Persuasion

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Persuasion

• Chapter 7

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Outline of Todays Lecture

• Two Routes to Persuasion
• The Elements of Persuasion
• Case Studies in Persuasion Cult Indoctrination

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Two Routes to Persuasion

• Central route Persuasion that occurs when
  interested people focus on the arguments and
  respond with favourable thoughts

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Two Routes to Persuasion

• Peripheral route Persuasion that occurs when
  people are influenced by incidental cues, such as
  a speakers attractiveness

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Two Routes to Persuasion Study

• Half of the participants were told the
  standardized exams would be implemented next year
  (while they were in school)
• The other half were told the exams would be
  implemented in 5 years (after they had graduated)

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Two Routes to Persuasion Study

• Participants were presented with one of two
  different types of arguments
• 1) 3 strong arguments
• 2) 10 weak arguments
• Measured participants attitude toward the
  standardized tests

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Two Routes to Persuasion Study
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The Elements of Persuasion

• Who says? The communicator
• What is said? The message content
• To whom is it said? The audience

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Who Says? The Communicator

• Credibility
• Believability A credible communicator is
  perceived as both expert and trustworthy

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Who Says? The Communicator

• Attractiveness
• Having qualities that appeal to an audience An
  appealing communicator is most persuasive on
  matters of subjective preference

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What is Said? The Message Content

• Reason versus Emotion
• Well-educated or analytical people are more
  persuaded by rational appeals
• Less educated and less analytical people are more
  persuaded by emotional appeals

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What is Said? The Message Content

• The Effect of Good Feelings
• Messages become more persuasive when they are
  associated with good feelings.

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What is Said? The Message Content

• The Effect of Arousing Fear
• Messages that evoke fear can also be persuasive
• Fear-arousing messages are even more effective if
  they are paired with a strategy people can use to
  reduce their fear

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What is Said? The Message Content

• One-sided versus two-sided appeals
• A one-sided appeal is more effective with people
  who agree with the appeal
• A two-sided appeal is more effective with people
  who disagree with the appeal
• If people are aware of opposing arguments,
  two-sided appeals are more effective

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What is Said? The Message Content

• Primacy versus Recency
• Primacy effect Other things being equal,
  information presented first usually has the most
  influence
• Recency effect Information presented last
  sometimes has the most influence. Recency effects
  are less common than primacy effects

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To Whom is it Said? The Audience

• How Old Are They?
• The attitudes older people adopted when they were
  young persist largely unchanged because these
  are different from the attitudes being adopted by
  young people today, a generation gap develops

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To Whom is it Said? The Audience

• What are They Thinking?
• Forewarned is forearmed if you care enough to
  counterargue
• Distraction disarms counterarguing
• Uninvolved audiences use peripheral cues

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Persuasion Techniques

• Rule of reciprocation we should repay in kind
  what another person has provided for us

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Persuasion Techniques

• Rejection-then-retreat (based on the rule of
  reciprocation)
• By starting with an extreme request that is sure
  to be rejected, a requested can then retreat to a
  smaller request (the one that was desired all
  along) which is likely to be accepted because it
  appears to be a concession

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Persuasion Techniques

• Scarcity opportunities seem more valuable to us
  when they are less available

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Persuasion Techniques

• Putting the scarcity principle to work
• Limited numbers paradigm only have a few items
  left
• Time limit paradigm offer is only available for
  a limited time

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Defending Against the Scarcity Principle

• Use the emotional arousal associated with the
  scarcity principle as a cue that something is
  wrong
• Ask yourself if you would still want the item if
  it was not scarce

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Handout

• Working in small groups, decide which persuasive
  appeal will be more effective. Explain why the
  one you chose is more effective.

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Case Studies in Persuasion Cult Indoctrination

• Video