lecture 4 - persuasive communication Flashcards
common sense
its contradictory, its sometimes too simple, common sense is obvious in hindsight
persuasive media
- Having learned the theory, we get into practice, applying what we’ve learned to self-improvement media, a major source of persuasive messaging.
- Governments trying to promote ‘healthy’ (cost-effective) behaviors and attitudes – for social cohesion (and, of course, votes!)
Companies trying to sell you something – for their profit.
How does the mass-market message merge with the science?
persuasion systems
- People have a default of “autopilot attitude maintenance”.
- Various strategies to maintain and avoid attending to attitude-conflicting info.
When forced to attend to conflicting info, more thoughtful systems can come online.
persuasion system - mental model as infants
knowledge - epistemic expectations (plaget 1954) “objects still exist even I can’t see them”
attachment expectations (Bowlby 1969) “I can securely attach to my attentive caregiver”
values - aesthetic expectations (Repacholi and Gopnik 1997) “Goldfish crackers taste better than broccoli”
meaning - mental representations of expected associations
persuasion system - mental models as adults
knowledge - epistemic expectations (plaget 1954)
ideological expectations - (tetlock 1983) - “liberalism/ Conservatism/ Populism is the right path”
self expectations - (Campbell, 1990) - “I’m (generally) a good and competent person”
values -
- aesthetic expectations (Meltzer and Williams 1988) “ed Sheeran makes great/terrible music”
- moral expectations (Chandler 1987) “there is generally a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’
persuasion system - monitoring of expectancy fulfilment
does the experience match the knowledge
conflicting information
consistency motivation
does experience match my expectations?
ideology
knowledge
the self
values
persuasion system - what happens when information conflicts?
neurological - “surprise” related activity
neurological reactions
N1, N2
eg in response to expectancy violation of racial stereotypes
cognitive - re-interpret to be more consistent
selective exposure - when you can choose, attend elsewhere
selective processing - when possible, double-check only incongruent information
selective memory - when possible, forget incongruent information (AKA, Mnemic neglect)
persuasion system - levels of thinking
system 1 - fast and focused
Behavioural Approach (BAS): seek gains
Fueled by positive mood: goal is to maintain
those positive feelings.
Top-down, association-based reasoning;
assimilation bias.
Peripheral route in persuasion.
Heuristics, stereotypes.
persuasion system - levels of thinking
system 2 - slow and broad
Behavioural Inhibition (BIS): avoid losses
Fueled by negative mood: willingness to
change emotion.
Bottom-up, procedural reasoning;
bias correction; accommodation.
Central route in persuasion.
Bias correction
persuasion system - using systems for persuasion
reinforce to keep in system 1
challenge to initiate system 2
persuasive communication either reinforces (pro-attitudinal) or challenges (counter-attitudinal) our worldviews. sets up system 1 vs system 2 thinking.
diagram in notes
Wide range of factors can increase system 2 engagement…
Generate negative emotions.
Give adequate motivation, opportunity to think.
Pick people who like to think (need for cognition).
Highlight personal relevance, key consequences.
Source has confident voice.
Persuasion System
Summary
- People develop meaning frameworks over their lifetimes
- Establish expectations for knowledge and values
- Motivated to keep expectations consistent with experience
- Consistent = System I: Fast and Focused
- Inconsistent = System II: Slow and Broad
- Cognitive Conflict (and other factors…) = Arousal
Persuasion = Reinforce (System I) or Challenge (System II)
- Cognitive Conflict (and other factors…) = Arousal
