Persuasion
Intentional effort to change other ppls attitudes in order to change their behaviour.
Attitude
Evaluation of a stimulus; can range from positive to negative. (Ambivalent, indifferent)
What changes our minds?
- comprehensible messages
- confident thoughts about the message
- vivid instances that connect with personal experience
- Order in which competing arguments are presented as they relate to the timing of overall situation
What creates an effective emotional response?
Repetition and familiarity
- learned associations with positive stimuli
- need to maintain consistent ideas about related ppl or things
- positive mood
- use of fear to avoid neg consequences
- thoughts of death
Three determinants of Persuadability
- Age
- Self-esteem
- Education and intelligence
Message influence, initial attitudes
- one-sided arguments obscure counter arguments, appealing to audiences leaning toward agreement
- two-sided arguments avoid the perception of bias, appealing to audiences leaning toward disagreement
How ppl think and Self-monitor
- ppl w high need for cognitive prefer the central route
- those motivated to make good impression are more susceptible to peripheral-route cues
Message influence-regulatory style
- for audiences high in promotion focus, influential messages highlight positive outcomes
- prevention-focused ppl are persuaded by messages about avoiding negative outcomes
Psychological reactance theory
Theory which proposes that ppl value thinking and acting freely. Therefore, situations that threaten their freedom arouse discomfort and prompt efforts to restore freedom.
Power of a message to influence attitudes depends on who delivers that message:
- credibility (appearance thru peripheral)
- attractiveness
- similarity (attitudes about subjective preferences are influenced by similar source, attitudes about objective facts are more influenced by dissimilar source)
Primacy effect
When initially encountered information primarily influences attitudes (first speaker in a policy debate)
Recency effect
When recently received information primarily influences attitudes (commercial right before shopping may influence your choice)
Mere exposure effect
When ppl hold a positive attitude toward a stimulus simply because they have been exposed to it repeatedly.
