L8 - How can we change social behaviour?

Question 1

What are the two conceptions of mass media communication?

Answer 1

• Traditional - persuading the thinking man

- New conception - engaging with the talking nets

Question 2

What is the traditional strategy of communication ?

Answer 2

Presenting a well-informed and well reasoned argument to an individual.

• Persuading a rational thinker to change his or her action
• compelling facts & arguments

BARRIERS:

• capturing attention. w/o attention can’t influence
• ensuring audience are motivated to process the message
• preventing the audience’s counter argument –> rebuttal

Question 3

What does the yale communication paradigm propose?

Answer 3

That it’s one way communication.

sender –> message –> receiver(s)

Question 4

What does the cognitive response paradigm propose?

Answer 4

1.5 way communication
receives don’t passively receive the information

sender–> message–> receiver thinks of arguments

THINKING SOCIETY.

Question 5

What are some factors that produce bigger persuasion?

Answer 5

Source:

• attractiveness
• similarity
• credibility

message:

• repetition
• length
• strength
• circumventing their counter arguments
• self-relevance

Question 6

What are the two routes to persuasion in the elaboration likelihood model?

Answer 6

• Central Route - deliberative processing of message. eg. strong argument.
  Leads to more enduring changes and translated into behaviours.
• Peripheral Route - snap judgements based on simple cues. eg. attractiveness.
  Leads to transient changes, less likely to be translated to behaviours.

in order to take the central route, must have the ability and motivation to do so.

Question 7

What does the theory of reasoned action or Planned Behaviour propose?

Answer 7

That behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs and beliefs about resources and opportunities hep predict intentions and thus behaviours.

Question 8

How can you make a message self-relevant?

Answer 8

This is the key for engaging people, by facilitating or hindering self’s goals
(can be individual goals, or collective goals)

• tangible benefits or reduction of losses
• personal experience - they or people they’re close with had similar experiences
• talking with close others about the issue

Question 9

how to circumvent counter-arguments?

Answer 9

• hide the intention to persuade –> people don’t get defensive. but sometimes spontaneous counter-arguments still happen
• present information w./o arguing –> use of narratives.

Question 10

How have narratives been found to influence people?

Answer 10

People exposed to narratives are “transported” and decreases the audience’s counter argument and increases persuasion.

The more transportable people are, the more easily they are persuaded by ad campaigns.

Question 11

Dialogic communication paradigm?

Answer 11

• two way communication

sender/receiver message sender/receiver.

produces group norms because everyone interacts with each other and sustains attitudes.

Question 12

What does talking nets propose?

Answer 12

That interactions from the audience with further interaction partners influences their view.

As well as those interaction partner’s interaction partners.

thus creating a norm.

Question 13

What are the potential benefits of talking nets?

Answer 13

• one public announcement can have a multiplier effect because many individuals will engage in the dissemination of information.
• If a person in one’s own social network engages in the info… people are more likely to
• attend to it
• be persuaded
• form or strengthen a descriptive norm

Question 14

What are the potential barriers of talking nets?

Answer 14

even when many people are talking in favour of an idea, a SINGLE dissenting voice can destroy a positive effect.

• also inside the social network, will demand attention and is persuasive!!

Question 15

What is a homogeous network?

Answer 15

networks that involve people who share similar views

Question 16

What is a heterogeous network?

Answer 16

networks that involve people who have different views.

Question 17

What happens when stereotype inconsistent information is presented?

Answer 17

when SI info is presented, it gets tossed around and asked about, as we try to make sense of it and get elaboration.

SC info gets grounded and understood very easily.

SI takes more time and disrupts convo

people also pay more attention to SI info bc it’s novel.

mimicry is also greater when people are being presented SC info than with SI info. supports the idea that SI info disrupts the interaction.

Question 18

how does mimicry play a role in persuasiveness?

Answer 18

People who seem to be insync w/ u are more impressionable, and thus more persuasive.

found that when a computer avatar delivered a message about campus security, they were more agreeable if they mimicked the subjects’ head movements.

Question 19

What is the method of serial reproduction?

Answer 19

simulating the transmission of info over communication chain!!

Question 20

How does SI and SC information affect serial reproduction?

Answer 20

More SC information is carried through the communication chain.
SI info gets left out.

mostly seen in narration, but also discussion.

Question 21

Why do people present SC information more?

Answer 21

• more socially connective, helps build relationship.
• more communicable, thus leading to more info diffusion
• SI information is informative but less socially connecting. could be challenged by others.

should we communicate informative info or connective info?
when with our friends, we want to be connective not informative.
(this can be seen in correlations)

Question 22

What happens when people are told that their stereotypes were wrong?

Answer 22

This removed the bias of only communicating SC info.

thus people tended to communicate what they THOUGHT everyone agreed to.

if they don’t perceive everyone to hold the same stereotype, social connectivity of SC goes away.

Question 23

what is a predictor of what people will talk about?

Answer 23

things that they know about.

things that are more on media = predicts how often they will talk about it

Question 24

What is the advantage of a heterogenous network?

Answer 24

More likely to change views and be persuaded, more likely to process through central route!!

Question 25

What motivates people to talk messages more?

Answer 25

emotions!!!!

negative ads were more talked about

Question 26

What happens when media campaigns are talked about?

Answer 26

when an add about obesity and cancer came on on tv, and people were asked to TALK about it, they were more likely to change their behaviour afterwards.

the act of talking can self-persuade.

however, when adolescents were shown anti-marijuana ads, and had a chat with their peers, the effect of the campaign was lessened - a single dissenting voice can ruin the campaign!!!

Question 27

What is the benefit of media campaigns impacting nORMS?

Answer 27

Norms impact BEHAVIOUR
as well as civil society.. how it’s talked about… eg peer disapproval of drinking etc.

and legislation –> which impacts behaviour also (by increasing perceived risk)

Question 28

What are the two routes to social category learning????

Answer 28

• Conceptual Route
  Perceived descriptive norm is conceptually communicated to Ego.
• Experiential Route
  Behaviour is perceived by Ego, and used as a basis of the perceived distribution of exemplars and used to compute a perceived descriptive norm.
  –> therefore who you are associated with really affects your view of the norms.

Question 29

Spread of behaviour?

Answer 29

can be seen in the way that smoking cessation was observed to spread through social networks.

if your friend quits, you quit.