respond
The effect of arousing fear
The context of your message—especially what immediately precedes it—can make a big difference in how persuasive it is.
Message content
A social influence technique where people who experience anxiety whose source is abruptly withdrawn usually respond positively to various requests and commands addressed to them
Fear-then-Relief Approach
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon
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 request are less likely to comply with it.
Lowball Technique
A strategy for gaining a concession; after someone first turns down a large request (the door-in-the-face), the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request
Door-in-the-face Technique
Mentions only positive attributes or benefits; works best with those who already agree with the message
One-sided Appeal
Presents good and bad points; if your audience will be exposed to opposing
views, offer this appeal
Two-sided Appeal
2 avenues to persuasion
Optimist
Pessimist
For this type of people, positive persuasion works best
Optimist
For this type of people, negative persuasion is more effective
Pessimist
Other things being equal, information presented first usually has the most influence; information presented early is most persuasive
Primacy effect
Information presented last sometimes has the most influence; are less common than the primacy effect.
Recency effect
An element of persuasion about the way the message is delivered.
The channel of communication
3 channels of communication
- Face-to-face appeal
- Written or sign documents
- Media Advertisement
Strengthens attitudes; Experienced-
based attitudes are more confident, more stable, and less vulnerable to attack.
Active experience
Written and visual appeals are both passive, and thus have similar hurdles to overcome; Many are relatively
ineffective.
Passive reception
Process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others.
Two-Step Flow of Communication
Individuals perceived leaders.
Opinion leaders
The more lifelike the medium, the more persuasive its message.
Comparing Media
The order of persuasiveness (4)
- Live (face-to-face)
- Videotaped
- Audiotaped
- Written
An element of persuasion about to whom it is said
The audience
2 Characteristics of Audience
- Age
- Thoughtfulness
2 Possible Explanations for Age Differences
- Life Cycle Explanation
- Generational Explanation
A possible explanation for age differences about how attitudes change as people grow older.
Life Cycle Explanation
A possible explanation for age differences about how attitudes do not change; older people largely hold onto the attitudes they adopted when they were young; because these attitudes are different from those being adopted by young people today, a generation gap develops.
Generational Explanation
A characteristic of an audience about how the crucial aspect of central route persuasion is not the message but the responses it evokes in a person’s
mind.
Thoughtfulness
Knowing that someone is going to try to persuade you breeds argument
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED—IF YOU CARE ENOUGH TO COUNTER ARGUE.
Persuasion is also enhanced by a distraction that inhibits counterarguing.
DISTRACTION DISARMS COUNTERARGUING.
Those with a high need for cognition—enjoy thinking carefully and prefer
central routes.
Analytical people
The motivation to think and analyze
Need for Cognition
5 Ways to Stimulate People’s Thinking
- Using rhetorical questions
- Presenting multiple speakers
- Making people feel responsible for
evaluating or passing along the message - Repeating the message
- Getting people undistracted attention
HOW PERSUASION CAN BE RESISTED?
STRENGTHENING PERSONAL COMMITMENT
REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS: INOCULATION PROGRAMS
IMPLICATIONS OF ATTITUDE INOCULATION
Before encountering others’ judgments, make a public commitment to your position; having stood up for your convictions, you will become less susceptible (or, should we say, less “open”) to what others have to say
STRENGTHENING PERSONAL COMMITMENT
When participants were “immunized” by writing an essay refuting a mild attack on a belief, they were better able to resist a more powerful attack later
Developing Counterarguments
Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available.
Attitude Inoculation
One that combines a poison (strong
counterarguments) with a parasite (retrieval cues that bring those arguments to mind when seeing the opponent’s ads).
“Poison Parasite” Defense
Real-Life Applications: Inoculation Programs
(2)
Inoculating children against peer pressure to smoke
Inoculating children against the influence of advertising
