persuasion lecture

Persuasion: 

Persuasion You are feeling very sleeepy…

Slide2: 

Bumper Stickers - “I’ll give up my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.” Billboards - “Get U.S. out of the U.N.” Magazine Ads - “Think different” Television Ads - “Got Milk?” Radio Ads - “This program is brought to you by Exxon, working for a better environment” T- shirts - “No Nukes” Lawn Placards - “Vote for Kaine” Mailings, etc. 300 to 400 appeals/day from marketers alone

Martin Luther King, Jr.: 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

National Rifle Association: 

National Rifle Association

What are attitudes?: 

What are attitudes? ABCs of attitudes Affective: evaluations are based on positive and negative emotions associated with a target Behavioral: a behavioral tendency to act in a certain manner towards the attitude object Cognitive: evaluations based on beliefs & facts

Slide6: 

Homer Simpson’s Attitudes Toward Beer Homer’s Attitude Toward Beer Behavior Regarding Beer Cognitions Regarding Beer Affective Evaluation Beer “To alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." "The other day, I was so desperate for a beer, I snuck into the football stadium and ate the dirt under the bleachers." "Mmmmm... Gummi Beer." "Homer no function beer well without."

Consistency in persuasion: 

Consistency in persuasion Balance theory (Heider) - we are motivated to have harmony in our views and behaviors - we want to agree with people we like a disagree with those we don’t Think of someone you respect / like. What if they expressed an opinion you opposed? Could change your feelings for the person Could change your opinion on the issue

Slide8: 

If you like Tiger, shouldn’t you like the car?

Balance TheoryBalanced Situations: 

Balance Theory Balanced Situations

Balance TheoryImbalanced Situations: 

Balance Theory Imbalanced Situations

Consistency in persuasion: 

Consistency in persuasion Cognitive dissonance theory - we will work to resolve inconsistencies in our beliefs and actions when they matter to us - changing a behavior can change an attitude (and vice versa) Changes in attitudes occur primarily when we perceive justification – e.g., free will in determining our (inconsistent) actions

Ready to turn some pegs??: 

Ready to turn some pegs?? Students spent hour turning pegs in holes (really boring) Paid either $1 or $20 Who enjoyed the task more (when asked later)? Why $1 people  $20 was justification enough, $1 wasn’t – I must have really liked turning pegs! (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959)

Slide13: 

Insufficient justification Attitude change happens when one freely performs an attitude-discrepant act for an inadequate reward.

Slide14: 

action or decision that conflicts w/ impt. aspect of self. Initiation Amplification Motivation Reduction is seen as freely chosen. produces negative consequences that were foreseeable Can’t be justified as due to strong reward or threat cannot be withdrawn unpleasant arousal. change designed to remove the unpleasant arousal. Dissonance begins with: More dissonance arises when the action or decision: Dissonance is experienced as: Dissonance is reduced through:

What affects how consistent we are?: 

What affects how consistent we are? Arousal Tranquilizers cause people to not change their opinions Preference for consistency Consequences More impact of your behavior = more likely you will be to change your attitudes Salience of inconsistency

Consistent with what?: 

Consistent with what? Individualist  “me” focused Collectivist  group focused

Slide17: 

Persuasion  change in private attitude or belief as a result of receiving a message Dual Process Model - takes into account two ways attitude change takes place - e.g., central vs. peripheral processing, systematic vs. heuristic processing, etc. Certain information is processed more deeply than other info

Slide19: 

Message High motivation and ability to think about the message Low motivation or ability to think about the message Superficial processing, focused on surface features, e.g.: communicator’s attractiveness or number of arguments Deep processing, focused on the quality of the message arguments. Lasting change that resists fading and counterattack Temporary change that that is susceptible to fading and counterattack Persuasion Attempt Audience Factors Processing Approach Persuasion Outcome

Slide20: 

“Retirement planning can be a way to stay ahead of the game.” Cris Carter Schwab Investor Central or Peripheral?

Slide21: 

Who says... What... By what means... To whom? Communicator Credibility expertise trustworthiness Attractiveness Channel spoken written audio Video Audience Need for Cognition Message content Reason vs. emotion Discrepancy One vs. two-sided

Slide22: 

Who says? Credibility: believability expertise: the amount of knowledge the source is assumed to have trustworthiness: the perceived intention of the communicator to deceive. Perceived expertise Begin by saying things the audience agrees with Be introduced as someone knowledgeable on the topic Speak confidently (no stuttering), and quickly Communicator Credibility expertise trustworthiness Attractiveness

Class Demonstration: 

Class Demonstration Message on Phosphate containing detergents Source Government Agency Soap Company

Slide24: 

Attractiveness: having qualities that appeal to an audience physical appeal likeability perceived similarity surface characteristics (Dembroski and others, 1978) attitudes & values Persuasive on matters of subjective preference (e.g., aspirin, soft drinks) Communicator characteristics less relevant when the subject matter is important to participants Who says?

Slide25: 

Low personal relevance High personal relevance Agreement with the message (Petty et al., 1981)

Slide26: 

Time interval % attitude change The Sleeper Effect Expert source Nonexpert source (Hovland & Weiss, 1951)

Slide27: 

Message content Reason vs. emotion Discrepancy One vs. two-sided What is said? Is a carefully reasoned message more persuasive, or one that arouses emotion? Will you be more persuasive by advocating an extreme point of view, or by advocating a moderate position? Should your message be one-sided, or should it acknowledge two points of view?

Slide28: 

Is a carefully reasoned message more persuasive, or one that arouses emotion? (Dabbs & Janis, 1965)

Fear and Persuasion: 

Fear and Persuasion http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/stephen_colbert/index.jhtml?playVideo=12615

Slide30: 

Discrepancy Opinion change 2. Extreme or moderate point of view? Discrepancy interacts with communicator credibility (Aronson et al., 1963)

Slide31: 

The message Opinion change 3. One-sided or Two-sided? The interaction of initial opinion with one- versus two-sidedness (Hovland et al., 1949)

Slide32: 

Channel type Opinion change By What Means… Channel spoken written audio Video (Chaiken & Eagly, 1978)

Slide33: 

(Cacioppo et al., 1973) To Whom? Audience Need for Cognition