1. Chapter 7: Persuasion Jim West/Alamy
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2. Persuasion
Process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors
Persuasion is a process that can be aimed to induce positive changes (such as toward healthier life style) or negative (such as the Nazi propaganda machine, described at the beginning of the chapter)
The topic of persuasion was studied by Yale professor Carl Hovland during World War II ( ) in order to boost soldiers’ morale
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3. The Yale Model (Hovland) Elements of Persuasion
The Communicator: Who delivers the message and what are his/her successful attributes?
The Content of the message: For example, emotions vs. reason; the impact of raising fear; Primacy vs. Recency
The Channel of communication
The Audience to who to message is conveyed

4. What Paths Lead to Persuasion?
Central Route
Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
Peripheral Route
Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness
Focuses on cues that trigger automatic acceptance without much thinking
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5. What Paths Lead to Persuasion?
Different Paths for Different Purposes
Peripheral route
Superficial and temporary attitude change
Central route
More durable and more likely to influence behavior
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6. Central and Peripheral Routes

7. Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion
The Hurdles of the Persuasion Process
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8. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
Who Says? The Communicator
Credibility
Believability
Sleeper effect
Delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it
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9. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
Who Says? The Communicator
Credibility
Perceived expertise: begin by saying things the audience agrees with
Introduce someone who is knowledgeable on the topic
Speaking Style: Speak confidently and fluently
Perceived trustworthiness
Eye contact
The Communicator does not appear to try to persuade
Arguing against own self-interest
Speak quickly; the audience is less likely to evoke counter-arguments
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10. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
Who Says? The Communicator
Attractiveness and Liking
Physical attractiveness: There is an elements of being esthetically- rewarded; it pleases us to view something that or someone who is physically-appealing
Similarity: We tend to like people who resemble us (ads that had youth appealing tom other youth in an anti-smoking campaign were quite effective)
People who act as we do, mimicking our posture, are more influential in their persuasive attempts
People are more likely to responds to a message that comes from someone from their group.
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11. Similarity of Expertise?
When the choice concerns matters of personal value, taste, or way of life, similar communicators have more influence (e.g. in commercials who show people like us who bought a household item)
On matter of judgment of facts, e.g. which fact is true, a dissimilar person may be more influential in attempts persuade

12. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
What Is Said? The Message Content
Reason versus Emotion:
Is logical message more persuasive, or one that arouses emotion?
Effect of good feelings
Effect of arousing fear
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13. Message Content: Reason vs. Emotion
When soliciting donations to fight world hunger, should the message rely on statistics (logic) or on a picture of one starving child (emotion)?
It depends on the audience; well-educated, analytical people respond to rational appeals
Most audiences are uninvolved and are more likely to respond to an emotional message
When people’s initial attitudes are formed via emotion they are more likely to respond to emotional messages

14. Message Content: The Effect of Good Feelings
Messages become more persuasive through associations with good feelings
Subjects were more likely to be affected by a message if allowed to eat and drink while listening to it
People who are in a good mood view the world more positively; they also make faster, more impulsive decisions and rely more on peripheral cues
Unhappy people ruminate more and are less lilkely to be affected by weak arguments

15. Message Content: The Effect of arousing Fear
In general messages can be effective by arousing fear
Including picture of the hazards of smoking on each pack of cigarettes affected smokers
How much fear is effective? In general, the more frightened, the more people react in the direction of the message
Fear-framed messages work better when trying to prevent a bad outcome than trying to promote bad outcomes (see textbook for examples) Aronson claims that when fears relates to a pleasurable activity the response might be denial

16. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
What Is Said? The Message Content
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
Tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Low-ball technique
Tactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the ante
Used by some car dealers
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17. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
What Is Said? The Message Content
One-sided versus two-sided appeals
Which one is more effective?
Depends on whether the audience already agrees with the message; if the audience is unaware of opposing arguments, it is unlikely later to consider the opposition
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18. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
What Is Said? The Message Content
Primacy versus recency
Primacy effect
Other things being equal, information presented first usually has the most influence
Recency effect
Information presented last sometimes has the most influence. Recency effects are less common than primacy effects
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19. Primacy vs. Recency

20. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
How Is It Said? The Channel of Communication
Active experience or passive reception?
Active experience strengthens attitudes
Repetition and rhyming of a statement serves to increase its fluency and believability
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21. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
How Is It Said? The Channel of Communication
Personal versus media influence
Media influence: The two-step flow
Process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others
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22. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
How Is It Said? The Channel of Communication
Personal versus media influence
Comparing media
The more lifelike the medium, the more persuasive its message
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23. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
To Whom Is It Said? The Audience
How old are they?
Life cycle explanation
Attitudes change as people grow older
Generational explanation
Attitudes do not change; older people largely hold onto the attitudes they adopted when they were young
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24. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
To Whom Is It Said? The Audience
What are they thinking?
Forewarned is forearmed—If you care enough to counterargue
Distraction disarms counterarguing
Words can promote candidate/product
Visual images keep us occupied so we don’t analyze the words
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25. What Are the Elements of Persuasion?
To Whom Is It Said? The Audience
What are they thinking?
Uninvolved audiences use peripheral cues
Ways to stimulate people’s thinking
Use rhetorical questions
Present multiple speakers
Make people feel responsible
Repeat the message
Get people’s undistracted attention
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26. How Can Persuasion Be Resisted?
Strengthening Personal Commitment
Challenging beliefs
Developing counterarguments
Attitude inoculation
Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available
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27. How Can Persuasion Be Resisted?
Real-Life Applications: Inoculation Programs
Inoculating children against:
Peer pressure to smoke
The influence of advertising
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28. How Can Persuasion Be Resisted?
Prepare others to counter persuasive appeals
An ineffective appeal can be worse than none
A way to strengthen existing attitudes is to weakly challenge them
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