CHAPTER 7 LANGUAGE AND PERSUASION COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1 Prepared by Robert Gass & John Seiter

WORDS HAVE POWER Children’s names carry connotations Words affect perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and emotions  undocumented person vs. illegal immigrant  person of color versus Black person, African-American, Negro, N-word COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2

SYMBOLS Symbols are arbitrary words, images, or behavior that stand for or represent something else.  Symbols are arbitrary: The word for “pig” could just as easily be “garp”  Symbols include images (peace sign, thumbs up gesture)  Symbols can include behavior (rituals and rites or other symbolic action) COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3

Denotative meaning  A word’s strict dictionary definition  Animals names Alligator Moose Bison Python Elephant Rooster Leopard Zebra Connotative meaning  Emotional associations surrounding a word  References to females/males using animal names Bitch Fox Chick Pig Cougar Stud Cow Tiger Dog Wolf COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4 SYMBOLS, MEANING, AND PERSUASION

ULTIMATE TERMS God terms  family values, peace, truth, modern Devil terms  deadbeat dad, sexual predator, sweatshop, hate crime Charismatic terms  green, natural, freedom, democracy Terms may change, evolve over time  political correctness, affirmative action, liberal COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 5

Famous sayings, proverbs, and folk wisdom can facilitate persuasion Such truisms function as peripheral cues  “Rome wasn’t built in a day”  “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”  “Money doesn’t grow on trees” Students heard a persuasive message that included familiar phrases  Some students were distracted while listening  Some students were not The distracted students were more persuaded than the ones who paid full attention (Howard, 1997) COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 6 APHORISMS, FAMILIAR PHRASES

People’s names influence impressions  Perceived likeability, friendliness  Perceptions of their “hotness”  Food servers who used patrons’ names received higher tips  Job titles  Barista at Starbucks  “Genius bar” at Apple stores  Geek Squad at Best Buy Labels reflect attitudes  male, guy, dude  female, girl, chick, broad  gay, queer, fag, homosexual COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 7 THE POWER OF LABELING

Prescription drug names  branding companies typically earn between $50,000 and $250,000 for coming up with a unique name for a prescription drug Names that sound scientific, with an “X” or “Z” are popular  Paxil  Prozac  Zoloft  Xanax  Lexapro  Nexium COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 8 THE POWER OF LABELING

Language shapes the way we think Language can facilitate or inhibit certain types of thinking More precise language enables more focused thought Texting versus writing  Texting is fast, generic  Writing is slow, nuanced The average Joe or Jill might call a color “off-white” A painter or clothing designer might differentiate between subtle shades alabaster antique white bone China cream eggshell ivory parchment COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 9 SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS

THE POWER OF RENAMING “progressive” versus “liberal” “death panels” versus “health insurance” “troop reduction” versus “cut and run” “peer-to-peer file sharing” versus “internet piracy” “pre-owned” versus “used” “womyn” instead of “women” COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 10

EUPHEMISMS & DOUBLE-SPEAK It sounds so much better when you put it that way.  commercial sex worker vs. prostitute or whore  enhanced interrogation techniques vs. torture  faith-based vs. religious  downsizing, right-sizing, or bright-sizing vs. being fired  hobo or homeless vs. vagabond or sojourner Euphemisms can help people save face  “I’m between jobs right now” Euphemisms can convey tact, sensitivity  “I need to visit the men’s room” COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11

LANGUAGE INTENSITY, VIVIDNESS, AND OFFENSIVENESS Profanity is rarely a persuader’s friend.  Profanity tends to lower perceived credibility  Perceptions of profanity are topic, audience, and situation specific  Religious profanity was perceived less negatively than sexual profanity, with excretory profanity perceived somewhere in between COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12

Evolving terms for African- Americans  N-word  Darkie  Colored  Negro  Black  African-American  Person of color  Bi-racial, multi-racial The control of language entails the control of social reality  terrorist vs. martyr vs. freedom fighter The power of naming shapes perceptions and confers power  The gay community has taken back the word “queer” and made it socially acceptable COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 13 POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

The language of disability  Saying “wheel chair bound” emphasizes the disability first  Saying “person with a disability,” (PWD) emphasizes the person first  Persuaders who used empowering terms (heroic) for PWDs were perceived as more credible  Persuaders who used pejorative terms (pathetic) were perceived as less credible COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 14

VIVIDNESS Vivid language is more memorable than pallid language  Colorful, picturesque language increases attention and retention  Pallid language is, well, boring  Vivid language must be congruent with the message COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 15

Intense language demonstrates a source’s bias on a topic or issue  National health insurance will lead to “death panels” (Sarah Palin)  “Humans have no more value than slugs” (John Daley, editor of Earth First!)  People who aren’t shifting to bio-diesel fuel are “raping the planet” (Fuel: Uncovering America’s Dirty Little Secret, 2008 documentary) Reinforcement Theory  Intense language facilitates persuasion with a friendly audience  Intense language can alienate a hostile audience Language Expectancy Theory  Violations perceived positively facilitate persuasion  Violations perceived negatively inhibit persuasion  How a violation is perceived depends on the status and reward power of the violator COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 16 LANGUAGE INTENSITY

Information Processing Theory  Intense language persuades via message discrepancy  A previously unthinkable position becomes more thinkable  Intense language may also backfire based on the contrast effect Communication Accommodation Theory  Persuaders who match the language style of their audience are more effective  Intense language users prefer intense speakers  Non-intense language users prefer non-intense speakers COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 17 LANGUAGE INTENSITY

Powerful, assertive language is generally more persuasive  “I have an important question…”  “I loved that movie.”  “Let’s grab some coffee and talk.”  “My skill set is a perfect fit for your company.” Powerful language conveys confidence, credibility But… Powerful language requires good arguments and evidence Females may need to moderate their assertiveness for male audiences COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 18 POWERFUL VS. POWERLESS LANGUAGE

Powerless language signifies low status, low credibility  This may sound like a dumb question but…”  “That was a good movie, don’t you think?”  “I was kind of hoping that maybe we could get together for coffee sometime, if you want.”  “Uh, so I would, really, um, like to work here, um, at, like, your company.” Types of powerless language Disclaimers  You’ll probably say ‘No’ but…” Hedges  “kind of,” “sort of,” “I guess” Hesitations  “uh,” “um,” “like,” “you know” Intensifiers  “Very,” “really,” Polite forms*  “If it’s okay…” “I’d appreciate it if…” Tag questions  “don’t you think?” COPYRIGHT © 2014 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 19 POWERLESS LANGUAGE *Note: Some types of diplomatic language are polite, but not powerless