CHP 7: Persuasion Flashcards
Define Persuasion
A change in belief, attitude or behavior due to receiving a message
What are the two pathways that lead to persuasion?
- central route
- peripheral route
Petty and Cacciopo 1986
dual process model, implicit vs explicit
Define and Describe the Central route
- Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
- thinking critically about info and analyzing merit of message
- leads to change that is enduring and long lasting
- must have ABILITY and MOTIVATION
can involve moral values, thinking causes reflection
complex problem solvers, people who have high need for cognition
Need for Cognition means
The want to think hard and complex
Define and Describe the Peripheral Route
- Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues
- not motivated or able to think carefully about strength of arguments
- focus on cues that trigger automatic acceptance
- peripheral cues like (attractiveness, credibility, setting, how words are said)
leads to attitude that is temporary, “trust the experts”, use of simple heuristics
What are the seven principles of persuasion
- Authority (credible)
- Liking (responsive to those they like)
- Social Proof (important of behavior similar to others)
- Reciprocity (people sometimes feel the need to repay)
- Consistency (people tend to honor commitments)
- Scarcity (prize whats scarce)
- Unity (say yes to someone who is one of them)
Robert Cialdini 2021
What makes a persuasive encounter?
- the communicator
- the message
- how the message is said
- the audience
Describe ‘the communicator’ more
- their credibility
- their knowledge on topic
- speaking style
- trustworthiness
- attractiveness/liking (qualities that appeal to audience, physical, similarity)
describe ‘the message’ more
- messages that are rational appeal to central route
- disinterested = more emotional appeals
- good feelings/negative influence persuasion
- context of the message (foot in door, lowball, door in face)
- one sided vs two sided (all sides)
- primacy vs recency (recent or last info)
depends on audience!!!!!
describe ‘ how the message is communicated more’
- the channel it is delivered (face to face, writing, media)
- repition, rhyming, familiarity of message delivery
- Chaiken and Eagly 1978, easy messages are better in video, difficult messages are better in writing
describe ‘the audience more’
- life cycle explanation - attitudes change as people get older
- generational explanation - attitudes older people adopt at a young age persist
^usually stronger
Explain Cults and what techniques they use
- ultimate persuasion
- they love bomb
- foot in door phenom
- repitition (chanting, forced compliance)
- altered states of consciousness
- denial of privacy
- structured activites
- fear (arousal of fear increases impacts of messages)
example heavens gate - got 39 people to commit suicide in a systematic way
How can persuasion be resisted?
**Attitude inoculation **
* Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come they have refutations available
* Mild attack serves as inoculation which stimulates one to develop counterarguments that can be available to them later
One way to strengthen attitudes is to challenge them but not overwhelmingly so
