Persuasion

Question 1

Persuasion

Answer 1

People’s intentional efforts to change other people’s attitudes

Question 2

Attitude

Answer 2

A person’s evaluation of something- positive to negative

Question 3

Attitude Object

Answer 3

The thing about which people have an attitude
The attitudes you have depend on all sorts of factors, like genes and how you were raised. The biggest factor is persuasion. People around you and messages always trying to influence your attitudes and your behavior. We see between 300-400 advertisements a day.

Question 4

An argument

Answer 4

•	Argument: A logical, fact-supported statement
•	The toppings:
--Who says what to whom that is:
-The ‘source’ of the message (who)
-The ‘message’ (what)
-The ‘audience’ (whom)

Question 5

Characteristics of the Source

Answer 5

• In principle, a good argument should be persuasive regardless of who delivers it
• But, in reality, persuasion is influenced by “source characteristics”
o Lots of source characteristics are interesting, like power and sex appeal
o Let’s look at two: credibility and trustworthiness

Question 6

Expertise

Answer 6

?

Question 7

Experts Agree Study

Answer 7

• P’s read reports about various topics
• IV: expert source or non-expert source
• DV: attitude change in the direction of the argument
• Results: high credibility sources received much higher agreement than low credibility sources
• A trust worth source seems to be un-bias, it seems trustworthy when it doesn’t seem to be trying to persuade us

Question 8

Characteristics of the Message

Answer 8

• In principle, a good argument should be persuasive regardless of how it is delivered
o But in reality, persuasion is influenced by “message characteristics”
• Again, lots of interesting characteristics, such as: Order of arguments; one-sided versus two-sided arguments; appealing to reason versus emotion

Question 9

The effectiveness of fear-arousing messages

Answer 9

• Does fear work?
o It depends on a lot of factors
o One is whether you combine the fear appeal with a specific recommendation for how to avoid a threat

Question 10

Tetanus Shot Study

Answer 10

-P’s read a pamphlet recommending they get a tetanus shot
IV1: level of fear, high or low
IV2: specific instructions for getting a shot OR no specific instructions
-Basic finding: When fear was not used, very few people got the shot
-More importantly, when fear WAS used, BUT no specific recommendation was given, very few people got the shot
-P’s were most likely to get the shot if they were made fearful AND given a specific recommendation

Question 11

Characteristics of the Audience

Answer 11

• In principle, a good argument should be persuasive regardless of who receives in
• But in reality, persuasion is influenced by “Audience Characteristics”
o Lots of interesting factors: age, IQ, gender, self-esteem
o Consider the mood that the audience is in

Question 12

The Elaboration Likelihood Model

Answer 12

o	Two routes to attitude change
•	1. Central Route: Attitude change results from consideration of the merits of persuasive message
•	2. Peripheral Route: Attitude change results from attention to “peripheral persuasion cues” 
- Peripheral cues include: 
•	Attractive spokesperson/celebrity
•	Expert
•	Long message
•	Association with positive feelings

Question 13

Central route to attitude change

Answer 13

• Central route is followed if the audience is:
 Motivated AND able to attend to the message
• Some factors affecting motivation
o Interest, personal relevance, fatigue
• Some factors affecting ability
o Intelligence, complexity of message, format

Question 14

Argument quality

Answer 14

• The argument should be enough for right minded people but often the toppings (who says what to whom) determine the argument
• In principle, a good argument should be persuasive regardless of how it is delivered
• But in reality, persuasion is influenced by message characteristics
o Again lots of interesting characteristics such as: order of arguments; one-sided versus two-sided arguments; appealing to reason versus emotion

Question 15

Peripheral route to attitude change

Answer 15

 If either motivation or ability is low, the peripheral route is followed
• As motivation and ability increase, should get:
o Increase influence of central merits
o Decreasing influence of peripheral cues

Question 16

Peripheral cues

Answer 16

Provide guidance or implications

Question 17

Factors influencing which route is taken: Motivation

Answer 17

• Some factors affecting motivation

• Interest, personal relevance, fatigue

Question 18

Factors influencing which route is taken: Ability to pay attention

Answer 18

• Some factors affecting ability

• Intelligence, complexity of message, format

Question 19

Razor Study

Answer 19

o Male participants read an ad for disposable razors…
o Would be given toothpaste or razor blade after the study (personal involvement)
o Ind. Variable: Personal involvement: High or low; argument quality: strong or weak; type of endorser: celebrity or not
o Dep. Variable: How they responded to the brand
o Results: people who were low involved it didn’t really matter if the argument was weak or strong but highly favored the celebrity; People who were highly involved favored strong arguments much higher but if it was a celebrity or non-celebrity didn’t matter much at all.
o If people are motivated to listen to the message they are more likely to take the central route to persuasion and listen to the hard facts
• Low involved Ps→peripheral route
• High Involved Ps→Central route