Persuasion: Yale Approach & Source Factors

Persuasion Defined

• Persuasion is the process where a message changes someone's attitudes or behavior
• Negatively, it can lead to radicalization or advertising
• Positively, it can promote health via RSA campaigns

Key Considerations in Persuasion

• Persuasive attempts are not always successful
• Individual characteristics affect susceptibility to messaging

Yale's Approach to Persuasion

• Includes the source, message, and target or audience
• Persuasion depends on who is trying to persuade, what is being said and how, and who is receiving the message

Source of Persuasion: Attractiveness

• Attractive sources are more persuasive than unattractive ones
• Celebrities in advertising serve as an example

Source of Persuasion: Likeability and Similarity

• People see those similar to themselves as more agreeable
• People are more easily persuaded by those they like
• Individuals are more easily persuaded by "in-group" members because they remember messages better
• Mackie et al. (1992) discovered that participants are more persuaded by a speaker from their own university
• Familiarity is important for persuasion and stronger within groups
• Behaviours like gestures that mimic the audience are more persuasive, according to van Baaren et al. (2003)

Source of Persuasion: Expertise

• "Expert sources" are more persuasive than non-experts
• Dentists advertising toothpaste exemplify this
• People with expertise on a subject are more likely to be believed

Source of Persuasion: Trustworthiness

• People are less likely to trust those with an "ulterior motive"
• Fast talkers are more likely to be seen as trustworthy (Miller et al., 1976)
• Recent exposure to non-credible messages increases susceptibility to more trustworthy sources (Tormala & Clarkson, 2007)

Source of Persuasion: Credibility

• A source's perceived credibility affects how likely people are to be persuaded
• Repeated exposure to a source increases perceived credibility and persuasion likelihood
• Message repetition can make it appear truthful
• Repetition can increase a brand's identity, making it seem more "famous" and credible

Sleeper Effect

• A message unpersuasive at first (due to source credibility concerns) becomes persuasive over time as the source is forgotten
• Focus shifts to message features rather than source
• Hovland and Weiss (1951) first discovered it
• Advantage for the credible source disappeared

Message Features

• Important message features determining persuasiveness include length, consistency with audience opinion, repetition, fear arousal, factual content, and emotional content

Message Length

• Longer messages with "strong" arguments containing objective facts can be effective
• Long "weak" messages with information peripheral to the issues are less effective
• Shorter messages that are concise and containing key points, are more persuasive

Message Consistency

• Consistency between a persuasive message and the target’s original attitude is an important predictor of persuasiveness
• Messages too distant from audience attitudes are likely to be ignored
• Liberman and Chaiken (1992) discovered coffee drinkers reject caffeine health risk warnings
• Attitudes and behaviors for people who reject other opinions become more extreme over time
• Original attitudes may strengthen when disconfirming messages are deflected by like-minded individuals

Message Consistency: Lord, Ross, and Lepper (1979)

• Participants in favor of or against the death penalty read the results of two fictional studies
• One study "found" that the death penalty decreased homicides
• The other showed no decrease in homicides
• Those against the penalty became more opposed, while those in favor became more supportive
• Ratings of "convincingness" were influenced by prior attitudes
• Viewing both sides does not always make people more impartial

Message Repetition

• Messages become more effective if they are repeated
• Repetition helps consolidate memory
• Advertisements are more effective if seen two or three times per week (Tellis, 1987)
• Information repetition can make it appear more true (Arkes et al., 1991)
• Repetition is more effective when people are already familiar with the product and have a positive view (Campbell & Keller, 2003)
• Advertising campaigns effectiveness diminish with exposure
• Carried out with some level of variety (e.g. different versions or different “edits” of ads)

Message: Fear Arousal

• Persuasive attempts may arouse fear in recipients
• So-called "fear campaigns" are extensively used in health messaging

Fear Effectiveness

• Aronson (1997) proposed fear can be ineffective if problems seem unsolvable, leading to denial
• Solutions within messaging can avoid denial
• The "Inverted-U" curve argues a moderate amount of fear is ideal in influencing attitudinal change
• Goldilocks Theory applies; you need a just right amount

Scarcity Technique

• Increases the attractiveness of a target by emphasizing (truthfully or not) the rareness of an item
• Worchel, Lee, & Adewole (1975) rate chocolate chip cookies, and show people rate cookies as more desirable with a scarce amount of them

Factual vs Emotional Appeals

• Factual advertising uses objective facts, while evaluative advertising focuses on subjective opinions
• Analytical and well-educated target audiences respond better to rational arguments (Cacioppo et al., 1983)
• Disinterested or disengaged audiences are more swayed if they like the person delivering the message (Chaiken, 1980)
• The effectiveness of a factual vs an emotional appeal depends on how the target initially formed their opinions

Message - Method

• Influences the persuasiveness of a message depending on delivery
• Providing arguments for and against an idea is especially effective if people are aware of opposing arguments
• Pre-emptively providing a counterargument makes attempts more effective
• Presenting conflicting information in advance controls damage, known as "Stealing the thunder"

Framing

• Can influence its meaning, and therefore, how it is received
• "Reverse discrimination" more appealing that “equal opportunities
• Promoting equality over "quota place"
• Messages framed positively (gain) more effective than negative frames

Primacy and Recency Effects

• Items presented first are more likely to be remembered and are therefore more persuasive
• Persuasion occurs if people agree more with arguments heard first
• Top listing on ballet sheets creates more persuasive power
• First impressions count
• Recency can occur over time; people that forget the first item may be swayed with more recent information
• Recency was originally demonstrated by Luchins (1957)

Messaging Channel

• The mode in which the information is presented (e.g. video, text, face-to-face, posters, etc) is also an important determinant of persuasive effect
• TV, web-based videos, and images are forms of visual advertising and are more powerful than text because our brains process them cognitively
• For is more complex, written information is often the most persuasive
• Visual advertising is most effective in promoting attitudinal change

Target or Audience

• The persuasiveness of a message is dependent on how the persuasiveness is aimed at the target or aduiences
• Individual differences (e.g. age, gender, personality) can effect how effective a persuasive message is
• Advertising aimed at younger people is different from advertising aimed at older people
• Furthermore advertising for men different from advertising for women

Target: Gender

• Research suggests that women are more susceptible to persuasion than men due to social roles
• Women are more persuaded by face-to-face appeals than other types of messaging (e.g. written email), but men show no difference.
• Influence of context; tentativeness of message for female speakers and audiences

Target: Age

• Research suggests that late adolescents and young adults are most susceptible to persuasive messages because they are impressionable
• This demographic have less stable attitudes, show less resistance to authority, and thus are easier to influence
• Visser and Krosnick (1998) argue that susceptibility to persuasion is high in early adulthood.

Personalities & Individual Differences

• NFC (Need for Cognition): People that have high NFC are more persuaded with strong messages
• NFCC (Need for Cognitive Closure People that have high NFCC are more persuaded with weaker messages and less open to persuasion

Target: Mood

• Good feelings can promote persuasion by influencing positive thinking and impulsive decision making
• People in a good mood are more likely to associate messages with positive feelings
• Janis et al., (1965) showed people were more persuaded if they were allowed to snack and drink
• Bless et al., (1990) showed sadness influences decisions and processing in a strong way

How Persuasion Works

• Consists of social psychological theories
• Includes The elaboration likelihood model (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986b) and Heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, 1980)
• Both are Dual process models for two processes leading to a psychological outcome.

ELM: Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Argues that variations in persuasion outcomes depend on the likelihood that recipients will think of the arguments relevant to the issue
• People are persuaded by one of two routes depending on what features they focus on
• Central cues: Persuasive features of a message, such as message quality and scientific arguments, that require processing or elaboration by the target
• A significant degree of effort is taken to process central cues
• The effectiveness of central cues depends on a person's ability and motivation
• Central route of persuasion requires focus to attend to the message and carefully evaluate its arguments

ELM: Peripheral

• When people attend to superficial message characteristics instead of content quality
• Includes Models, slogans, jingles, and marketing ploys

Heuristic Systematic Model

• (HSM) Systematic processing focuses on careful attention
• Heuristic processing involves cognitive shortcuts

Factors determining the processing route: Ability to focus

• Focus routes through ELM and Heuristic requires you to have the capacity
• Requires the ability to not to be stressed or otherwise occupied
• Otherwise people tend to focus on peripheral routes

Processing route: Heart Rate

• Heart rate can affect the ability to process
• Increased heart rate affects people processing messaged by increasing the ability

Processing route: Motivation

• Some people are not interested in the message being conveyed
• Without motivation to process, people focus on length and other messages
• Cognition determines motivation

Processing route: Mood