Persuasion

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Persuasion
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Changing Attitudes

• How do we go about changing peoples attitudes?
• PERSUASION

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Changing Attitudes

• What does attitude change mean?
• BIG change positive to negative
• LITTLE change negative to less negative

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Features of Persuasive Messages

• Yale Attitude Change Approach
• Hovland and colleagues
• drew experience from propaganda in WWII
• WHO says WHAT to WHOM?

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WHOM The Audience

• The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Attitude
  Change (Petty Cacioppo, 1986)
• elaboration
• motivation
• ability

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Persuasive Communication
Temporary Attitude Shift
Is the person motivated to process the
communication?
No
Yes
Is a peripheral cue present?
Does the person have the ability to process the
communication?
No
No
Retain or Regain Initial Attitude
The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Attitude
Change (Petty Cacioppo, 1986)
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WHO The Source

• Medical Researchers Find Cure for Cancer!
• Newsweek or National Enquirer ?

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WHO The Source

• What make communicators effective?
• credibility
• competence or expertise
• trustworthiness

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WHO The Source

• What make communicators effective?
• credibility
• Can a non-credible source be persuasive?
• sleeper effect

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WHO The Source

• What make communicators effective?
• credibility
• attractiveness
• similarity
• physical attractiveness
• e.g., Chaiken, 1979

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WHO The Source
of people who signed the petition
(Chaiken, 1979)
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WHAT The Message

• Is it effective to scare/frighten the audience?
• smoking, cancer, STDs, etc.
• more effective when providing a solution

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WHAT The Message

• the role of affect
• peripheral cue
• bias information processing

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Persuasive Communication
Temporary Attitude Shift
Is the person motivated to process the
communication?
No
Yes
Is a peripheral cue present?
Yes
Does the person have the ability to process the
communication?
No
No
Yes
Retain or Regain Initial Attitude
What is the nature of the arguments in the
message?
subjectively strong
subjectively weak
subjectively ambiguous
The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Attitude
Change (Petty Cacioppo, 1986)
persuasion (enduring)
boomerang (enduring)
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WHAT The Message

• message discrepancy
• more credible source larger discrepancy
• less credible source smaller discrepancy

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WHAT The Message

• one- or two-sided arguments?
• audience already support your position?

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WHAT The Message

• Is it best to present your message first or
  second?
• gap between messages
• when is the decision made

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WHAT The Message

• Is it best to present your message first or
  second?

Conditions Results Message 1
Message 2 One Week Decision
Primacy Message 1 One Week Message 2
Decision Recency Message 1 Message 2
Decision None Message 1 One Week
Message 2 One Week Decision None
(Miller Campbell, 1959)
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WHAT The Message

• message based on reason or emotion?
• depends on the type of product

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WHAT The Message

• The Persuaders
• How do we understand the effectiveness of
  messages that are aimed at what we want to
  hear?

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Conclusion

• persuasion changing peoples attitudes
• WHO says WHAT to WHOM
• central (systematic) and peripheral (heuristic)
  processes
• affect plays an important role

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Next Time

• Why do people conform to the requests and
  behavior of others?