Persuasion and Social Influence Persuasion = an intentional effort to influence, motivate, or change another person’s attitudes, beliefs, or behavior Attitude = mental evaluations of objects, issues, or people Range on a continuum negative/badpositive/good Attitudes are relational; they only exist in relationship to you –School is hard (for me) Attitudes guide behavior! Belief = mental representations on what we see as true or false What is or is not Fundamental ways of viewing the world Not evaluative

Types of Persuasion Compliance = behavior change without attitude change –Thesis: You must write your congress person to get them to pass the waiting period legislation for ammunition purchases. Adoption = taking on a new attitude/behavior –Thesis: The ten day waiting period on ammunition purchases needs to be implemented. Continuance = encourging/strengthening an existing attitude/behavior –Thesis: We must continue to support the bullet bill to reduce the impact of firearms on our society. Cessation = stopping an existing attitude/behavior –Thesis: The newly proposed bullet bill does not infringe on our rights. Inoculation = preventing new attitude/behavior from developing –Thesis: Rather than infringe on our rights, the proposed bullet bill will help guarantee all Americans the ability to feel safe.

Appeals Appeal = interpretations of evidence that provide listeners with a reason to change their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors There are four types of appeals Logos = factual and impersonal evidence that appeals to logic –The average child watches four hours of television a day. Pathos = emotional or personal evidence that appeals to the heart –Little Johnny is suffering socially and academically because of tv. Ethos = evidence that demonstrates credibility –My four years of graduate work in mass communication lead me to believe that extensive television viewing is dangerous Mythos = value and core belief evidence that appeals to people’s belief in the greater good; Law of Transitivity –Our children’s rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are being drained aways by their television watching habits.

Powerful Compliance Principles To Use and Be Aware Of Reciprocity – One should be more willing to comply with a request from someone who has previously provided a favor -Pre-giving -Door-in-the-face Social validation – One should be more willing to comply if the request is consistent with what similar others are doing -Highlighting or modeling desired behaviors Commitment/consistency – After committing to a position, one should comply more with consistent requests -Foot-in-the-door -Bait and switch Friendship/liking – One should be more willing to comply with the requests of someone who is liked –Word-of-mouth marketing Scarcity – One should try to secure things that are limited/dwindling –Going out of business sales Authority – One should comply more with legitimate authority

Ways of Persuading Persuasion falls into two types: Promotive = attempts to make the action/idea attractive and positive Preemptive = attempts to decrease the negative features of the action/idea Tactics for persuading (based on classical Rhetoric) Landscaping = the context in which the persuasion takes place –Setting the issue up in a way to make it appear more favorable –Framing the debate via language (e.g., the “estate tax” a “death tax”) Relational tactics = how people view the persuader and roles –Credibility of the speaker –Dress for success Message tactics = helping the target of influence to create his/her own arguments/reasons for the desired action/idea –Central vs Peripheral processing –Quantity of arguments when peripheral and quality when central Emotional tactics = playing on the targets emotional needs and desires –Using the target’s feelings and arousal to achieve the desired action/idea –Scaring someone to act