1. PERSUASION SOCIAL INFLUENCE & COMPLIANCE GAINING
Robert H. Gass & John S. Seiter

2. Chapter 2
What constitutes persuasion?

3. Pure vs borderline persuasion
Pure Persuasion
paradigm cases of persuasion include
television commercials
presidential debates
sales presentations
attorney cross- examination
Borderline Persuasion
less obvious cases of persuasion include
involuntary behavior; blinking, blushing, stomach growling
overheard conversations, eavesdropping
traffic calming measures; speed bumps, roundabouts
Rosseli, F., Skelly, J. J., & Mackie, D. M. (1995). Processing rational and emotional messages: The cognitive and affective mediation of persuasion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 163–190.
Statistics Brain, Dec 7, 2013
Berger, A. A. (2011). Ads, fads, and consumer culture (4th ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Jones, J. P. (2004). Fables, fashions, and facts about advertising. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

4. Intentionality Limiting criteria
Is persuasion always conscious, purposeful?
Can persuasion be unplanned or accidental?
social modeling of behavior
socialization processes; gender norms, cultural conventions
unintended receiver effect
Determining intentions can be difficult.

5. Intentionality--continued
Effects emphasis entails a linear view of persuasion Process view implies mutual, two-way influence
sender
receiver
sender
receiver

6. Is unsuccessful persuasion still persuasion?
EFFECTS
Is unsuccessful persuasion still persuasion?
Persuasion as a product or outcome:
“I’m not persuaded.”
Persuasion as a process or activity
“I’m selling Jane on my new idea.”
analogous to dancing, protesting, campaigning

7. Difficulty of measuring persuasive effects
EFFECTS--continued
Difficulty of measuring persuasive effects
Persuasion effects may be two-way, reciprocal
Multiple audiences may be involved
Mixed results; persuasion is often a matter of degree
Sensitivity of outcome measure
Lag time; effects may be delayed

8. Free will and conscious awareness
Persuasion often includes some degree of coercion
implied reprisals
collateral damage
relational consequences
Not all choices are completely free
Degree of conscious awareness
Persuadability differs among people

9. Symbolic action
Persuasion involves more than words nonverbal cues tone of voice societal and cultural norms Examples of non-linguistic influence poker tells restaurant ambience head fake in sports background music

10. InterpersonaL vs intrapersonal
Does persuasion require two or more people? Self-persuasion is quite common positive thinking New Year’s resolutions life mottos Much of persuasion research is “inside people’s heads.” attitudes beliefs intentions

11. Gass & Seiter model

12. Gass & Seiter model

13. Gass & Seiter model

14. Gass & Seiter definition
“persuasion involves one or more persons who are engaged in the activity of creating, reinforcing, modifying, or extinguishing beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, and/or behaviors within the constraints of a given communication context”

15. Dual Process models Two different modes of information processing
Fast vs slow thinking
Reflexive vs reflective thinking
Mental shortcuts vs thoughtful deliberation

16. Elaboration Likelihood Model ELM
Central route:
cognitive elaboration
message scrutiny
examining evidence and reasoning
More likely with
high issue involvement
motivation to process message
ability to process message
Peripheral route
fast, expedient
mental shortcuts
attractiveness cues
eye candy
More likely with
Low issue involvement
Low motivation to process message
Lack of ability to process message

17. Example of central processing
Lulu is shopping for a new car
She looks up car reviews online
She compares, safety, reliability, mileage, performance, customer satisfaction, and depreciation
She scrutinizes the information before test driving any cars
Brian A Jackson/shutterstock.com

18. Example of peripheral processing
Sylvia and Ned are celebrating their 3rd anniversary.
Neither is choosy about wine.
They are on a budget, so they pick the cheapest cabernet on the wine list.

19. Unimodel No distinction between types of information processing
The amount of processing is what counts
More processing
Less processing