Persuasion & Influence

Lecture - The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion - Alfred Snider, Class 2008

2011-06-29T02:55:00.000-07:00

Lecture about the most accepted theory of communication in attitude, belief and opinion change through communication (persuasion). This is useful for students of persuasion, but also for debaters and for any citizen who would like to make their communication more effective.

This is a lecture in the class PERSUASION AND INFLUENCE at the University of Vermont, delivered in 2008 by Alfred Snider.

http://persuasionuvm.blogspot.com/

Lecture - General - Persuasion and Deception - Class 2010

2011-06-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

Lecture given in my PERSUASION AND INFLUENCE class at the University of Vermont in 2010.

I think the content is fascinating, although I am rather boring.

Thank You For a Great Semester

2010-12-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

I want to thank all of the students in my Persuasion class for a great semester that I had with all of you.

I enjoyed the discussions that so often permeated my so-called "lectures."
I enjoyed hearing your speeches.
I enjoyed watching you grow as producers of persuasive messages.
I enjoyed reading your self-analysis papers.
I especially enjoyed seeing you take the course materials and apply them to read persuasive messages you analyzed.
I was delighted that you did so well on the test that I will have to make it more difficult next time.

You were fun, diligent and interesting. I hope that the course was as useful for you as it was enjoyable and educational for me. I hope to see many of you in future classes.

Eight Sequential Persuasion Strategies

2010-10-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

Lecture - Persuasion - Eight Sequential Persuasion Strategies from Alfred Snider on Vimeo.

This is a lecture for the University of Vermont course, SPCH 111 Persuasion. It is taught by Dr. Alfred C. Snider. Contact him at alfred.snider@uvm.edu .

This lecture was used in the class at UVM while the speaker was away at the Third international Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment, 22-23 October 2010, held in Maribor, Slovenia.

debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/better/Welcome.html

Compliance Gaining

2010-10-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

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COMPLIANCE GAINING

Compliance has to do with behaviors.

Link between attitudes and behaviors can be uncertain.

Most compliance research has been on face-to-face situations.

Emphasis has been what senders can do to gain compliance.

Five types of compliance gaining activities:

1. Promises

2. Punishments

3. Expertise, special knowledge

4. Appeal to internalized commitments: you know you want to and will feel bad if you do not

5. Person is indebted so should “give back” through compliance.

How people say “no”

1. Non-negotiation: just say no

2. Identity management: I would never make such a request

3. Justifying: if I do that bad things will happen

4. Negotiation: I won’t turn the stereo off, but I will turn it down.

Situational aspects of compliance gaining behavior:

1. Dominance, power, control: asking someone if you are the boss.

2. Intimacy: using the power of a relationship.

3. Resistance predicted by the person being persuaded.

4. Benefits to self or other from compliance.

5. Rights at issue: barking dog vs. hairstyle.

6. Relational consequences: it will bring us closer together or farther apart.

7. Apprehension: potential for anxiety during the attempt.

SEEKING COMPLIANCE FROM PEOPLE – FROM STRANGERS TO INTIMATES

Four different situations study: what tactics do people use?

1. Non-interpersonal, short term: used car dealer more for old car

2. Non-interpersonal, long term: new neighbors want to cut down shade tree on their land that increases value to your home

3. Interpersonal, short term: you want to cancel a date with your close friend so you can see a family member visiting town.

4. Interpersonal, long term: you want to persuade your partner to move to another town with you so you can take a new better job.

In general people would use positive, friendly approaches. Threats were more likely in the non-interpersonal, short term. Used trial and error (testing various strategies) more in non-interpersonal situations.

How do couples try and gain compliance from each other?

Three types of couples:

1. Traditionals: stability, not spontaneity, interdependence, avoids conflict. Use discussion of positives and negatives, used their relationship as a source of power.

2. Separates: people together but less interdependent, but try to avoid open conflict. Focus on negative consequences of not complying to get hat they want.

3. Independents: non-traditional couple, a little interdependence, yet still with physical and temporal aspects of their lives. More willing to be assertive and engage on conflict. Use a wide array of compliance strategies, debate each other intensely.

EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED BENEFITS

Loan me your car – I benefit

Stop smoking – the other benefits.

The more benefits are at stake, the more we are willing to use negative tactics.

If it is self-benefit, more willing to use verbal aggression.

POWER, LEGITIMACY, POLITENESS

Five types of power

1. Reward power

2. Coercive power – punishments

3. Expert power – I know more

4. Legitimate power – rank or position

5. Referent power – people ant to be like you

Legitimate power (boss) tends to use variety of strategies, but explains them less and expects compliance. And they get it.

What to do without power? Try politeness theory.

Two kinds of face: (how you look to others, Asian construct)

Positive face – people like, respect and approve of us.

Negative face – we are not constrained or impeded by others, free to do what we want.

A request for compliance may effect both of these:

Pick me up at the airport – negative face lost

Hey wife, bring me another beer – positive face lost

Threatening either face makes it less likely that people will comply. To avoid this we try to be polite.

If they are more powerful than we are, we need to be extra polite.

More powerful people are less polite.

Less powerful people have to be more polite.

Threats are less polite than hints. But threats are more efficient.

Direct requests are efficient and not considered impolite, but may not get what you want.

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS

We prefer strategies that have a positive emotional impact.

We all have a limit to which we will tolerate negative emotional impact with each person. We measure the impact based on our interpretation of the individual characteristics of those we are trying to influence:

Manipulative – acceptable to manipulate them back

Dogmatic – don’t push them too far

Verbally aggressive – don’t push them too far

Gender – men on men rougher, women on women rougher

Age – older to younger push it, younger to older not so much

STRATEGIES AND PROBLEMS

Difficult to find the best strategy for the situation.

We have imperfect information.

74 different strategies finding shows how difficult it is.

THE GOALS APPROACH

Requests for compliance take place within a broader context of our goals. Our broader goals make a difference.

Two men scooping mud into wooden molds:

“I am scooping mud and straw into a wooden mold”

“I am building a beautiful cathedral.”

Common goals:

Provide guidance: get advice, a favor, permission, and information.

Share time: start, escalate or end a relationship

Fulfill an obligation: set a date, stop an annoying habit.

The goals you have shape the way you seek compliance. Your goals may be broader than your immediate request.

Our concerns may be achieving the request AND maintaining social appropriateness, depending on our ultimate goals, whether that person is important to us.

COMPLIANCE GAINING STYLES – INDIVIDUALS ARE DIFFERENT

We have different logic about what communication is for and how it works. We therefore have an individual style that influences how we seek compliance.

1. Expressive design logic: Communication means to say what you think or feel. Speak from the gut. Crude.

2. Conventional design logic: Communication is a cooperative game. They want results but they understand they need to follow the rules of appropriateness. Moderate.

3. Rhetorical design logic: use whatever strategy it takes to get the results you want, but keep your more general goals in mind. Use communication to repeatedly solving and coordinating problems, consensus and harmony. Most sophisticated.

Deception in Persuasion

2010-10-09T11:53:00.001-07:00

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DECEPTION

One of the main ethics of good communication is honesty. Without it all communication is polluted.

People are bad at detecting lies, but they think that are pretty good at it.

Deception is an example of persuasion – trying to persuade someone that something is true that is not true.

WHY DO PEOPLE LIE

There can be sound reasons to lie. Common reasons for deception include:

1. Lie to benefit someone else.

2. Lie to get someone to affiliate with them.

3. Lie to avoid giving private details.

4. Lie to avoid a conflict.

5. Lie to impress others.

6. Lie to protect yourself.

7. Lie to benefit yourself.

8. Lie to harm someone else.

KINDS OF LIES

1. Distortion or equivocation.

2. Omission or concealment

3. Falsification.

BEHAVIORS WHILE LYING

The assumption here is that people behave somewhat differently when lying, so knowing these differences can help us detect lies.

Four factor model – Zuckerman

1. People re more aroused or anxious when telling lies. This is the idea behind the polygraph, or lie detector. Not 100% accurate, and some people conceal their anxiety better than others.

2. People do not want to get caught lying, so they try to control their behaviors when lying. We try to control, but we cannot control all, and sometimes some of the signals leak out.

3. Deception triggers guilt, as our society teaches us that lying is wrong.

4. Lying requires more thinking that truth telling. With the truth, you just let it come out, with a lie you have to think very carefully about the construction of the untrue message.

Interpersonal deception theory

Liars and their listeners both are active in the transaction.

1. Liars strategically create messages with certain characteristics: manipulate the message to dissociate themselves from it, convey uncertainty or vagueness to avoid detection, or withhold information, control their other behaviors, manage their image (smiling or nodding).

2. They cannot control all of their behaviors, and so some cues to lying can and do leak out, such as blinks, pupil dilation, vocal nervousness, speech errors, leg and body movements, shorter responses.

SUCCESSFUL DECEPTION

Machiavellian personalities. Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527). This kind of personality is not interested in interpersonal relationships, manipulates others for selfish purposes and has little sense of social morality. They tend to be much more effective at deception because they are harder to detect, but reveal themselves through time.

High social skills make it easier to lie effectively. If you are good at matching your communication to the situation, if you are good at communicating basic emotions, people who are expressive and socially tactful and excellent actors you can lie more effectively.

Males are more successful at lying than females. Men tend to control their nonverbal behavior better. But, they are only a little better at it than women

Prepared lies are more successful than spontaneous lies. They can better prepare and control their behaviors that might signal a lie.

Very highly motivated lie is more successful. More motivated liars were more successful in a study of a “mock crime” if they got to keep the $50 they stole than those who would get $10.

Successful liars look people in the eye. Most people believe this is a sign of truth telling, but it is not. Liars know to look you in the eye.

WHY CAN’T PEOPLE DETECT LYING VERY WELL?

1. Inaccurate stereotypes

2. Focus on content instead of how it is presented.

3. Truth or lie bias

4. Unfamiliarity with the liar.

Being suspicious hurts detection

Structure & Order in Persuasion

2010-10-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Notes for class for 12 October 2010

STRUCTURING AND ORDERING PERSUASIVE MESSAGES

Quintillion compared ordering and structuring of rhetoric to generalship in war.

What to include, what to leave out, how to structure, what to put first and hat to put last?

EXPLICIT VS. IMPLICIT MESSAGES

When to use which?

Comprehension: explicit

Yielding: implicit, because they work it out themselves.

Knowledge: implicit CD players

Lack of knowledge: explicit

Central route: implicit

Peripheral route: explicit.

Toothbrushes and razors: personal involvement meant implicit was better.

NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS:

Few good arguments on the central route.

Lots of arguments on the peripheral route.

Comprehensive examination study: you or later students. Involvement meant few good arguments, non-involvement meant lots of arguments.

REPETITION

Three times seems to be the maximum at any one sitting.

Repetition is more effective on the peripheral route.

Strong messages only can be repeated on the central route, not weak ones. Repeating weak ones hurts you.

WHAT TO PUT FIRST

Primacy vs. recency

Primacy is best when the information is uninteresting and not involving, such as the peripheral route.

Recency is better if the message is interesting and involving, the central route.

Chunked: pros and cons groups

Unchunked: together in one group

Chunked: motivated primacy

Unchunked: recency.

INOCULATION

Warn people of other persuasive attempts and help them resist. Give them arguments to help them resist.

Those involved with the topic inoculate better.

ONE-SIDED. TWO-SIDED

One-sided messages work better on the peripheral route.

Two sided messages work better on the central route.

BUT, do not spend so much time on the other side.

WARNING

Warning an audience that others will try and persuade can be effective.

Especially if the message is personally relevant, central route.

BUT, too much warning increases irritation on the part of the audience.

Warning people about persuasion in general can be effective, but you should not be overtly trying to persuade.

DISTRACTION

Hecklers get sent to disrupt political speeches (bracketing)

It may not work, or may backfire.

Audience may identify with a heckled speaker and be more favorable.

Distraction stops people from generating counterarguments.

BUT

Distraction dos hinder comprehension.

Distraction works for high credibility speaker, peripheral route.

Non Verbal Signals in Persuasion

2010-10-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

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NONVERBAL INFLUENCE

DIRECT EFFECTS – IMMEDIACY CUES

Common immediacy cues increase persuasion.

Definition: Nonverbal signals that communicate warmth, involvement, and including behaviors do this.

Examples: smile, eye contact, an affirmative nod, leaning just a bit forward at times, etc.

It is usually true but not always and can be overdone.

TYPES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Nonverbal cues are interdependent. If there is a contradiction there is a problem.

KINESICS

Eyes

Eye contact helps beggars get more money.

Frequent but not prolonged eye contact leads to more persuasion.

Lack of eye contact causes the audience not to trust the speaker.

Eye contact works with legitimate requests. Airport study: asking for money for legitimate purpose (phone call) it helped, but not illegitimate purposes (candy bar). It was better for illegitimate requests to look away (humble, embarrassed).

Face

250,00 different facial expressions.

Smiling is the most effective strategy, but cannot be constant. This is true of teachers, waitresses, therapists, job interviewees, asking for help with some dropped objects.

Smiling too much makes it seem insincere.

Some people have bad smiles, George Bush #1.

Jimmy Carter smiled when talking about bad things, made him seem insincere.

Male Doctors get more compliance if they do not smile so much.

Smiling is good when mirroring, smile when they smile. Mimic their behaviors, good for sales.

Body Language

Mirroring is effective.

Open body poses are more persuasive.

Audience standing is more likely to be persuaded than an audience sitting.

Gestures

Three kinds

1. Emblems: gestures with precise verbal meanings, it is clear. Hello, goodbye, come here, quiet, I don’t know, shame on you. Using emblems fosters comprehension and retention of the message. 34% recalled with emblems, 11% without.

2. Illustrators: more general gestures to show thing like acceptance, exclusion, emphasis, directions, show excitement. More illustrators make you more persuasive.

3. Self-touching: decrease persuasion, as it is a sign of anxiety.

TOUCHING

Library study while returning library card. Touch lightly or non-touch. Touched users liked the library better and rated the service better.

Waitresses who know customers get bigger tips if they touch slightly.

True of signing petitions, bookstore customers, beer drinkers in a bar, etc.

Touch indicates self-assuredness as well as power.

Touch can be counterproductive if it is interpreted as flirting.

PROXEMICS – DISTANCE

Being closer to a person can b more persuasive.

Computer study: closer person was more persuasive. Assumed to be more similar.

Standing within 12-18 inches was better than 3-4 feet when asking people for assistance.

BUT, you need to respect personal space. Lost objects not returned when requester invaded personal space.

Public speaking: 1-2 feet is too close, 5-14 feet is better.

We have expectations of personal space, and you should not violate them.

Too close or too far away can be counterproductive.

DRESS AND ARTIFACTS

First impressions are powerful and lasting.

Dress and artifacts are part of this. Expensive suit, gold watch, etc. show prosperity and confidence.

Many of these appearance cues are strong but not accurate.

Dress appropriately. Dress well for an interview, dress appropriately when visiting a factory, etc. Fancy dress in the office is more persuasive, casual dress at the bus stop.

Hispanics thought good dress was more important.

PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

More attractive people are more persuasive, especially on the peripheral route. Halo effect – appearance rubs off onto trust, etc.

Body shape – fatness and meal size.

Facial appearance – young faced are seen as more honest, mature faced as more expert.

Beards – more masculine and more mature.

Baldness – not good, but shaved head can be acceptable.

Language Choice in Persuasion

2010-10-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

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LANGUAGE AND PERSUASION

CONNOTATIVE AND DENOTATIVE MEANING

DENOTATIVE the first meaning

CONNOTATIVE the other meaning

Pig is an example. Also bad.

Meaning is arbitrary and flexible. People understand different things from different words.

ULTIMATE TERMS

God Terms – always good

Progress, fact, critical thinking, family values, balanced budget.

Devil Terms – always bad

Nazi, fascist, communist, racist, terrorist, gang member, sexual harassment, sweat shop.

Charismatic terms – observable but have a mysterious power

Freedom, democracy, they call for sacrifice if needs be.

POLITICIANS AND THE RIGHT WORDS

Pentagon becomes department of defense

Vouchers become opportunity scholarships

Tax cuts become tax relief

Global warming becomes climate change

Washington is always negative

Prosperity is always positive

Empower is always positive – power walks

Extremes can be tempting to some – extreme sports, etc.

FAMILIAR PHRASES

Aphorisms and idioms work better on the peripheral route.

LABELS

Different names get different hot or not ratings – MIT photo study

Broken homes become blended families

Put bad labels on things you do not like.

LANGUAGE VIVIDNESS AND INTENSITY

Profanity

8.5% OF WORDS USED BY COLLEGE STUDENTS, 3.5% adults at work, 12.5% adults at leisure.

Religious, excretory and sexual. Studies shows sexual are the most offensive, religious the least offensive.

Most audiences do not find profanity persuasive, but it does get attention and promote conflict.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

There are many options. Person with a wheelchair: normal (uses a wheelchair), heroic (handicapable), disabled, or pathetic (abnormal). The pathetic characterizations were received with hostility. PC speech makes a difference when you go to the negative extreme.

VIVID LANGUAGE

It is more persuasive up to a point. At some point it becomes too much and people do not like it.

Starving children example.

Vividness needs to match the message and be appropriate.

INTENSE LANGUAGE

1. Vivid language works with those who agree, not with those who disagree.

2. Must not violate their expectations. More credible speakers have more latitude here. Rape of the forest.

3. Can make your position sound more extreme, and make people not want to go along with you.

4. Talking like the audience talks is the best adaptation

POWERLESS LANGUAGE

Avoid it as it makes you less persuasive.

Hesitations: um, ah, pause

Hedges: Too much qualification

Intensifiers: I really, really believe this, and hope very much that you will too.

Too Polite: Indicates deference and subordination. Excuse me if you wouldn’t mind too much, I have an idea I hope you will consider.

False questions: This is fun, don’t you think?

Disclaimers: I know this is a really dumb question, but…

Communicator Characteristics

2010-09-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

COMMUNICATOR CHARACTERISTICS

PERSUADING DIFFERENT PEOPLE

DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES

AGE

As people grow older they become more cognitively sophisticated and a bit harder to persuade.

Children are targets for persuasion: 25 TV hours a week, 360,000 by the time they are 18. UK children watch 18,000 commercials a year.

Until the age of 8 children do not understand the nature of advertising as persuasion.

1. Interact with children during ads about them increases critical ability. Not immune, but less susceptible.

2. As children get older peer pressure is more important.

Stereotypes of older and gullible are false. Older people are, in fact, more difficult to persuade.

GENDER

· Men tend to be better at persuading people than women. Studies show that the same message has more effect when given by a man. Computers with synthetic male voices are rated as more powerful.

· This is true because of the gender stereotypes of the audience, that they perceive men as more competent. They also expect females to be warmer and more nurturing.

· Female double bind: thy must perform better than men to be seen as equally competent, and they are perceived negatively when thy try to be direct, assertive and forceful.

· Female doctor study: male doctors can give people aversive advice (stop eating so much or you will die early) while women have to give positive messages (stop eating so much and you will feel much better).

· Gender and persuasibility:

· Early studies showed women were more easily persuaded than men.

· With time, the gap has narrowed, now they are equally perusable.

· There are differences. Women have different conversational goals (seek closeness and consensus) while men seek independence. Thus, they receive messages different.

· Face to face communication is more effective with women than with men, while email is equal for both.

ETHNICITY AND CULTURE

Individualism vs. collectivism, EU/USA vs, China/Korea.

Individual: independence, goals of individual over group

Collectivist: harmony, concern for others, goals of the group.

Advertising uses this concept.

Biculturals are susceptible to both appeals.

China managers: coalition-building, gift giving as best strategies or influence.

USA managers: rational argument.

Collectivist strategies:

1. Hinting

2. Setting an example by action

3. Helping a person before asking a favor

Black and white sources seem equally as persuasive in current American culture. Whites often pay more attention to blacks while speaking because they far charges of racism.

INTELLIGENCE

Less intelligent people are easier to persuade once they understand your message.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES

SELF-ESTEEM

Lower self-esteem people to not want to be seen as giving in, so they don’t.

Higher self-esteem people can be too proud to give in. Thus, moderate self-esteem people are the easiest to persuade.

FEAR AND ANXIETY

Persuasion is a combination of understanding and yielding.

Anxious fearful people may not understand because they are distracted, while anxious fearful people are more likely to yield. Thus, make sure you have their attention.

The best strategy is to give specific suggestions about avoiding harms and fears.

EGO INVOLVEMENT

If the topic is one you are ego involved with, you are harder to persuade. They tend to reject more readily more positions that are different from their own.

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES

Harder to persuade about their currently held beliefs.

Beliefs are often propped up by authority figures.

Accepted authority figures are the ones who can persuade them.

Authoritarian people are more likely to see the world as dangerous. Threats work best with them, rewards work best with non-authoritarians.

COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY AND SIMPLICITY

Complex people have more categories and distinctions, for body type for example. They thus tolerate different opinions more than the simple. Complex people like to think about difficult issues and simple people do not.

GUIDES FOR AUDIENCE ADAPTATION

· Pay attention to the situation.

· Keep your audiences’ mind in mind. Guess about values and previous beliefs.

· Remember states and traits.

· Pay attention to demographics.

· Aim for those you can influence.

Credibility and Persuasion

2010-09-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

CREDIBILITY LECTURE

Often thought of as charisma.

Comes from ancient rhetoric concept of ethos.

CELEBRITY POWER

20% of television commercials feature a famous person.

10% of all advertising expenditures got to pay famous people.

Balanced number of men and women among this number.

Over $1 billion paid to such figures each year.

BUT … only 3% of people surveyed said they would try a new product if advised by a famous person.

DEFINITION OF CREDIBILITY

1. Receiver based construct

2. Multidimensional construct

3. Credibility is situational – it depends on the subject

4. Credibility is dynamic – it changes

FACTOR ANALYTIC APPROACH TO CREDIBILITY

Main dimensions

1. Expertise: experienced, informed, trained, skilled

2. Trustworthiness: honest, fair, unselfish, moral

3. Goodwill: cares about me, not self-centered, understanding.

Secondary dimensions

1. Extroversion: bold, verbal, talkative

2. Composure: poised, relaxed, calm

3. Sociability: friendly

EXPERTISE

Not necessarily formal, but applied to a field.

Halo effect gives celebrities expertise in other areas, such as Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Study by Rind: someone selling raffle tickets, three conditions: amazing calculating skills, embarrassing calculating skills, no calculating skills. People bought far more from the calculating person.

TRUSTWORTHINESS

Expertise fails if the expert is trying to cheat you.

Trustworthy looking people may not be so. Ted Bundy killed 35.

Witnesses in court fail if they do not seem trustworthy, Mark Fuhrman in OJ Simpson case.

GOODWILL

It is the opposite of indifference. You care about people.

Bush #1 & Clinton in tsunami relief changed public opinion about the USA in Indonesia, up to 65%.

CREDIBILITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Kouzes & Posner: categorized managers as high and low credibility. Then measured the morale of employees. High credibility managers matched well with high morale employees in every category at a statistically significant level.

CREDIBILITY AND THE ELM

People do pay attention to both routes, but usually heavily favor one over the other. If the issue is personally relevant to them they will take the central route, if not so personally relevant they will take the peripheral route.

Thus, credibility is most important on issue where the audience is not personally involved.

William Benoit’s 1987 study demonstrated this. It was about whether a computer class should be required of all students. There were two message variables: strong arguments and weak arguments. There were two source variables: expert source and a non-expert source. Those who read the messages were in two relevance groups: you will have to take the course (high relevance); it will be adopted after you graduate (low relevance).

Those who were involved in the topic focused on the arguments.

Those who were low involved focused on the source.

Low involvement means the source credibility is important.

High involvement means the source credibility is not so important.

THE SLEEPER EFFECT

Credibility gets more initial attitude change, but it wears off.

ADVICE TO ENHANCE YOUR CREDIBILITY

1. Be prepared and sound prepared.

2. Cite evidence for your position and identify the source of your evidence.

3. Cite your qualifications and those of your evidence.

4. Try and seem honest and sincere. Sound like you care.

5. Display goodwill towards the audience.

6. Use language and delivery style that is appropriate to the audience, topic and setting.

7. Avoid powerless styles of communication. Later. Do not show doubt.

8. If you are low credibility and cannot help it, emphasize the personal relevance of the message.

Triggering Central or Peripheral Routes in Persuasion

2010-09-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

TRIGGERING ROUTES IN PERSUASION
Alfred C. Snider, University of Vermont

STEPS TO FOLLOW:
1. EVALUATE THE PERSUASION SITUATION - MOTIVATION, KNOWLEDGE, PERSONAL RELEVANCE.
2. SELECT THE ROUTE TO TRIGGER - CENTRAL OR PERIPHERAL
AUDIENCE: FACTORS WHICH CAUSE ROUTE STRATEGY FROM PERSUADER
Audience Factor: Choose Peripheral, Choose Central
Level of Motivation Low, High
Personal Relevance Low, High
Can increase personal relevance: Irrelevant, Can trigger personal relevance
Previous Knowledge: Use It, Add to It
Opinion of Speaker: High is Essential, High is Useful
3. TRIGGER THAT ROUTE –
CENTRAL: With
Personal relevance for motivation
New information
Arguments, evidence, logic
Clear explanation
Cognitive involvement
Use of source as a logical argument
PERIPHERAL: With
Source focus
Intangilbles and associations
Use existing beliefs-biased elaboration
Use images and symbols
Use strategic confusion
Repetition
4. FOLLOW THROUGH ON THAT ROUTE
SOURCE:
PERIPHERAL
Known, trusted, distracting, socially inviting.
Personal relationship, inclusion.
CENTRAL
Expertness as an argument
Source experience as an argument
Non-distracting.
MESSAGE:
PERIPHERAL
Entertaining, mildly distracting
Appeal to biases and social norms
Use expertness
CENTRAL
Organize into major arguments
Each major argument should have reasoning, explanation, evidence
Emphasize how it impacts the audience early in the speech
Point out new information, promise new information early in the speech

Sample Situations:
SELLING CARS:
Ad Campaign for New Mini-Van
Selling cars to rental agency
GETTING VOTES FOR STATE REP.:
TV ad for Vermont stations in your district
Speech at Champlain Chamber of Commerce Lunch

ELM Theory Made Simple

2010-09-09T08:38:00.003-07:00

ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL OF PERSUASION

Petty & Cacioppo, 1986

1. People want to hold correct beliefs and attitudes.

2. Motivation to elaborate (think) varies with individuals and situations. People conserve cognitive resources.

3. Variables can impact persuasion:

a. Persuasive arguments: reasons, evidence, logical connections.

b. Peripheral cues: images, speaker, previous positions, mental shorthand, etc.

c. Extent & direction of elaboration (thinking): biased vs. objective.

4. Persuasive arguments: the central route

a. Personal relevance

b. New information

c. Comprehension and understanding

d. Objective elaboration

5. Peripheral cues: the peripheral route

a. Source focus

b. Intangibles/Associations

c. Images/symbols

d. Confusion, lack of comprehension and understanding.

e. Biased elaboration

f. Repetition

6. Elaboration:

a. Extent determined by motivation

b. Biased elaboration: low motivation

c. Objective elaboration: high motivation

7. Central trades off with peripheral

8. Central route persuasion has: (but is harder to get)

a. More persistence

b. More behavioral change

c. More resistance

Cognitive Components at Work - Theory of Reasoned Action

2010-09-08T07:52:00.001-07:00

THEORY OF REASONED ACTION

People are (supposedly) rational decision makers who use the information available to them.

Overt behavior: what you actually do. Wearing a helmet

Behavioral intention: what you intend to do. Intends to wear a helmet.

Attitude toward behavior: Helmets are cool, provide safety

Belief about the outcome: If I fall I will protect my head

Evaluation of the outcome: Avoiding hurting my head is good

Subjective norm component: What others will think

Normative beliefs: social pressure. Main squeeze wants me to wear helmet.

Motivation to comply: how important is social pressure. I want to pleas the main squeeze.

STUDY: Condom use

Women were motivated by possible outcome – pregnancy, STDs.

Men were motivated more by peer pressure.

STUDY: Americans vs. Koreans

Americans motivated by the attitude toward the behavior

Koreans motivated by subjective norms.

Why Study Persuasion, and What Is It?

2010-09-06T07:09:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

PERSUASION LECTURE

INTRODUCTION

PERSUASION SURROUNDS US CONSTANTLY

PERSUASION IS MORE AN ART THAN A SCIENCE BECAUSE OF:

· PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT

· SITUATIONS ARE DIFFERENT

· SOURCES ARE DIFFERENT

WHY STUDY PERSUASION?

· ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

· UNDERSTAND THE PROCESSES AROUND YOU

· DEFEND YOURSELF

· EXPOSE THE ERRORS IN MANY COMMON ASSUMPTIONS

PURE CASES OF PERSUASION VS. BORDERLINE PERSUASION.

CRITERIA FOR DEFINING PERSUASION

1. INTENTION IS TO PERSUADE

2. IT HAS SOME EFFECT – POSITIVE, NEGATIVE. SOMETHING ALWAYS HAPPENS

3. IT DOES NOT INVOLVE ACTIVE COERCION

4. CARRIED OUT SYMBOLICALLY

5. BETWEEN PEOPLE VS. INSIDE OF A PERSON

DEFINITION:

ONE OF MORE PERSONS WHO ARE ENGAGED IN THE ACTIVITY OF CREATING, REINFORCING, MODIFYING OR ELIMINATING BELIEFS, ATTITUDES, INTENTIONS, MOTIVATIONS AND/OR BEHAVIORS WITHIN THE GIVEN CONSTRAINTS OF A COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

ANALYSIS:

· IT IS A PROCESS

· PEOPLE DO IT

· CHANGE IS THE FOCUS

· COGNITIVE ELEMENTS: BELIEFS, ATTITUDES, INTENTIONS, MOTIVATIONS, AND THESE MAY LEAD TO BEHAVIORS.

COGNITIVE ELEMENTS:

BELIEFS: THE WAY THINGS ARE

· SPECIFIC OR GENERAL IN SCOPE

· EXPERIENCE

· LEARNED FROM OTHERS

· HAS AN OBJECT

· STORE IT IN SYMBOLIC FORM – COLD IN WINTER

· NEVER COMPLETE

· COME TOGETHER INTO BELIEF SYSTEMS

· VERTICAL

· HORIZONTAL

· OPEN VS. CLOSED MINDS

VALUES: THE WAY THINGS SHOULD BE, OUR IDEAL

· STANDARDS FOR JUDGING

· MEANS

· ENDS

· CREATED BY SOCIALIZATION

· THEN WE MAKE THEM OUR OWN PERSONAL VALUES

· TEND TO BE GENERAL IN APPLICATION, BUT HAVE A CONTEXT

· HOW WE USE THEM: FIND ONE, APPLY IT

ATTITUDE: POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY RESPOND

· LEARNED

· EXIST BEFORE YOUR RESPONSE

· POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE

· HAS AN OBJECT

· CHANGES

EXERCISE ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU GET PAID

Fall 2010 Semester Begins, Here is the Syllabus

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Image by Bright Green Pants via FlickrPERSUASION -- SPEECH 111
Alfred C. Snider, Instructor – Fall 2010
LAFAYETTE 300 10-11:15 Tue/Thur
Office -- 475 Main Street, Room 103 656-0097 or 238-8345
http://debate.uvm.edu/tunacalendar.html
I. SCOPE OF THIS COURSE:
This course attempts to acquaint the student with the subject of persuasion (attitude, belief, value, and/or behavioral change through communication). This is done through an examination of the components of the persuasive situation, a review of the various theories of persuasion, methods of enacting these concepts through student communication, and an application of these ideas to persuasive attempts we confront in society.
We are all producers and consumers in the process of persuasion. It is hoped that this course will aid all involved in becoming more skillful and responsible producers of persuasion as well as more critical and aware consumers of it.
II. READINGS:
Class readings can be found at https://www.uvm.edu/~asnider/persuasion/ and you must use your UVM netid to enter this area.
Our readings will come from a list prepared by the instructor and offered to the students in observance of relevant copyright laws.
III. EDUCATIONAL METHODS:
This course will utilize three primary educational methods:
1. A series of lectures given by the instructor. These will be reasonably brief and will highlight both material in the readings as well as new material.
2. The class will attempt to stage on-going discussions about class material. The lectures will often be punctuated with spots for class discussion to follow up on relevant ideas. Students are held responsible for contributing to these discussions.
3. Experiential learning will also be utilized. Students will present persuasive messages to the class, will engage in simulations of the persuasion process, and will engage in exercises highlighting critical persuasion variables.
Education is incorrectly seen as a process where the "teacher" imparts unquestioned "knowledge" to the docile and merely recipient "students." To be meaningful in an educational sense students and teachers must together pursue answers to questions which neither may have a full advanced understanding of. In our discussions it is essential that students engage in a process of critical analysis, questioning points made by he instructor as well as presenting alternative viewpoints. There are few, if any, absolute truths in this field, and student input is necessary for all of us to understand he "probable truths" which we may take away from this experience as useful knowledge. It is the duty of each person in this class to take part as a critical, active participant, and to learn about persuasion through direct experience and concerted inquiry.
IV. ASSIGNMENTS:
Students are asked to fulfill the following requirements:
Speeches:
1. Introductory speech of 1-2 minutes.
2. Persuading about a problem, 4-5 minutes.
3. Persuading about a solution, 5-6 minutes.
Written work: papers are typed, submitted electronically and written according to supplied guidelines. Improperly written work will be returned for rewriting.
1. Personal evaluation: 2-3 pages evaluating your strengths and weaknesses in persuasion.
2. Term paper: 8-12 pages on an approved topic that analyzes a persuasive act in our society.
Tests: one during the semester. Mixture of testing formats.
Participation: students are expected to take part in class discussions. This assumes that students are physically present and are prepared to deal with the topic of the day.
Students should be aware of the University policy on academic dishonesty.
V. EVALUATION:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of earned points only. There will be no extra credit work available. Each assignment has a given point value (adding up to 100) of which students will be awarded a portion based on the quality of their work. Final grades will be awarded with an eye towards natural breaks in the distribution.
Point values are: intro speech 5, problems speech 15, solutions speech 20, evaluation paper 10, term paper 20, test 20, and class participation 10.
VI. OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE:
Please feel free to meet with me at any time during the semester either during my office hours or by appointment. We can discuss assignments, evaluation, class material, class procedures, or anything else on your mind.
VII. CONCLUSION:
This is a tentative syllabus. A day-to-day schedule will be provided.

What is this course all about?

2010-04-25T12:19:00.001-07:00

This course attempts to acquaint the student with the subject of persuasion (attitude, belief, value, and/or behavioral change through communication). This is done through an examination of the components of the persuasive situation, a review of the various theories of persuasion, methods of enacting these concepts through student communication, and an application of these ideas to persuasive attempts we confront in society.

We are all producers and consumers in the process of persuasion. It is hoped that this course will aid all involved in becoming more skillful and responsible producers of persuasion as well as more critical and aware consumers of it.