Persuasion Flashcards
What is persuasion?
A shift in attitude or behaviour that results of appeals from other people or other sources.
What are the most prominent sources of persuasion?
TV ads and commercials.
What do ads try to accomplish?
To create a behaviour out of using a product.
What is the major assumption underlying advertising and persuasion?
If they can create one behaviour, it will lead to another behaviour.
When do the ideas of an ad work best?
When the attitude is salient.
What are the two major ways of achieving persuasion through advertising?
Repetition and associating the product with positive feelings.
What effect underlies the repetition path to persuasion?
The mere exposure effect.
What is the mere exposure effect?
The more you are exposed to a novel stimulus, the more you will enjoy it.
How does the complexity or simplicity of a stimulus effect its persuasive effect?
Simpler stimuli are enjoyed more in the short run, but result in less liking in the long run. (e.g., jingles, slogans)
Complex stimuli are less enjoyed in the beginning, but result in more enjoyment over time (e.g., jazz/classical music)
What polarizing effect can be had by repeated exposure?
If you initially really dislike a stimulus, then being repeatedly exposed may result in even more disliking.
What are some examples of ways that advertisers generate positive feelings?
By using celebrities, sex, music, display of positive emotions, babies, animals, humour, nostalgia.
What are the two routes of processing in the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion?
Central and peripheral.
What is central route processing?
When people are in a mode of thinking where they think a lot about the message. Processing the message logically. (E.g., arguments and rationale)
What is peripheral route processing?
Not thinking a lot about the message. (E.g., superficial cues, emotional cues, positive energy)
Which variable affects which route people will take?
Level of self-interest.
High interest = more thought = central route.
Low interest = less thought = peripheral route.
What two personality characteristics are related to persuasion routes?
Level of self monitoring and need for cognition.
How does self-monitoring affect the persuasion route?
High self-monitoring leads to being externally guided, which leads to picking up on peripheral cues.
Low self-monitoring leads to being internally guided, which leads to picking up on central clues.
How does need for cognition effect the persuasion route?
High need for cognition leads to central route. Low need for cognition leads to the peripheral route.
What is need for cognition?
The extent to which people like to think. Not necessarily correlated with intelligence.
What external factors play a role in persuasion?
Who gives the message and how it is given.
What are two factors within the “who” factor of persuasion?
Credibility and likability.
What makes a person credible?
Their competence and trustworthiness on a subject.
What makes a person likable?
Similarity and physical attractiveness.
What are some factors that affect the “how” factor of persuasion?
Primacy effect, recency effect, and fear appeals.
When is primacy effect more effective?
When the options are presented and there is then a delay before making the decision.
When is recency effect more effective?
When the options are presented with a delay between them.
What does the impact for fear appeals depend on?
Realistic fear, advice for a solution, and whether they are trying to make people avoid a negative or pursue a positive.
What is attitude inoculation?
Knowing that someone is trying to persuade you and consciously making arguments against them so you might resist.
