Chapter 7

Persuasion

To swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new

propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Human Work, 1904
 Introduction
Many of lifes powers can either harm or help us. Nuclear power enables us to
light up homes or wipe out cities. Sexual power helps us to express committed
love or to seek selfish gratification. Similarly, persuasions power enables us to
promote health or to sell addiction, to advance peace or stir up hate, to
enlighten or deceive.
- the spread of weird beliefs: The existence of Flat Earth believers, Yellow
conspiracies, Marcos apologists
- Climate change skepticism: Even though there is a scientific consensus on the veracity
of global warming, people who believe in it dropped over the years1.

1Krosnick, 2010; Rosenthal, 2010

What is Persuasion?
Persuasion is the process by which a message induces change in beliefs,
attitudes, or behaviors.
- it is neither inherently good nor bad. It is a messages purpose and content that elicit
judgments of good (which we call education) or bad (which we call propaganda).
- it is everywhereat the heart of politics, marketing, courtship, parenting, negotiation,
evangelism, and courtroom decision making. We therefore seek to understand what
leads to effective, long-lasting attitude change.
What Path Leads to Persuasion?
Persuasion entails clearing several hurdles. Any factors that help people clear
the persuasion hurdles will increase persuasion. For example, if an attractive
source increases your attention to a message, then the message should have a
better chance of persuading you.
 What Path Leads to Persuasion?
The Central Route to Persuasion

This occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with
favorable thoughts1. Explicit and reflective.

Your audience are motivated to think about an issue. If those arguments are
strong and compelling, persuasion is likely. If the message offers only weak
arguments, thoughtful people will notice that the arguments arent very
compelling and will counter-argue.

1Petty and Cacioppo, 1986; Petty et al., 2009; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993, 1998.
What Path Leads to Persuasion?
The Peripheral Route to Persuasion

This occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speakers
attractiveness. This focuses on cues that trigger automatic acceptance without
much thinking. Implicit and automatic.

In these situations, easily understood familiar statements are more persuasive

than novel statements with the same meaning.
- soft-drink ads that promote the real thing with images of youth, vitality, and happy
polar bears. Chocolate drinks advertised with athletic images.
- Smartphones advertised with glamour and famous stars.
 What Path Leads to Persuasion?
Different Paths for Different Purposes
Central route processing can lead to more enduring change than does the
peripheral route. When people are thinking carefully and mentally elaborating
on issues, they rely not just on the strength of persuasive appeals but on their
own thoughts in response as well. Its not so much the arguments that are
persuasive as the way they get people thinking. And when people think deeply
rather than superficially, any changed attitude will more likely persist, resist
attack, and influence behavior1.

None of us has the time to thoughtfully analyze all issues. Often we take the
peripheral route, by using simple rule-of-thumb heuristics, such as trust the
experts or long messages are credible2.

1Petty et al., 1995, 2009; Verplanken, 1991; 2Chaiken & Maheswaran, 1994
What Path Leads to Persuasion?
Different Paths for Different Purposes
What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicator

It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it It is their right, it is their

duty, to throw off such government!
- Sinakbayan, 2011

Thrift should be the guiding principle in our government expenditure. It

should be made clear to all government workers that corruption and waste are
very great crimes.
- Sen. Ramon Ponce, 2001

Who among the speakers would you trust?

What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicator

Social psychologists have found that who is saying something does affect how
an audience receives it. Its not just the message that matters.
- The statement It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it comes from a July
4 oration of the Declaration of Independence
- The statement Thrift should be the guiding principle in our government
expenditure comes from Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong.

The strength of the communicator lies with two characteristics credibility and
attractiveness & liking.
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicators Credibility

Credibility is a perceived expertise and trustworthiness of a person. It also

diminishes after a month or so.
- If a credible persons message is persuasive, its impact may fade as its source is
forgotten or dissociated from the message1.
- And the impact of a non-credible person may correspondingly increase over time if
people remember the message better than the reason for discounting it1.

We call this delayed response as the sleeper effect a delayed impact of a

message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective,
such as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it.

1Cook & Flay, 1978; Kumkale & Albarracin, 2004; Pratkanis et al., 1988
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicators Credibility

A person can be seen as an expert by doing the following;

- you say things the audience can agree with (using pre-existing values and views)1
- be seen as knowledgeable on the topic (ex. Dr. Tolentino VS Mr. Tolentino)2
- when you speak confidently (ex. straightforward VS hesitant answer)3

A person can be seen as trustworthy by doing the following;

- speech style4
- not trying to persuade others5
- when you argue against your own self-interest and well-being6
- when you talk fast7
1Kahan et al., 2010; 2Olson & Cal, 1984; Bachman et al., 1988; 3Moore & Swift, 2011; Pentland, 2010; 4Helmsley & Doob, 1978; 5Walster & Festinger, 1962;
6Eagly et al., 1978; 7Miller et al., 1976.
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicators Attractiveness and Liking
Attractiveness is having qualities that appeal to an audience. An appealing
communicator (often someone similar to the audience) is most persuasive on
matters of subjective preference.

Were more likely to respond to those we like. Even a mere fleeting

conversation with someone is enough to increase our liking for that person and
our responsiveness to his or her influence1.

Our liking may open us up to the communicators arguments (central route

persuasion), or it may trigger positive associations when we see the product
later (peripheral route persuasion).

1Burger et al., 2001

 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicators Attractiveness and Liking

Attractiveness comes in several forms:

- Physical attractiveness arguments become more influential, superficial judgements
become more valid, and less analytical recipients become more convinced.
- Similarity - we tend to like people who are like us and are also influenced by them.
People who act as we do are also influential. As a general rule, people respond better
to a message that comes from someone in their group1.

1Van Knippenberg & Wilke, 1992; Wilder, 1990

What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Communicators Attractiveness and Liking

Similarity may or may not be more important than credibility. It depends on

whether the topic is more one of subjective preference or objective reality.

When the choice concerns matters of personal value, taste, or way of life,
similar communicators have the most influence. But on judgments of fact,
confirmation of belief by a dissimilar person does more to boost confidence. A
dissimilar person provides a more independent judgment.
What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Message Content
It matters not only who says something but also what that person says. If you
were to help organize an appeal to get students to join an activity or to stop
smoking or to volunteer for local events, you might wonder how best to
promote central route persuasion. Common sense could lead you to either side
of these questions:
- Is a logical message more persuasiveor one that arouses emotion?
- Will you get more opinion change by advocating a position only slightly discrepant from
the listeners existing opinions or by advocating an extreme point of view?
- Should the message express your side only, or should it acknowledge and refute the
opposing views?
- If people are to present both sidessay, in successive talks at a community meeting or
in a political debateis there an advantage to going first or last?
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Message Content Reason VS Emotion

Which message is more influential logical & rational or emotional? It largely

depends on the audience. Well-educated or analytical people are responsive to
rational appeals1. Uninterested audiences more often travel the peripheral
route; they are more affected by their liking of the communicator2.

It also matters how peoples attitudes were formed. When peoples initial
attitudes are formed primarily through emotion, they are more persuaded by
later emotional appeals; when their initial attitudes are formed primarily
through reason, they are more persuaded by later intellectual arguments3.

1Cacioppo et al., 1983, 1996; Hovland et al., 1949; 2Chaiken, 1980; Petty et al., 1981; 3Edwards, 1990; Fabrigar & Petty, 1999
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Message Content Reason VS Emotion
Messages also become more persuasive through association with good
feelings.
- Good feelings often enhance persuasion, partly by enhancing positive thinking and
partly by linking good feelings with the message1.
- Unhappy people ruminate more before reacting, so they are less easily swayed by
weak arguments. Thus, putting your audience in a good mood might benefit your
message.
Messages can also be effective by evoking negative emotions/fear.
- Experiments show that, often, the more frightened and vulnerable people feel, the
more they respond2
- Playing on fear works best if a message leads people not only to fear the severity and
likelihood of a threatened event but also to perceive a solution and feel capable of
implementing it3
1Petty et al., 1993; 2de Hoog et al., 2007; Leventhal, 1970; Robberson & Rogers, 1998; 3DeVos-Comby & Salovey, 2002; Maddux & Rogers, 1983; Ruiter et
al., 2001
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Message Content Discrepancy

How discrepant a message should be from an audiences existing opinions

depends on the communicators credibility.
- a credible source one hard to discountwould elicit the most opinion change when
advocating a greatly discrepant position1
- People are more open to conclusions within their range of acceptability2

1Aronson et al., 1963; 2Liberman & Chaiken, 1992; Zanna, 1993

 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Message Content One-Sided Versus Two-Sided Appeals

A one- or two-sided message is persuasive depending on whether the audience

already agrees with the message, is unaware of opposing arguments, and is
unlikely later to consider the opposition.
- a one-side message offers only one side of the argument; it does not acknowledge
contradictory arguments and is effective only to those who already agreed.
- a two-sided message mentions both sides and responds to the opposing arguments;
experiments reveal that a two-sided presentation is more persuasive and enduring if
people are (or will be) aware of opposing arguments1.
- if your audience will be exposed to opposing views, offer a two-sided appeal.

1Jones & Brehm, 1970; Lumsdaine & Janis, 1953

What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Message Content Primacy VS Recency

When two sides of an issue are included, the primacy effect often makes the
first message more persuasive. If a time gap separates the presentations, the
more likely result will be a recency effect in which the second message prevails.
- primacy effect - Other things being equal, information presented first usually has the
most influence.
- recency effect - Information presented last sometimes has the most influence. Recency
effects are less common than primacy effects
What are the Elements of Persuasion?
Channel of Communication
The channel of communication is the way a message is delivered whether
face-to-face, in writing, on film, or in some other way.

Usually, face-to-face appeals work best. Print media can be effective for
complex messages. And the mass media can be effective when the issue is
minor or unfamiliar, and when the media reach opinion leaders.
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
Channel of Communication Media Influence
Medias effects operate in a two-step flow of communication
- the process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn
influence others

Messages are best comprehended and recalled when written.

- works best for difficult messages, since readers work through it at their own pace
- TV medium takes control of the pacing of the message away from the recipients by
drawing attention to the communicator and away from the message itself. TV also
encourages people to focus on peripheral cues, such as the communicators
attractiveness1.

1Chaiken & Eagly, 1983

 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Audience
The age of the audience makes a difference; young peoples attitudes are more
subject to change. What does the audience think while receiving a message?
Do they think favorable thoughts? Do they counterargue? Were they
forewarned?
- Attitudes change as people grow older (called the life cycle explanation)
- Attitudes do not change; older people largely hold onto the attitudes they adopted
when they were young. Because these attitudes are different from those being adopted
by young people today, a generation gap develops (called the generational
explanation)
- The teens and early twenties are important formative years1. Attitudes are changeable
then, and the attitudes formed tend to stabilize through middle adulthood.

1 Koenig & others, 2008; Krosnick & Alwin, 1989

 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Audience

A 2011 survey in the

U.S. regarding attitudes
towards gay marriage1.
What can we use to
explain the difference?

1Gallup, 2011
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Audience What Are They Thinking
The crucial aspect of central route persuasion is not the message but the
responses it evokes in a persons mind. Our minds are not sponges that soak up
whatever pours over them. If a message summons favorable thoughts, it
persuades us. If it provokes us to think of contrary arguments, we remain
unpersuaded.
- Counterargument occurs when we expect others to persuade us1.
- Persuasion is also enhanced by a distraction that inhibits counterarguing2 (such as
visual images). It is especially effective when the message is simple3.

1Freedman & Sears, 1965; Dolnik et al., 2003; 2Festinger & Maccoby, 1964; Keating & Brock, 1974; Osterhouse & Brock, 1970; 3Harkins & Petty, 1982;
Regan & Cheng, 1973
 What are the Elements of Persuasion?
The Audience What Are They Thinking
Audiences react differently because of their need for cognition - the motivation
to think and analyse. What we think in response to a message is crucial,
especially if we are motivated and able to think about it1. Some ways to do this
are;
- using rhetorical questions
- presenting multiple speakers
- making people feel responsible for evaluating or passing along the message
- repeating the message
- getting peoples undistracted attention
The consistent finding with each of these techniques: Stimulating thinking
makes strong messages more persuasive and (because of counterarguing) weak
messages less persuasive.
1Axsom et al., 1987; Haddock et al., 2008; Harkins & Petty, 1987
Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Cult (also called new religious movement) - A group typically characterized by (1)
distinctive rituals and beliefs related to its devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation
from the surrounding evil culture, and (3) a charismatic leader.

On March 22, 1997, in California, Marshall Herff Applewhite and 37 of his disciples decided the time had
come to shed their bodiesmere containersand be whisked up to a UFO trailing the HaleBopp
Comet, en route to heavens gate. So they put themselves to sleep by mixing phenobarbital into pudding or
applesauce, washing it down with vodka, and then fixing plastic bags over their heads so they would
suffocate in their slumber. On that same day, a cottage in the Quebec village of St. Casimir exploded in an
inferno, consuming 5 peoplethe latest of 74 members of the Order of the Solar Temple to have
committed suicide in Canada, Switzerland, and France. All were hoping to be transported to the star Sirius,
nine light-years away.
Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
What persuades people to leave behind their former beliefs and join these
mental chain gangs? Should we attribute their strange behaviors to strange
personalities? Or do their experiences illustrate the common dynamics of social
influence and persuasion?
Two things first:
- this is hindsight analysis. It uses persuasion principles to explain, after the fact, a
curious social phenomenon.
- explaining why people believe something says nothing about the truth of their beliefs.
Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Attitudes Follow Behavior
People usually internalize commitments made voluntarily, publicly, and
repeatedly (as seen in Chapter 4).
- Compliance breeds acceptance. Rituals, public recruitment, and fundraising strengthen
the initiates identities as members which makes them committed advocates. The
greater the personal commitment, the more the need to justify it.
- Foot-in-the-door phenomenon. People do not commit through an abrupt, conscious
decision. The pattern in cults is for the activities to become gradually more arduous,
culminating in having recruits solicit contributions and attempt to convert others.
Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Persuasive Elements
We can also analyze cult persuasion using the factors discussed in this chapter :
Who (the communicator) said what (the message) to whom (the audience)?
 Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Persuasive Elements The Communicator
Remember that a credible communicator is someone the audience perceives as
expert and trustworthy. That is why most cult leaders introduce themselves as
Father, Master etc. and would often perform acts to establish credibility.

Trust is another aspect of credibility. Cult researcher Margaret Singer (1979)

noted that middle-class Caucasian youths are more vulnerable to recruitment
because they are more trusting. They lack the street smarts of lower-class
youths (who know how to resist a hustle) and the wariness of upper-class
youths (who have been warned of kidnappers since childhood). Many cult
members have been recruited by friends or relatives, people they trust1.

1Stark & Bainbridge, 1980

Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Persuasive Elements The Message

The vivid, emotional messages and the

warmth and acceptance with which the
group showers lonely or depressed
people can be strikingly appealing:
Trust the master, join the family; we
have the answer, the one way. The
message echoes through channels as
varied as lectures, small-group
discussions, and direct social pressure.
 Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Persuasive Elements The Audience
Recruits are often young people under 25 years old, still at that comparatively
open age before attitudes and values stabilize.
- they can be relatively less educated, who likes the messages simplicity and find it hard
to argue
- most are educated, middle-class people who, taken by the ideals, overlook the
contradictions in those who profess selflessness and practice greed, who pretend
concern and behave callously.

Potential converts are often at turning points in their lives, facing personal
crises, or vacationing or living away from home. They have needs; the cult
offers them an answer2.
1Stark & Bainbridge, 1980; 2Lofland & Stark, 1965; Singer, 1979
 Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Group Effects
A cult typically separates members from their previous social support systems
and isolates them with other cult members, weakening external ties, until the
cult itself provide identities and thinking1.

These techniquesincreasing behavioral commitments, persuasion, and group

isolationdo not, however, have unlimited power as cult leaders would often
resort to intimidation and violence to keep group members.

These techniques bear similarities with those being employed in fraternities,

sororities, widely held religious groups, and even therapeutic communities.
1Baron, 2000;
Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate?
Group Effects
Though persuasion has been abused by many, there are still constructive and
beneficial uses for it such as counselling and psychotherapy. With these
arguments, we can observe two things;
- First, we may delude ourselves into thinking we are immune to social control
techniques. Our own groupsand countless political leaders, educators, and other
persuaderssuccessfully use many of these same tactics on us. Between education
and indoctrination, enlightenment and propaganda, conversion and coercion, therapy
and mind control, there is but a blurry line.
- Second, persuasion is not intrinsically bad. Like any power, it can be harnessed for evil
purposes. We should always guard against its immoral use. But the power itself is
neither inherently evil nor inherently good; it is how we use it that determines whether
its effect is destructive or constructive.
 How Can Persuasion Be Resisted?
Being persuaded comes naturally, as some researchers report1. It is easier to
accept persuasive messages than to doubt them. To understand an assertion
(say, that lead pencils are a health hazard) is to believe itat least temporarily,
until one actively undoes the initial, automatic acceptance. If a distracting
event prevents the undoing, the acceptance lingers.

Still, blessed with logic, information, and motivation, we do resist falsehoods.

Titles and positions have intimidated us into unthinking agreement, we can
rethink our habitual responses to authority. We can seek more information
before committing time or money. We can question what we dont understand.

1Gilbert et al., 1990, 1993

 How Can Persuasion Be Resisted?
Strengthening Personal Commitment
By making a public commitment (as in Chapter 6), you will stand up for your
convictions, and you will become less susceptible (or, should we say, less
open) to what others have to say.
- Challenging beliefs. a mild attack or challenge to ones beliefs, not enough to
overwhelm, can prompt an individual in defense of their previous commitments1.
- Developing counterarguments. weak arguments will prompt counterarguments, which
are then available for a stronger attack. We impart into individuals we call an attitude
inoculation - exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when
stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available2. One good example of a
method to inoculate individuals is to create a poison parasite defense - one that
combines a poison (strong counterarguments) with a parasite (retrieval cues that bring
those arguments to mind when seeing the opponents ads).

1Kiesler, 1971; 2Mcguire, 1974.

 How Can Persuasion Be Resisted?
Implications of Attitude Inoculation
The best way to build resistance to brainwashing probably is not just stronger
indoctrination into ones current beliefs. If parents are worried that their
children might become members of a cult, they might better teach their
children about the various cults and prepare them to counter persuasive
appeals.
- People who live amid diverse views become more discerning and more likely to modify
their views only in response to credible arguments1.
- an ineffective appeal can be worse than none since those who reject an appeal are
inoculated against further appeals2.

1Levitan & Visser, 2008; 2Darley a& Cooper, 1972.

Assignment!
Read pp. 259 261, Real Life Applications: Inoculation Programs.
1. Choose one of the following behaviors:
- underage drinking
- vandalism
- drug use
- excessive gaming
- cutting classes
2. Create an attitude inoculation program for your chosen behavior. Your target group
will be 6th graders coed. You are free to choose any way to represent your program as
long as it is easily understood and well explained.
3. Submission: Sept 16, 2017.
4. Format: 8.5x11 paper size, font size 11, Calibri. No front pages.
Postscript
Being Open But Not Naive
As recipients of persuasion, our human task is to live in the land between gullibility and cynicism.
Some people say that being persuadable is a weakness. Think for yourself, we are urged. But is
being closed to informational influence a virtue, or is it the mark of a fanatic? How can we live with
humility and openness to others and yet be critical consumers of persuasive appeals?

To be open, we can assume that every person we meet is, in some ways, our superior. Each person
we encounter has some expertise that exceeds our own and thus has something to teach us. As we
connect, we can hope to learn from this person and to reciprocate by sharing our knowledge

To be critical thinkers, we might take a cue from inoculation research. Do you want to build your
resistance to false messages without becoming closed to valid messages? Be an active listener. Force
yourself to counterargue. Dont just listen; react. After hearing a political speech, discuss it with
others. If the message cannot withstand careful analysis, so much the worse for it. If it can, its effect
on you will be that much more enduring.