Persuasion

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Chapter 7

• Persuasion

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Outline

• Two Routes to Persuasion
• The Elements of Persuasion
• Cult Indoctrination

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Dual Process Models

• Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM Petty
  Cacioppo, 1986)
• Central route to persuasion People are motivated
  to process the information they receive,
  elaborating on the message
• Peripheral route to persuasion People use
  heuristic cues about the message and the agent,
  rather than the message itself

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Group Assignment

• Groups of 3-5 people
• Decide on two things to advertise (ex. Red
  Lobster, George W. Bush, or Star Wars DVD)
• You must use the central route for one thing and
  the peripheral route for the other
• How did you choose which strategy should go with
  which product?
• Describe your advertising strategy
• What sort of media (e.g., magazine ad, TV
  commercial, billboard)?
• What would the final advertisement look like?

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The Elements of Persuasion

• Who says? The communicator
• What is said? The message content
• How is it said? The channel of communication
• 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
• Perceived expertise
• Display credentials
• Speak confidently
• Perceived trustworthiness
• More eye-contact
• Do not be obvious in your attempts to persuade
• Argue against ones own self-interest
• Speak quickly
• Speed power and competence for Americans

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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
• Physical appeal Arguments, especially emotional
  ones, are more powerful when they come from
  attractive people
• Similarity We tend to like people who are
  similar to us
• Similarity is more important than credibility
  when the judgment is about subjective preference
  (e.g., good place to eat, nice neighborhood to
  live in)
• Credibility is more important than similarity
  when the judgment is about objective reality
  (e.g., what is the formula for a z-score?)

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What is Said? The Message Content

• Reason versus Emotion Is it better to use reason
  or emotion in your attempt to persuade?
• Answer It depends on your audience!
• 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
• Partly by enhancing positive thinking
• Partly by linking good feelings with the message

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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
• Fear may not lead to behavioral changes if the
  fear pertains to a pleasurable activity (e.g.,
  sex or smoking)rather it may lead to denial

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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
• Recycling is important.
• A two-sided appeal is more effective with people
  who disagree with the appeal
• Recycling may be inconvenient but it is
  important.
• 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
• Recency effect is likely to occur if enough time
  separates the two messages (so people start to
  forget the first one) AND the audience makes a
  decision soon after the second message

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How Is It Said?The Channel of Communication

• Active experience or passive reception?
• Experience-based attitudes are more confident,
  more stable, and less vulnerable to attack
• Do you buy Bayer aspirin or a generic? If you buy
  Bayer (at 2-3 times the cost), then it is likely
  that you have been persuaded by passive appeals
  (e.g., TV commercials)
• Passively being exposed to political lies may
  make them seem true over time (e.g., There are
  weapons of mass destruction in Iraq)

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To Whom is it Said? The Audience

• What are They Thinking?
• Forewarned is forearmed if you care enough to
  counterargue
• Next week I will tell you why USM students
  shouldnt be allowed to park on campus (less
  persuasive than telling you today)
• Distraction disarms counterarguing
• Political TV ads do this very wellthe pictures
  occupy us so that we accept what is being said
  without challenging it
• Uninvolved audiences use peripheral cues

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Persuasion Techniques

• Rejection-then-retreat
• By starting with an extreme request that is sure
  to be rejected, we 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
• 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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What is a Cult?

• Cult A group typically characterized by (1)
  distinctive rituals and beliefs related to its
  devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation from
  the surrounding evil culture, and (3) a
  charismatic leader

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How Do Cults Indoctrinate?

• March 22, 1997 38 members of the Heavens Gate
  cult committed suicide in order to be taken
  aboard a UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp comet
• March 22, 1997 5 members of the Order of the
  Solar Temple commit suicide (74 have died in
  recent years) in order to be transported to
  Sirius (a star 9 light-years away)

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How Do Cults Indoctrinate?

• March 22, 1997 38 members of the Heavens Gate
  cult committed suicide in order to be taken
  aboard a UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp comet
• March 22, 1997 5 members of the Order of the
  Solar Temple commit suicide (74 have died in
  recent years) in order to be transported to
  Sirius (a star 9 light-years away)

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How Do Cults Indoctrinate?

• Attitudes follow behavior
• Compliance breeds acceptance New members are
  asked to make strong commitments (e.g.,
  canvassing neighborhoods). The greater the
  personal commitment, the more the need to justify
  it
• The foot-in-the-door phenomenon Indoctrination
  is often a gradual process. It starts with
  dinnerthen it is a weekend retreat of fellowship
  and philosophical discussionthen longer
  retreats.

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How Do Cults Indoctrinate?

• Persuasive elements
• The communicator (i.e., charismatic leader)
• Jim Jones (Peoples Temple) would use fake
  psychic readings to impress new arrivals
• The message
• Trust the leaderjoin the familywe have the
  answer
• The audience
• Young (under 25), White, middle-class individuals
  are highly vulnerable to cults (they are too
  trusting)
• Converts are often at turning points in their
  lives, facing personal crises, or are away from
  home (college students)

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How Do Cults Indoctrinate?

• Group Effects
• Separate new members from their support system
  and surround them with other cultists
• Similar effects
• Military
• Fraternities/Sororities
• Self-help groups