What is Persuasion What does it mean to say persuasion is pervasive and unavoidable Studying persuasion serves 4 functions What are they Defensive function be a critical consumer knowledge function understand it better instrumental function want to be able to use it debunking function many common beliefs of persuasion are false subliminal messages What is the difference between pure cases of persuasion and borderline cases of persuasion Pure cases are clear and obvious no one would debate that persuasion is taking places Borderline cases are persuasion depending on what definition you use What are the criteria issues factors which go into a definition of persuasion intentionality free will change etc and what are their limitations to effectively defining persuasion Intentionality does the sender have to put in conscious effort in order for communication to be considered persuasion o Problems may be accidental or unconscious o Unintended receivers may be influenced Free will persuasion vs coercion If the person doesn t really have a choice is it still persuasion Coercion in the eye of the beholder Change or effect receiver oriented view Does change have to occur o Problems persuasion is a process not an outcome product Symbolic actions use of words clearly codified symbols Number of people two or more o Problem some basic persuasion theories focus on cognitive processing Class definition of persuasion The process of creating reinforcing modifying or eliminating beliefs attitudes intentions and or behaviors within a given context The difference between persuasion and coercion social influence and compliance gaining Social influence the power of persons or things to affect others Ex athletic endorsing Some don t belief this is persuasion Compliance gaining want to get a desired behavior out of someone Coercion forcing someone to do something not giving them an option The dual process models of persuasion The Elaboration Likelihood model ELM and the Hueristic Systematic Model know all the different concepts of each model and how all the parts fit together The Unimodel of persuasion how does it differ from the dual process models Dual process models postulate that persuasion operates via 2 basic paths o Elaboration Likelihood model Petty Cacioppo 1986 more popular model Focus on the receiver of the message Tries to explain how we go about processing a message and either accept or reject it 2 ways a message can change attitudes or cause resistance to change central route persuasion as a cognitive process Getting a person to think about a message Attitude change based on careful evaluation of the quality of arguments in a message Strong arguments positive message relevant thoughts persuasion Attitudes formed through central route are enduring resistant to change and tend to predict behavior peripheral route focus on cues that aren t directly related to the substance of a message ex attractive speaker Non cognitive process use cues unrelated to message liking authority social proof scarcity Far less enduring Route you take determined by Motivation to process involvement need for cognition Ability to process distractions message repetition written vs audio previous knowledge If motivation and ability are high we take the central route if one is low we take peripheral Criticisms unclear for researchers what constitutes as central or peripheral variables Some think we take both o Heuristic Systematic Model Eagly Chaiken 1993 Agrees that motivation and ability affect message processing but allows for simultaneous processing Systematic processing thoughtful deliberate analytical essential the central route Heuristic processing relies on mental shortcuts or decision rules ex believe what experts say peripheral route Sufficiency principle we think as much as we need to but not too much Additivity hypothesis two processes can reinforce and compliment one another Bias hypothesis a heuristic cue may bias systematic processing if the message is Attenuation hypothesis if heuristic and systematic are in opposition systematic ambiguous overrules o Uni model Kruglenski Thompson 1999 If a message is complex we re forced to think about it if its simple we can use decision making rules One route to persuasion Attitudes and Behavior Attitude defined know the factors that go into defining attitudes Fishbein Ajzen s definition How do attitudes differ from values beliefs and opinions Values ideals more global than attitudes Core elements in a persons system of attitudes and beliefs Attitudes learned predispositions to respond favorably unfavorably toward some attitude object fishbein ajzen Beliefs cognitions or thoughts people have about an attitude object can aid formation of attitudes Attitudes as associative networks discussed in class in G S and class activity participation assignment 2 Why study attitudes A critical element in understanding persuasion Not a perfect predictor but the best we know of Measuring attitudes Likert Scales Semantic Differential Scales Visually oriented scales be able to identify the different types of scales and tell of the problems associated with attitude scales social desirability bias boundedness non attitudes etc Likert scales strongly agree moderately agree agree moderately disagree disagree strongly disagree Semantic Differential scales use semantic opposites happy sad entertaining boring Visually oriented scales smiley faces Problems with these o Social desirability bias people know they re on display o Bounded scales o Non attitudes sometimes people don t actually have an opinion but they don t want to appear uninformed o Mindfulness may not be conscious of their attitudes o Acquiescence bias respondents agree with any statement in the survey possibly because they want to agree with the researcher Other ways of measuring attitudes and problems with those measures appearance association behavior physiological measures pupil dilation galvanic skin response etc Appearance assume someone wearing a PETA shirt loves animals Association assume members of groups share certain beliefs Behavior you are what you do Psychological attitude measurements pupil dilation galvanic skin response facial electromyography Do attitudes predict behavior Previous research current view Lapier Chinese couples research 1934 Asked restaurants if they would serve Chinese Americans they said no but they actually did Attitudes did not predict behavior Wicker 1969 attitudes concerning having your