Exam 2 Flashcards
3 basic tenets of the cognitive response model
1.) communication- people integrate themselves with info that aligns with their existing beliefs, attitudes, and values
2.) cognitive response- receiver plays an active role in persuasion, when hearing a persuasive message ones thoughts and beliefs are triggered by the message
3.) attitude change- cognitive reactions during message
inoculation theory
-persuasion that exposes people to weakened or diluted versions of arguments can help them develop resistance to future attempts to change their attitudes or beliefs.
- example: apolitical candidate speaks on past mistakes and how they learned from it before criticism from the audience begins
premises of elaboration likelihood model
-central (logical) and peripheral (desire or little amount of cognitive elaboration) route
-want to hold correct attitudes
-vary in willingness and ability to process information
example: one is buying a car because it is cool, will get girls and looks cool (peripheral). one is buying a car because they need it, the price is great, and its the top car of the year.(central)
central route
central:
-high levels of processing and critique arguments
-arguments need to be strong and convincing for one to adopt attitude change
- attitudes are more likely to persist over time because of the long evaluation of the message
peripheral route
-low levels of processing and reliance on superficial cues
- driven by peripheral cues and accepts a message rather than evaluating it clearly
-attitude changes are short lived because one did not deeply consider the message
two key factors in predicting elaboration of a person
1.) Motivation:
-one must want to engage in cognitive processing
- ones involvement on the issue or wanting to reach a conclusion can lead to more elaboration
2.) Ability
-ones ability to understand a message
-are there distractions? was the message difficult to understand?
heuristics
1.) credibility: credible sources can be trusted
2.) liking: “people I like usually have correct opinions”
3.) consensus: “if other people believe it, it’s probably true”
ex: more arguments=better, longer message=better position
Multiple functions postulate
Message features can serve multiple functions
-Peripheral cue in a low-elaboration context
-Argument in a high-elaboration context
-Inducement to process centrally, when motivation/ability is moderate
-Booster of confidence in own thoughts, when greater elaboration is likely
ex: source of attractiveness, source of expertise
charisma
A magnetic charm or appeal that allows a person to arouse emotion, loyalty, enthusiasm, compelling and commanding an audience
ex: Ryan Reynolds award show speech (he attracted the audience with his charisma because he was funny and heartfelt, and talked about two different organizations)
3 fundamental source characteristics
1.) Authority
2.) Credibility
3.) Social Attractiveness
-source factors are based on receiver perceptions, not inherent qualities of the source
Authority
people comply with authority figures to gain rewards/avoid punishments (boss=pay, dr=healthier)
source credibility
1.) expertise
-knowledge or ability of communicator, special skills
2.) trustworthiness
-perceived honesty, character and safety of communicator
3.) goodwill
-caring, having listeners interests at heart
social attractiveness
1.) likeability
-put audience in good mood/make them feel better= message is better
2.) similarity to audiences
- same values/perspectives with audience=more convincing
3.) physical attractiveness
-attractiveness can become part of the message, people will pay attention more
why similarity might not work between speaker and audience
-similarity might not reach audiences with different backgrounds, might fail to reach audience outside of the perceived group
-overly focusing on similarity might distract audience from the argument and important differences
ex: an inspirational speaker comes to speak to college students. They share a personal anecdote about how they became so successful. The audience might feel like the speaker overlooked the differences in life stages.
knowledge bias
-source does not have complete or accurate info
-source is biased because of dominant views
When violated=gain credibility
ex: liberal redneck, black lives matter
reporting bias
-source is unwilling to report all info
-context may affect how much info is disclosed
When violated=more credibility
ex: fox on republican issues
one sided argument
-presents only your view
ex: commercial that only highlights the positives of the product
-less compelling
two sided argument
-present yours and opponents view
ex: a political candidate gives a speech about a controversial topic and acknowledges both sides
two sided refutational argument
-recognizes opposing viewpoints and refutes them
ex: a health campaign acknowledges misconceptions and concerns about vaccines
-most persuasive because they enhance credibility, provide clear reasons why opposing sides wrong
implicit messages
lets the audience draw their own conclusion, implied
ex: sharing a story about how the event made someone feel, versus saying why it is good
explicit
draws a clear conclusion from evidence, no ambiguity
-more persuassive
ex: “based on the evidence presented… this is why you should do this”
vampire creativity
-having creativity and being criticized or receiving discouragement
ex: a writer enthusiastic about their story and getting shut down by a friend who thinks it sucks
benefits/goals of stats, norm. narrative, visual evidence
1.) statistical- provides data and credibility
2.) normative- appeal to norms/guidelines, gives authority figures leverage
3.) narrative- engage audiences emotions, makes arguments relatable
4.) visual- visually appealing and provides comprehension
combo of narrative and statistical evidence is more persuasive than either alone
effects of language
speed of speech:
-fastcan convey confidence, slow can convey thoughfulness
powerless/powerful speech:
-powerful conveys certainty and authority, powerless diminshes the message
intensity of speech:
-high intensity can evoke huge emotional responses, low intensity can convey calm rational arguments
sleeper effect
-when the persuasive message is dismissed at first, but the impact of the message increases over time
ex: political candidate releases negative info about their opponent. People might think this is shady at first, but take the time to think about what he said.
2 components that must be present in emotional appeals
1.) arouse the emotion
-each emotion is aroused differently
2.) recommended actions
-take advantage of the action tendency of the emotion
-need to be feasible and effective
fear appeal
-presenting threat to well-being
-makes us want to run from threat
ex: second hand smoke has been linked to serious health issues… but you can take steps to prevent this from happening…don’t wait until its too late
threat
severity and susceptibility combine to create perceptions of threat
-severity: things like this are really bad/can hurt you, susceptibility: this bad thing can happen to you
perceptions
severity, susceptibility, self efficiency, and response efficiency
anger appeal
-emotion is aroused by obstacle to goals
-emotion makes us want to destroy the obstacle
ex: “Are you tired of politicians who put their own interests above yours?”
hope appeal
-opportunity to achieve goal
-work toward desired goal
ex: there is hope for a brighter future if we come together and take action
-more effective when people feel/believe their action can make a change
appraisals that evoke hope
achieve a future outcome that is:
-important
-goal oriented
-will make future better
-possible
ex: billions of people are taking action to protect the climate
guilt appeal
-low moderate guilt appeals are most effective
-implicit guilt appeals are more effective
ex: your pollution affects people around the world
sadness
-not often used in persuasion because it evokes negative feelings
-can be effective if it shows there’s an unrecoverable loss but there’s still time to save it
ex: a sad message about a dog who needs a loving home, encouraging people to adopt it.
