Media and Persuasion Flashcards
what is media and persuasion?
The area of media and persuasion is important because we spend so much of our lives exposed to persuasive messaged from the media. Advertisers try to influence us to buy their products, whilst politicians seek to influence our voting patterns. The principal reason for the media trying to persuade us is because it changes out beliefs and feelings towards something and therefore leads to actual behavioural changes.
Explain The Hovland-Yale Model of persuasion
Hovland proposed that in order for a person to be persuaded a message must grab and individual’s attention. It must then be understood and accepted. An individual must then yield to the message (be persuaded) and retain it (long term change in belief). The Hovland-Yale model suggests a number of factors that influence the persuasiveness of a message.
1. Source Factors
The person communicating the message is important in persuasiveness. Experts are more effective because they are more credible than non-experts. They are particularly effective if the message they are supporting is not in their self interest. Popular and attractive sources are also more persuasive than unpopular or unattractive sources.
2. Message Factors
a) One sided or two sided arguments - if an audience is moderately intelligent or likely to be hostile towards the argument, then it may be better to present both sides. However if the audience is less intelligent or already favourably disposed toward the product, a one-sided argument may be more effective.
b) Repetition - messages should be repeated several time if they are to have an impact. Repeated exposure to a person or object increases familiarity and liking and repetition of a statement can make it appear more true.
c) Fear - generally moderate levels of fear tend to be more effective. Low levels are not attention grabbing whereas high fear content may obscure the message itself. If a high fear message has an effective way of coping with the danger, they are more likely to be persuasive.
3. Audience Factors
Low and high intelligence audiences are less persuadable than moderately intelligent audiences. A number of studies have also concluded that women are more susceptible to persuasive communication.
Evaluate the hovland-yale model
The Hovland-Yale model represented the first systematic approach to understanding the factors responsible for persuasion. the emphasis within the model on characteristics of the course, message and audience provides a useful framework. The model was based on sound experimental research and there is evidence to support its assumptions. For example, Hovland and Weiss gave participants information about drug taking. they were led to believe the source was a prestigious medical journal or a newspaper. the amount of persuasion introduced by the communications was more than twice as great when the source was thought to be a medical journal.
Methodological problems:
As hovland himself pointed out, it may be inappropriate to generalise from the samples typically used in these studies (students and occasionally army personnel). These groups had an age, wealth and education which was untypical of the general public/ A further methodological problem is that the researchers were in a position to cut off other stimuli and demand the complete attention of the participants. This is unlikely to occur in real life.
The Hovland- Yale model has clear practical implications for persuasion. This is useful for those who want to persuade others and those who do not want to persuaded . For example, the information can be used to try to persuade people to do things that are good for their health. However, psychological research is not always used in a positive way. For this reason, the research could be considered socially sensitive as its findings could be used to persuade people in a negative way towards others.
A further problem with the model is that researchers focused on the external factors thought to influence persuasive effects of media rather than the underlying internal processes e.g. attention and comprehension. More recent theoretical approaches such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model have focused much more on these crucial internal processes.
Explain the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
Petty & Cacioppo - believed that the key to successful persuasion was whether or not an individual was motivated to elaborate on a particular message. when people receive a persuasive message, they may or may not be motivated to think about the argument. The Elaboration Likelihood Model states that there are two routes through which persuasive messages are processed: the central route, which provides complete information and requires elaboration and analysis of the message, and the peripheral route, which uses means like catchy tunes, colours and celebrity endorsements, but limited analysis of the information. Both are effective styles of persuasion techniques, but each one has strategies and guiding principles to make it more effective.
The Central Route:
The central route consists of thoughtful consideration of the arguments (ideas, content) in the message. Messages sent through this route must possess a high level of receiver involvement, that it, the receiver must actually care about the subject. Because it is of importance to them, the message will be evaluated thoroughly. A disadvantage to sending messaged by means of the central route is that receivers must have the motivation to analyse the message. If a receiver is not directly affected by the message, he or she will not put forth the effort to consider it. Therefore, the persuasive message is lost on many people. However, for those immediately involved with the issue, the advantage is that it produces a longer lasting change.
The Peripheral Route:
the peripheral route of persuasion is successful for messages with low receiver motivation, and weak messages. The peripheral route focuses on the idea that if a person is unable to elaborate on a message extensively, then she may still be persuaded by factors that have nothing to do with the actual content of the message itself. Catchy tunes, bright colours, and celebrity endorsements are all ways of peripheral persuasion. Peripheral route messages focuses on practically everything but the message itself. The message will attempt to grab attention by making the receiver thinking about something that she is already familiar with and has positive thoughts about. However, peripheral persuasion is not as strong nor as long lasting as central persuasion.
Need for Cognition:
Another assumption of the Elaboration-Likelihood model is that there are consistent individual differences in the need for cognition. Individuals high in need for cognition are motivated to engage in effortful thinking on many topics. Such individuals should be more likely than those low in need for cognition to engage in central route processing.
Evaluate the Elaboration Likelihood Model: part one
The model is supported by the findings of many research studies. For example Petty et al - carried out an experiment on undergraduate students in order to test the idea that people will be more influenced by the argument when they are motivated to pay close attention to it i.e. when it is directly relevant to them.
Students read a message that strongly supported the notion that a new large-scale examination should be introduced. All students would need to pass this exam to graduate. Half the participants were told this exam might be implemented the following year to provide them with high motivation to use the central route. The other half of participants were told there would not be any change for 10 years therefore their motivation would be low and they would be more likely to use the peripheral route. Petty et al prepared several versions of the message. It was attributed to either a sources high in expertise or low in expertise. The quality of the arguments also varied. There were either strong arguments based on statistics and other data or weak arguments based on personal opinion and anecdotes. The findings indicated that there are two separate routes to persuasion. for students expected to use the central route, the quality of the arguments was the main factors determining how persuaded they were. By contrast, for those students expected to use the peripheral route.
Evaluate the Elaboration Likelihood Model: Part two
It represents clear progress when compared to the Hovland-Yale model:
There is much more focus on the internal processes underlying persuasion.
The focus on two routes rather than one seems more realistic in explaining persuasion.
The model takes account of individual differences (e.g. need for cognition).
It emphasises that the impact of external factors (e.g. attractiveness) varies from situation to situation.
However Eysenck has identified a number of weaknesses of the model:
- the notion that there are two forms of processing of persuasive messages is oversimplified. As Petty admitted “It is best to view the central and the peripheral routes as falling along a continuum of attitude change strategies that differ in the amount of effortful message evaluation they require”
- it is assumed that central and peripheral processes can occur at the same time. However, it isn’t made clear how these processes interact and combine with each other.
- The model is complex and it is assumed that several factors can influence either the peripheral or central route. As a result, it is often difficult to predict beforehand which processing route will be used by most people.
- The model focuses on factors determining the type of processing in which message recipients are most likely to engage. However, there has been a partial failure to consider, “those processes that determine when message processing will cease…. or there will be a shift from one [processing] mode to another” (petty et al)
