Personal persuasion Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is persuasive communication?
A message advocating a particular side of an issue
What is the yale method?
conditions under which people are most likely to change attitudes in response to persuasive message
What is the source of communication?
attractiveness, certainty, power of source
What is quality of communication?
quality and vividness of argument
What is target audience?
Pro attitudinal/ counter attitudinal
What is the process for the yale method?
Exposure
Attention
Comprehension
Learning
Retention
What is source attractiveness?
Celebrities
Halo affect - good traits cluster
Effective when recipients don’t pay attention
What is source certainty?
The degree to which the source expresses confidence that they are right
Witness testimony expressed with maximum confidence has higher impact on jury (despite not actually being more accurate)
Financial advisers who express confidence in forecast are more effective influencing clients
What is source power?
Coercive (threat of force or discomfort to recipient)
Expert
Information (access to unique info)
Legitimate
Referent (membership in valued groups)
Reward (ability to give/ deny rewards)
What is argument vividness?
Vividness = colourful, interesting, memorable
Generally works on attitudes and behaviour intentions
Identifiable victim effect - people downplay statistics especially for donation
What is argument quality?
Clear and logical, clarity of consequences for desired actions
What counts as high quality depends on audience
Appeal to core values/ motivations
Addresses counter arguments
When should one factor be emphasised over another?
Some factors are effective when we’re on autopilot (S1) and others when we are alert and attentive (S2)
What is the Elaboration Likelihood Modal (ELM)?
Elaboration is the process of generating thoughts favouring or disfavouring a possible attitudinal position.
Lower elaboration = S1
Higher elaboration = S2
Both can produce persuasion but shape the influence of other variables on persuasion
Persuasion through high elaboration produces strong attitudes which predict behaviour, last longer, resist later pushback
What controls Elaboration Likelihood?
Temporary + Ability to process = Distraction
Temporary + Motivation to process = Having personal responsibility
Persistent + Ability to process = Intelligence
Persistent + Motivation to process = Need for cognition
What are some consequences of variable thinking?
When thinking levels increase, we expect argument quality should matter more
This is construed as evidence of elaboration
This is usually done through between ppts designs
Relative persuasion of strong > weak message condition reveals elaboration
What increases elaboration?
Numerous surprise factors increase elaboration
Counter attitudinal messages prompt elaboration
we understand our current worldviews as ‘normal’ and expected
Explain Petty and Baker’s study
Ppts received messages about a university service program
Either received expected or surprising messages
Expected = majority of people, pro-attitudinal + minority of people, counter-attitudinal
Surprising = opposite pairings
Surprising combination messages were processed more than expected
What is selective attention?
Actively attend to info that confirms attitudes and filter out info that defies them
What was Kleinhesselink + Edwards study into selective attention?
Pro and anti-weed legalisation students listened to message that advocates legalisation
7 strong and difficult to refute
‘less harmful than alcohol’
7 silly and easy to refute
‘make rock musicians less paranoid’
listened on headphones with static buzz, could fiddle with button to clear static if wanted
What were results of Kleinhesselink + Edwards study?
Pro-legalisation wanted to hear strong argument more
Anti-legalisation wanted to hear weak arguments more
Both wanted their position reinforced
What is selective processing?
We evaluate the soundness of arguments and credibility of sources in a way that supports existing beliefs and values
This additional scrutiny often increases thoughtful attention
What did Edwards and Smith say about selective processing?
more thoughtful arguments elicited by counter-attitudinal than pro-attitudinal messages
What did Ditto and Lopez say about selective processing?
more critical thinking caused by unwanted conclusions
What is the Hedonic Contingency Model?
Maintain mood by avoiding feel-bad messages - often reducing processing
Bad mood = there may be threat and can’t rely on heuristics, need for central processing
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