What is Persuasion

Persuasion: Process which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behavior.

McGuire’s Information Processing Approach - A persuasive message must satisfy... ****

• Attention → Comprehension → Belief → Remember → Behave Accordingly → Action

Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Central Route: Careful evaluation and elaboration of the arguments Produce longer and more resistant change in behavior (explicit)
• Peripheral Route: Quick examination, decide whether to accept the message based on on peripheral cues (e.g. source, heuristics). Produce temporary change that’s less resistant (implicit)
• Implicit attitudes more likely to change.

Elements of Persuasion

Source - Who Said?

• Persuasive sources: High authority, credibility (expertise, trustworthy, goodwill), and social attractiveness (likable, similar, physically attractive)
• More credible when saying goes against the speaker’s personal interest.
• Sleeper Effect: First, discount a message from a non-credible source, but later, people start to believe it because they forget where it came from.

Content - What?

• Reason - Evidence (vivid images/testimonials, not dry stats)
  • Careful to capture attention while not distracting
• Emotion - Induce positive feelings: Associate positive feelings
• Emotion - Fear: can enhance persuasion (e.g. cigarette package images)
  • Won’t work for too little or too much arousal.
  • Most effective when people led to fear the severity of the threat & susceptible to that threat, and believe there are solutions & they have self-efficacy (they can do it)
• Reason is more persuasive when audience know a lot or are involved in the subject. Emotion more persuasive otherwise.
• Reason/Emotion more persuasive when original attitude was formed through reason/emotion
• Primacy/Recency Effect can affect persuasion
  • M1 → M2 → Break: Accept M1 (Primacy effect) M1 → Break → M2: Accept M2 (Recency effect)