Persuasion in Communication

Persuasion The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, feelings, attitudes or behaviours.

Persuasion Two routes to persuasion: the central route – consists of thoughtful consideration of the content of the message by the receiver as an active participant in the process of persuasion. This can only occur when the receiver has both the motivation and the ability to think about the message and its content. The peripheral route to persuasion occurs when the listener decides whether to agree with a message based on cues other than the content of the message. i.e. a listener may agree with a message because the source appears to be an expert or attractive. Attitudes changed through the central route leads to greater temporal persistence, greater prediction of behaviour and greater resistance to change.

Persuasive example Pew survey in 2003 conducted surveys on Americans and Western Europeans over the Iraq war. Before the war: Americans favoured military action by approx two to one. Europeans opposed the war by the same margin. War commenced: Americans support – three to one All other people surveyed in Western Europeans and other countries entirely opposed the attack (Myers, 2010). What factors do you think, persuaded the Americans to favour the war and the majority of other countries to oppose it? Attitudes were being shaped, persuasive messages from US media led half the americans to believe that Saddam Hussien was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks and 4/5 falsely belived that weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq /

Explanations: U.S media – persuasive messages regarding Saddam Hussein and direct involvement in 9/11. 4/5 people falsely believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Culture-shaping usually occurs top-down as cultural elites control the dissemination of information and ideas. Eg: use of “America’s liberation / invasion of Iraq” Other examples of persuasive messages: Healthy living, Recycling, Climate change, Stopping smoking etc

Persuasion Efforts to persuade are sometimes diabolical, controversial or beneficial Is neither inherently good nor bad Good = education Bad = propaganda

What are the elements of persuasion? The communicator The message (content) How the message is communicated The Audience

Source of the message – who said it? We are likely to accept the word of people with expertise in the area, even without assessing the validity of the claim. Similarly those who appear trustworthy. Targeted in advertising. Qualifications, famous people, say things the audience believes already, speak confidently, make eye contact, talk fast (people assume those who talk fast are more intelligent/knowledgeable), use of costumes – labcoat etc, attractive. Qualifications, famous people, say things the audience believes already, speak confidently, making eye contact, talk fast 190 words/min – JFK up to 300), costumes – labcoat etc, attractive,

Nature of the communication – what is said? How is it said? when people understand a message and respond favourably to it they are likely to be persuaded. Often we do not actually understand a message. Reason vs emotion – both may work, it depends on the audience Association with good feelings – establish a good mood first Use of fear – more fear equates with greater persuasion (i.e. drink driving adverts) Understanding is reduced on tv compared to printed ads/media. 50% mammogram after informative ad, 66% after fear campaign

Characteristics of the audience – who is it said to? Moderate self esteem most easily persuaded Younger people more open to change Their relationship to us, level of education, culture High need for cognition – want strong arguments Low need for cognition – swayed by expertise

Who is it said to? What is said? Who is saying it?

Who is it said to? What is said? Who is saying it?

Cultural Differences Yunxia (2000) – letters of invitation to a trade fair. Those to western cultures appealed to logic. To Chinese, appealed to logic and emotions, very respectful Kim (1998) – interdependent beliefs in collectivist cultures use hint strategies; independent beliefs in individualistic cultures used direct statements to request.