Persuasion is applied in a broad spectrum of situations

Chapter 8 - Social Influence and Persuasion

– Part 2

• Two Types of Social Influence • Techniques of Social Influence • Persuasion • Resisting Persuasion

Persuasion

• Attempt to change a person’s mind • Three components of persuasion

– Who – Source of the message

– Say What – Actual message

– To Whom – Audience

Who: The Source

• Source credibility – Expertise and trustworthiness

– Sleeper effect – over time, people separate

the message from the messenger

• Source likability – Similarity and physical attractiveness

– Halo effect

Say What: The Message

• Reason Versus Emotion – People in a good mood – more responsive

to persuasive messages

– Moderate fear appeals – most persuasive

The Social Side of Sex

Scared into Safe Sex?

• Effect of fear inspiring anti-AIDs films – Fear-inducing message was rejected by

sexually-active college students

• Instilling fear is unreliable mode of influence – People resist feeling bad

Say What: The Message

• Stealing Thunder – Revealing potentially incriminating

evidence to negate its importance

– Source appears more honest and credible

Say What: The Message

• Repetition – If neutral or positive response initially,

repeated exposure = persuasive message

– Advertisement wear-out

– Repetition with variety

• Advertisement wear-out – is a “condition of inattention and possible

irritation that occurs after an audience or target market has encountered a specific advertisement too many times”

Say What: The Message

• Repetition with variation – repeat the same information, but in a varied format

To Whom: The Audience

• Moderately intelligent are easiest to persuade • People high in need for cognition are more

persuaded by strong arguments

– Attitudes are more resistant to change

• People high in public self-consciousness are more persuaded by name brand and styles

To Whom: The Audience

• Impressionable years hypothesis – Middle-aged people most resistant to

persuasion

• Attitudes formed in young adulthood remain fairly stable over time

• Messages consistent with cultural values are more persuasive

To Whom: The Audience

• “Overheard” messages are more persuasive – Product placements

• Distraction – Effective if the message is weak

– Less effective with a strong message

Two Routes to Persuasion

• Elaboration likelihood model • Heuristic/Systematic model

– Both propose automatic and conscious

processing are involved in persuasion

Two Routes to Persuasion

• Central route – Involves conscious processing

– Careful and thoughtful consideration

• Peripheral route – Involves automatic processing

– Influenced by some simple cue

Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Motivation to process message – Personal relevance

– Need for cognition

• Ability to process – Distractions

– Knowledge

Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Type of cognitive processing – Quality of the arguments

– Initial attitude

• Peripheral cues – Speaker credibility

– Reaction of others

– External rewards

Alpha and Omega Strategies

• Alpha strategies – Persuade by increasing approach forces

• Omega strategies – Persuade by decreasing avoidance forces

• When approach forces are greater than avoidance forces – movement toward goal

Alpha Strategies

• Make messages more persuasive – Strong arguments that compel action

• Add incentives • Increase source credibility • Provide consensus information

Resisting Persuasion

• Attitude Inoculation • When people resist persuasion, they become

more confident in their initial attitudes

• Advance warning of a persuasive message – Negative attitude change

– Boomerang effect

• Stockpile resources

Defenses Against Techniques

• Commitment and Consistency – Reexamine the sense of obligation

• Reciprocation – Evaluate favors or concessions to avoid

guilt over lack of reciprocity

Defenses Against Techniques

• Scarcity – Recognize psychological reactance as a

signal to think rationally

– Evaluate the reason we want the item

• Capturing and Disrupting Attention – Stop and think before action

• Social Proof – Recognize ‘fake’ social proofs

What Makes Us Human?

• Only humans have two routes to persuasion • Only humans respond to social pressures

while keeping their doubts to themselves

• People are uniquely able to resist persuasion