Persuasion Chapter 6

Persuasion The process by which attitudes are changed. Two routes: Central route & Peripheral route

Central Route to persuasion Where you think carefully about a communication and are influenced by the strength of its arguments. You will be persuaded if you 1) Receive and learn the argument So the argument needs to be memorable and easy to understand 2) Elaborate, or think about it, and come to positive conclusions So the argument needs to create favorable thoughts

Peripheral Route to persuasion Where you do NOT think carefully about a communication, and are influenced instead by superficial cues. Some of the superficial cues that DO persuade us, but probably shouldn’t: Speaker has a good reputation and speaks well Message has a long list of arguments, statistics, and “experts” Message is familiar Message elicits cheers from an audience Speaker seems to be arguing against his/her own interests Message has majority support

Manipulating the peripheral route “The receptive ability of the masses is very limited, their understanding small; on the other hand, they have a great power of forgetting. “ --Adolf Hitler Thus, Hitler’s use of slogans, uniforms, flags, and marching bands.

Connections With a partner, discuss and write down as many examples as you can think of where the peripheral route is being manipulated, like in the example of Hitler.

Which route? CENTRAL route taken when you have the ability and motivation to do so. Must be able to understand the message Message must be important Audience must have time to process PERIPHERAL route taken when you don’t have the ability or motivation to take the central route. Message is trivial or too complex Audience is distracted or uninterested Audience doesn’t have time to process

Which Route? Central Route Persuasive Message Attitude Change Motivated and able to understand Processing of strong arguments Lasting & Meaningful Persuasive Message Attitude Change Unmotivated or unable to understand Focus on superficial cues Temporary & Meaningless Peripheral Route

Practice With a partner, think of and write down times when you’ve used each route of persuasion.

Three Factors The three factors that influence persuasion are 1. The SOURCE 2. The MESSAGE 3. The AUDIENCE

The source Two key attributes to a spokesman: 1. Credibility You are credible if you have 1) competence/expertise – we assume they know what they’re talking about 2) trustworthiness – person must not have something to gain The more products a celebrity endorses, the less trustworthy they are. Also more trustworthy if not TRYING to influence anyone. We are more persuaded if we think we’re overhearing. 2. Likeability You are likeable if you are 1) similar to your audience – we identify with and listen to people who are similar to us 2) physically attractive

The Source The source of information is emphasized more on the PERIPHERAL ROUTE. If you care and are invested in the issue, the strength of the argument is more important than the source of information. The sleeper effect shows that we tend to remember the message, but forget the source. So even less credible sources are persuasive over time.

The Message Persuasive messages use strong arguments. Other factors that make messages persuasive: Length – as long as it’s all quality support Pushing for a small rather than radical change in the views of the audience Otherwise you risk being ignored outright Fear – effective if a way to avoid the threat is provided Positive emotions When our spirits are high, we make decisions more quickly and are more prone to the peripheral route Subliminal messaging – just kidding. It’s not effective.

THE AUDIENCE People who enjoy thinking hard (need for cognition) are more persuaded by strong arguments because they think about them more. High self-monitors are more persuaded by desirable social images. People from individualist cultures are more persuaded by appeals to individuality, and people from collectivist cultures are more persuaded by appeals to the group.

THE AUDIENCE When people are aware that someone is trying to change their attitude (or persuade them), they are motivated to resist. This is because we feel like our freedom to think for ourselves is being threatened. This can lead to negative attitude change – shifting our attitudes in the opposite direction of the one being advocated. When we know someone will try to change our attitude, we have time to come up with counterarguments, and are thus harder to persuade.

Persuasion by our own actions It is a fact that role-playing can change our own attitudes – we come to actually feel the way we’re pretending to feel. In other words, we persuade OURSELVES to change our attitudes. So why does this happen? Researchers say it is because of a need for cognitive consistency, which is when our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are consistent with one another.

Cognitive dissonance theory Cognitive dissonance arises when our attitudes and our behaviors don’t match. We don’t like this, and so we seek to resolve the dissonance usually by changing our attitude. Example: You are on a diet, and feel that it is important to your health to avoid high-fat foods. However, you then find yourself diving into a chocolate cake. So, you decide that you don’t really need to be on a diet, and after all, everyone needs a cheat day.

Insufficient Justification Insufficient justification: a condition in which people freely perform an attitude-discrepant behavior without receiving a large reward. In this case, you either need to deny your actions, or change your attitude. Example: Participants did an extremely boring task, and were then asked to tell others that the task was enjoyable. If they were given $20 for the lie, they had no cognitive dissonance and rated the task as boring. If they were only given $1, they had insufficient justification, and needed to change their attitude to relieve dissonance. Therefore, they rated the task as more enjoyable. Why did I lie for only $1?

Insufficient deterrence Insufficient deterrence: a condition in which people refrain from engaging in a desirable activity, even when only mild punishment is threatened. You want to do something, but are told you will be punished, so you don’t do it. If the punishment was mild, you will have greater dissonance due to insufficient deterrence, and so you will change your attitude to be in line with your behavior – you’ll decide you didn’t WANT to do the thing. I guess I didn’t really want that cookie…

Effort and dissonance The more time, money, or effort we put into something, the more anxious or dissonant you will feel if the outcome is disappointing, so you will convince yourself that it was less disappointing than it actually was. So the more effort or money you put in to something, the more you will like it. After making big decisions, we exaggerate the positive features of our chosen path and the negative features of our unchosen path. This really expensive phone is great!! I thought this phone would be better…