Social Influence & Persuasion PDF

1 c h a p t e r 8 – social influence & persuasion. social psychology a south African perspective 2nd edition distinguish normative and informational influence. categorise the techniques of social influence in terms of the four basic principles and describe ways of re...

1 c h a p t e r 8 – social influence & persuasion. social psychology a south African perspective 2nd edition distinguish normative and informational influence. categorise the techniques of social influence in terms of the four basic principles and describe ways of resisting these techniques. explain how a persuasion attempt can be described by “who says what to whom” and identify which factors of each element are most likely to elicit successful persuasion. summarise the two routes to persuasion, applying the concept of the duplex mind to describe the two routes. describe some of the steps you can take to increase your resistance to persuasive attempts to change your attitudes. 8.1 two types of social influence social psychologists distinguish between two major categories of social influence: 1. normative influence. 2. informational influence. being liked and accepted: being correct: normative influence informational influence (def) normative influence – going if you look at a pinpoint of light in a dark room, the along with the crowd in order to be light appears to move, even though it does not liked and accepted. actually move at all. this illusion of movement, caused by very slight movements of the eye, is humans have a fundamental need to called the autokinetic effect. belong to social groups. being accepted and included improves (def) autokinetic effect – illusion, caused by very one’s chances for survival (and slight movements of the eye, that a stationary point improves life in many other ways). of light in a dark room is moving. however, there is a long road to Muzafer Sherif used the autokinetic effect to study acceptance within the group. the formation of group norms. to live together, people usually need (def) group norms – the beliefs or behaviours that to agree on a set of common beliefs, a group of people accepts as normal. values, attitudes, and behaviours that reduce ingroup threats and act these social norms are not temporary, either; they for the common good. can last at least one year. these social norms can also be passed on from one person to another. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  2 therefore, people learn to conform to their group’s rules. the more we the studies conducted by Sherif indicate a second see others behaving in a certain way type of social influence called informational or making particular decisions, the influence. more we feel inclined to follow suit. this happens even when we are in a (def) informational influence – going along with group of complete strangers: we will the crowd because you think the crowd knows go along with the others to avoid more than you do. looking foolish. this involves going along with the crowd because Solomon Asch illustrated the power you think the crowd knows more than you do of normative influence in 1951. (rather than because you want to be liked, as with normative social influence). in his one study, participants went along with the group even when the people get valuable information from others, and group made obvious errors. to be sometimes they rely more on what others think accepted by the group was more than on what their own eyes and ears tell them. important to participants than to be correct even though the other two types of situations increase how likely you are people were strangers. to be affected by informational influence: in his other study, the implication a) ambiguous situations, in which was that people feel considerable people do now know how to behave. pressure to conform to a group if everyone agrees, but if group b) crisis situations, in which people do members disagree about even the not have time to think for themselves. smallest point, then people become willing to stand up for what they in these situations, people conform to what others believe. do because they assume that those other people must know what they are doing. sometimes this when people deviate from group assumption is wrong – others really do not know norms, they may pay a heavy price, more than we do. including social rejection. social rejection can be painful. Asch found in fact, others may assume that we know more than that people would agree with the they do! in some cases, nobody knows anything, group, even when they knew that which is called a state of pluralistic ignorance. the group was wrong, rather than suffer social rejection. (def) pluralistic ignorance – looking to others for cues about how to behave, while they are looking other research has shown that to you, collective misinterpretation. people who deviate from the group do in fact run a heightened risk of pluralistic ignorance occurs when people attempt being rejected. to match a group norm. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  3 there are two different kinds of social influence: normative and informational. a key difference is whether the conforming person comes to believe that others are right (informational) or believes they are wrong but conforms simply to avoid rejection, ridicule, hostility, or other kinds of punishment (normative). informational social influence helps normative social influence may bring about produce private acceptance. mere public compliance. (def) private acceptance – a genuine inner (def) public compliance – outwardly going belief that others are right. along with the group but maintaining a private, inner belief that the group is probably wrong or at least having serious doubts about the group’s decision. example: some people become vegan because they believe it is a healthier lifestyle and better for the planet (private acceptance), whereas others might become vegan because all their friends think it is trendy and cool, even though inwardly they still love to eat meat (public compliance). 8.2 techniques of social influence  a primary purpose of human reasoning is to influence others, such as by arguing. social influence techniques can be organised according to four basic principles: 1) commitment and consistency. 2) reciprocation. 3) scarcity. 4) capturing and disrupting attention. 8.2.1 techniques based on commitment and consistency.  once people make a commitment, they feel pressure (both from inside themselves and from others) to behave consistently with that commitment.  inconsistent behaviour causes a form of psychological discomfort called cognitive dissonance,  the influence techniques in this section exploit that principle: get the person to commit to what you want, and the person is likely to do it.  seemingly trivial commitments can lead to substantial compliance on more important things. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  4 a) foot-in-the-door technique: (def) foot-in-the-door technique – influence technique based on commitment, in which one 222222222222 starts with a small request in order to gain eventual 222222222222222 compliance with a larger request. it is based on the principle that you start with a small request in order to get eventual compliance with a much larger request. the term refers to the way that old-fashioned door-to-door salespeople would try to get “one foot in the door” as a starting point to eventually getting their whole body into the house. the assumption was that the customer won’t slam the door in your face as long as your foot is in the way. complying with small requests seems like no big deal, but it increases the likelihood of complying with larger requests later on. it is easier to comply the second time than the first time. if requests get bigger slowly and gradually, the person may be more willing to comply with each one than if you had initially started with a large request. b) low-ball technique: a second approach that shifts from a smaller request to a larger request is the low-ball technique. (def) low-ball technique – influence technique based on commitment, in which one first gets 22222222222 a person to comply with a seemingly low-cost request and only 2222222222 later reveals hidden additional costs. in this technique, the requester first gets a person to comply with a seemingly low-cost request and only later reveals hidden additional costs. as with the foot-in-the-door technique, it is based on the principle of commitment and consistency. commitments have a tendency to “grow their own legs” – that is, people often add new reasons and justifications to support their initial commitment. c) bait-and-switch technique: car salespeople also use a technique called bait-and-switch. (def) bait-and-switch technique – influence technique based on commitment, in which one 2222222222222 draws people in with an attractive offer that is unavailable 222222222222 and then switches them to a less attractive offer that is 2222222222 available. the car dealership places an ad for a car at a great price, but when you get to the showroom the car is “sold out”. the dealership placed the ad simply to get you into the showroom. once you are there, they can try to sell you another car. you are baited with Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  5 one car (usually a stripped-down model with no options, sold at an unbelievably low price), and then you are switched to another car (usually with all the extras that goes for a much higher price). in some countries this technique is illegal and fraudulent. the bait-and-switch technique is used by businesses other than car sales. example: you may go to a store because they advertised a product you want, but when you get to the store you discover that the product is sold out. since you are already at the store, you decide to go shopping anyway. the ad served its purpose – it got you into the store. the bait-and-switch technique, like the low-ball and foot-in-the-door techniques, is based on the principle of commitment and consistency. it gets people to make a psychological commitment, and then relies on consistency pressures to keep them loyal to this commitment even when the influencer changes the terms. d) labelling technique: the labelling technique is another way to induce compliance. (def) labelling technique – influence technique based on consistency, in which one assigns 111111111111 a label to an individual and then requests a favour that is 222222222 consistent with the label. it involves assigning a label to an individual (“you are such a generous person!”) and then requesting a favour that is consistent with the label. this technique is related to the self-fulfilling prophecy. people tend to live up to the positive labels others give them. research has shown that the labelling technique can persuade both children and adults. the labelling technique is also based on the commitment and consistency principle. whether positive labels are assigned by oneself or by others, people like to live up to them. labelling also uses the importance of self-concepts. how people think about themselves can influence their behaviour. thus, if you want to influence that person’s behaviour, an effective technique is to get the person to think of himself or herself in a manner that will produce the desired result. a person who thinks of herself as helpful will often be more helpful than a person who doesn’t. people also do not want to be labelled as cheap. so, they may find it hard to refuse a very small request. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  6  several influence techniques are based on the principle of commitment and consistency, including the foot-in-the-door technique, the low-ball technique, the bait-and-switch technique, and the labelling technique.  the commitment and consistency principle is a great time saver.  if people had to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each decision, they would soon feel overwhelmed, and they would not be able to function.  it is much easier to make a commitment once and then behave consistently with that commitment.  the power of the commitment and consistency principle comes from the sense of obligation that it creates.  when people freely make commitments, they feel obliged to behave consistently with those commitments.  behaving inconsistently has personal and interpersonal costs.  personally, inconsistency between one’s attitudes and actions can result in cognitive dissonance, which is an unpleasant emotional response.  interpersonally, if your inconsistent behaviours affect others, you may suffer social rejection and ostracism, which don’t feel good either.  however, you should not feel obliged to behave consistently with a commitment that you were tricked into making.  if it is not clear whether you were tricked into making a commitment, ask yourself this question: “knowing what i know now, if i could go back in time, would i make the same commitment?”  another way to resist influence is to make a public commitment to your position.  commitments are much more binding when they are made in public than when they are made in private.  standing up for your convictions in public (like making marriage vows in public) makes you less influenced by what others have to say. 8.2.2 techniques based on reciprocation:  reciprocity – if you take care of me, I will take care of you.  this is one of the foundations of culture.  all cultures understand reciprocity and expect people to obey their norms.  the appreciation of reciprocity is deeply rooted in human nature.  one sign of this is that people feel guilty if someone does them a favour and they cannot repay it in some way.  this feeling is the foundation for some of the best moral behaviour and good treatment of others. unfortunately, it is also something that sneaky people can exploit to influence others. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  7 two influence techniques are based on reciprocation: a) door-in-the-face technique b) that’s-not-all technique. a) door-in-the-face technique an effective way to get people to comply with a request is to start by making an exaggerated request (that will most likely be rejected) and then retreat to a smaller request. the smaller request, the one that was desired all along, is likely to be accepted because it appears to be a concession (a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands) this is called the door-in-the-face technique because the first refusal is like slamming a door in the face of the person making the request. (def) door-in-the-face technique – influence technique based on reciprocity, in which one 222222222 starts with an inflated request and then retreats to a 22222222222 smaller request that appears to be a concession. it is the opposite of the foot-in-the door technique, which starts with a small request in order to get compliance to a larger request. in negotiations between labour and management, both sides often use this tactic. they initially make extreme demands that they do not expect to get. later they retreat to more reasonable demands. although the expression “door in the face” describes the process, the key to compliance is not the initial refusal but rather reciprocity. after the first offer is refused, the salesperson or negotiator makes a more reasonable offer, and people feel obliged to reciprocate this seemingly kind and generous offer by becoming more agreeable themselves. the door-in-the-face technique does not work if the first request is so extreme that it is seen as unreasonable. the door-in-the-face technique also does not work if different people make the first and second requests. this probably reflects the importance of reciprocation. the key to getting someone to agree is to pretend you are doing the person a favour by reducing your request to a much more reasonable level, so the person will feel an obligation to agree to it. if the second offer or request comes from someone different, no sense of reciprocal obligation is created. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  8 b) that’s-not-all technique: the that’s-not-all technique like the door-in-the-face technique, begins with an inflated request. however, before the person can respond, the requester ‘sweetens’ the deal by offering a discount or bonus. (def) that’s-not-all technique – influence technique based on reciprocity, in which one first 222222222 makes an inflated request but, before the person can 2222222222 respond, sweetens the deal by offering a discount or bonus. first, the “regular” price is reduced, and then several additional bonuses are added, such as getting two items for the price of one. people feel most obligated to reciprocate when they believed the seller was making an exception for them personally. the that’s-not-all technique, like the door-in-the-face technique, is based on reciprocal concessions and a sense of personal obligation. when a stranger or interaction partner does something kind for you, you feel an obligation to do something nice or kind in return. a discount or bonus can increase compliance by sweetening the deal. reciprocity is one of the most basic traits of human beings because it goes to the essence of what a cultural animal is. it is in our genes and very deeply embedded in culture to pay back what others do for us and to recognise when other people do – or do not – reciprocate. thus, people can be readily exploited by unscrupulous salespeople who take advantage of their basic human tendency to reciprocate.  the American pastor and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1843–1871) was promoting the value of the principle of reciprocation: people should feel obliged to repay favours and concessions.  if people don’t reciprocate, they feel guilty.  guilt often induces prosocial behaviour.  generally, the principle of reciprocation is beneficial to society.  in South Africa, the principle of ubuntu is often translated as meaning that people are people through other people: we have deep connections to each other.  it suggests that if we are generous or selfless with our time or resources, this will come back to us somehow and at some point in time.  the problem, however, is that some people (those who want to persuade us) give us little and expect a lot in return. how do we defend ourselves against people who use these techniques (door-in-the-face technique and that’s-not-all technique) to manipulate us? Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  9  Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist famous for his studies on influence, recommends that we accept initial favours or concessions in good faith, but that we also be ready to define them as tricks if they prove to be tricks.  once they are defined as tricks (and we learn this through experience), we will no longer feel obliged to reciprocate them with a favour or concession.  the reciprocation rule says that favours are to be repaid with favours.  tricks do not have to be repaid with favours! 8.2.2 techniques based on scarcity:  according to the scarcity principle in economics, rare opportunities and items are more valuable than those that are plentiful.  even everyday items can become valuable when they are scarce.  scarcity is sometimes used as a heuristic cue (a prompt or stimulus that helps people learn something for themselves) in decision making.  we say to ourselves: what is rare is good – this can be referred to as the scarcity heuristic.  one reason why the scarcity principle works is because it takes more effort to obtain rare items than plentiful items.  often, we have to compete with others for scarce opportunities.  perhaps that is why potential lovers and potential employees “play hard to get”.  they want others to think that they are a hot commodity with lots of options.  if you don’t agree to the person’s request, you could lose a valuable partner or employee.  another reason why the scarcity principle works is that people, especially those from individualistic cultures, value their freedom highly.  as opportunities become scarce, we lose our freedom to obtain them.  when our personal freedom is threatened, we experience an unpleasant emotional response called psychological reactance.  this unpleasant emotion motivates us to obtain the scarce opportunity. various influence techniques are based on scarcity: 1. one is the limited-number technique, which says that only a limited number of products will be available. (def) limited-number technique – influence technique based on scarcity, in which one tells 2222222222 people that an item is in short supply. example: in the motor car industry, we often find advertisements for a ‘special edition’ of a specific make of car. it means that this car is scarce and not many of them are around. so if you buy it Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  10 before anyone else, it will have scarcity value and it will be more precious and valuable for yourself. 2. another technique is the fast-approaching-deadline technique, which says that an item or a price is only available for a limited time. (def) fast-approaching-deadline technique – influence technique based on scarcity, in 22222222222 which one tells people an item or a price is 22222222222 only available for a limited time. consider specials at grocery and clothing chain stores. they sell low-priced items for a limited period of time. this often happens in the middle of the month when people have bought most of their groceries and sales are taking a dip. the point of both these techniques is that your chances to buy the product are limited, either by how few of the product there are or by the deadline.  the principle of scarcity generally serves people well.  scarce items are usually regarded as being more valuable than plentiful items.  in the business of influencing people, however, the scarcity principle is often used to convince us that products are scarce and that we should get them now, while we can, even when there may be plenty in stock. how do we defend ourselves against people who use these techniques (the limited-number technique and fast-approaching technique) to influence us?  our natural response to scarcity is to panic.  we want to seize the opportunity before it slips away.  when our freedom is threatened, we experience psychological reactance.  unfortunately, this emotional response to scarcity interferes with our ability to think clearly. Robert Cialdini recommends a two-stage process of resistance: first, we should use the tide of emotional second, we should ask why we want the arousal we feel in response to scarce items item. is it because we are told it is scarce, or as a signal to stop short. is it because of its own merits? we need to calm ourselves so we can think “because it is the last day of a sale” or clearly and rationally. “because it is the last one” is not a good reason for purchasing an item. we should buy something only if we really want it, not because it is scarce. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  11 8.2.3 techniques based on capturing and disrupting attention.  other influence techniques try to capture the attention of the target of influence (shoppers) or try to distract the target of influence.  when influencers (retailers) have strong arguments, they want to attract the attention of targets because they want people to think about the convincing arguments.  when influencers have weak arguments, they want to disrupt the attention of targets, so they won’t think too deeply about the unconvincing arguments. a) pique technique: beggars often approach us at stop signs or traffic lights. they ask us for money or food, sometimes pressing their fingertips together and touching their mouths with their hand, indicating that they are hungry. people who live in large cities have seen these requests so many times that they often just ignore the beggar and drive on. drivers have various refusal scripts in mind the instant they see a beggar, such as closing their windows when they see the person approaching, shaking their heads, lifting their hands in a “no” gesture or giving some kind of a verbal refusal. to be effective, the beggar must disrupt this refusal script and capture (or arouse) the driver’s attention. some beggars try to pique (arouse) the driver’s interest by holding up a clever sign, collecting the rubbish from your car into a bin bag, or juggling balls. sometimes a beggar will give the driver something free, such as a flower or a condom, pushing it through the window and dropping it into the driver’s lap. as the driver ‘accepts’ the gift, the beggar insists on being paid. the pique technique has also been used to influence drivers to slow down in residential areas. the pique technique thus captures the driver’s attention by doing something unusual or novel, in the hope that this will spur the driver to give them some money. (def) pique technique – influence technique in which one captures people’s attention, as by 222222222 making a novel request. b) disrupt-then-reframe: in the disrupt-then-reframe technique, an unexpected element is introduced to provide a momentary disruption. (def) disrupt-then-reframe – influence technique in which one disrupts critical thinking by 2222222 introducing an unexpected element, then reframes the 22222222 message in a positive light. the disruption absorbs critical thinking functions and prevents individuals from processing the persuasive message. the requester then reframes the message in a positive light. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  12 to work, this technique requires both the disruption and the reframing, in that order. distraction prevents people from processing persuasive messages at a deep level. many influence and persuasion techniques are based on the duplex mind. in many cases, persuaders want to influence someone to do something that they would not sensibly do. the deliberate mind is therefore the enemy, and the persuaders seek to neutralise and bypass it by working with the automatic mind. for example, your willingness to buy something ought to be the same regardless of whether its price is r10 or 1 000 cents. but it takes deliberate processing to recognise that those are the same amounts and that your willingness to buy should be the same. the automatic system is more susceptible to such tricks and biases, so persuaders prefer to work with it – and to keep the deliberate mind from getting involved.  the pique technique is based on capturing attention.  it catches people off guard, so they comply without thinking.  so, the antidote is to stop and think before acting.  whether someone asks you for a r5 or for 500 cents should not determine whether you comply.  the disrupt-then-reframe technique is based on disrupting attention.  distraction increases persuasion for weak messages and decreases persuasion for strong messages – however, the key is to eliminate the distraction so you can process the message at a deep level. 8.3 Persuasion  one important form of social influence is persuasion.  a primary purpose of the human brain is to influence others and argue with them in an attempt to persuade them. (def) persuasion – an attempt to change a person’s attitude.  the scientific study of persuasion can be traced back to Carl Hovland, a social psychologist at yale university. he and his colleagues conducted a systematic programme of research that analysed the process and effectiveness of persuasion in terms of “who says what to whom”.  whether persuasion succeeds or fails can be shaped by any and all of these factors: Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  13 the "who" the"‘says what" the "to whom" component is the component is the component is the source of the actual message, audience, the people message, such as a such as the content who hear the person who is of the speech. speech. making a speech.  Aristotle had proposed these same three components of persuasion more than 2 000 years before Hovland was born.  in his work rhetoric, Aristotle specified three components of the persuasive process: the speaker, the subject of the speech and the hearer to whom the speech is addressed. Aristotle also identified three elements necessary to persuade an audience: a) emotional appeal (pathos). b) intellectual appeal (logos). c) charisma (ethos). 8.3.1 who: the source.  perhaps the most important characteristics of the source of a message are credibility and likability. a) source credibility:  the source is the individual who delivers the message.  credibility is ‘the quality or power of inspiring belief’. (def) source – an individual who delivers the message.  however, a source may inspire belief (be credible) in some situations but not others.  for example, an actor like Brad Pitt is a credible source for acting, but he is not a credible source on China or Tibet. example: participants read one speech promoting the development of atomic submarines. participants reported their opinions about the topics in the speeches before, immediately after, and a month after reading the speeches. the results showed that immediately after reading the speech, highly credible sources produced more opinion change than did less credible sources. a month later, however, opinions in favour of the less credible source increased and opinions in favour of the highly credible source decreased. so, in the long run, the overall amount of opinion change was about the same for the two sources.  Hovland and Weiss called this the sleeper effect. (def) sleeper effect – the finding that, over time, people separate the message from the 22222222222 messenger. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  14  over time, people separated the message from the messenger.  if they remembered the speech, they forgot who gave it.  subsequent research has shown that the sleeper effect is a very reliable effect. Hovland identified two characteristics: 1. expertise – which is how much the source knows. 2. trustworthiness – which is whether the source will honestly tell you what they know. experts can influence us because we assume they know what they are talking about. but experts cannot be persuasive unless we also trust them. experts and professionals may be more highly trusted as they are probably seen to possess expertise. powerful speakers are assumed to be credible sources. powerless speech, such as speech containing disclaimers (I’m not an expert, but …”), detracts from the speaker’s credibility and therefore is less successful at exerting influence. other factors make a speaker more or less credible. one such factor is how fast the speaker talks. b) source likeability:  we are also persuaded by sources we like.  two important factors that influence whether we like someone are: 1. similarity and 2. physical attractiveness. in a study that examined source similarity, students at the university of California, read a speech promoting the use of standardised test scores in university admissions. strong arguments were persuasive when the delegate who wrote the speech was a fellow student at the university of California, but not when the delegate was a student from a different university (the university of new Hampshire). weak arguments were not persuasive regardless of who wrote the speech. so, overall, the similar source was more persuasive than the dissimilar source. physical attractiveness produces a positive reaction from other people. we assume that attractive people also possess many other desirable traits – including characteristics that can influence how persuasive a person is, such as intelligence. in paintings a halo is the circle of light drawn above a person’s head to indicate their holiness; angels are generally shown with haloes, and this reaction is called the halo effect. (def) halo effect – the assumption that because people have one desirable trait 22222222222222 (attractiveness), they also possess many other desirable traits 2222222222222 (intelligence) Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  15 for example, attractive political candidates are more effective at persuading people to vote for them than are unattractive candidates, even though many voters deny the impact of attractiveness on electability. 8.3.2 says what: the message. messages can vary on several dimensions: a) reason versus emotion: there are two approaches in presenting a persuasive message: 1. one can present the cold, hard facts. 2. one can appeal to emotions.  well-educated and analytical people are more responsive to arguments based on logic and reason. however, emotional responses can also be very effective.  research has shown that people who are in a good mood are more receptive to persuasive messages than other people.  using humour is one way to put an audience in a good mood.  humour can also make the source more likable.  on the downside, people may remember that a message was funny but forget what the message was about.  fear is another emotional approach.  do scare tactics work to persuade people?  Carl Hovland based his persuasion research on learning theory, which focuses on the link between the stimulus and the response.  Hovland predicted that a frightening message (the stimulus) would increase arousal, attention, and comprehension of the message, which would result in attitude change (the response).  attitude change, in turn, should function as a reinforcement because it reduces the fear.  fear appeal and attitude change may have an inverted (upside-down) u-shaped relationship. (def) inverted (upside-down) u-shaped relationship – a relationship that looks like an 2222222 upside-down u when plotted.  attitude change is lowest for no fear and extremely high fear appeals, with the most attitude change occurring for moderate fear appeals.  subsequent research has shown that fear appeals are persuasive if they do not paralyse the audience with fear, if the audience is susceptible to the danger, and if the audience is told how to avoid the danger. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  16 fear appeal and attitude change: the inverted (upside-down) u- shaped relationship.  the inverted u-shaped relationship demonstrates that increasing arousal through fear will promote attitude change just up to the middle of the curve.  after that the arousal will become too intense and not result in attitude change.  think of exam stress. after a certain point you feel too stressed, and your performance begins to suffer. at the extreme you get a blank.  advertisers even want to frighten us into buying their products.  for example, who to get caught with bad breath, dandruff, or stinky armpits?  fear appeals can indeed be persuasive, as long as people don’t become too afraid.  other approaches might also be more effective than fear appeals, such as promoting efficacy (“I can do it!”). b) one-sided versus two-sided messages:  another factor in persuasion is how a message is conveyed.  that is, does the presenter offer only one side of the argument, or are both sides given? one-sided versus two-sided messages can be found in political campaigns. one-sided messages are more effective when audience members are less educated or have already made up their minds on the issue.  should a political candidate talk only about his or her own strengths, or also about the opponent’s weaknesses?  in politics, negative campaigning is defined as trying to depict one’s opponent as bad – instead of focusing on what is good about one’s own candidate, a negative advertisement talks mainly about the other side and tries to turn voters against him or her.  polls indicate that many voters disapprove of negative campaigning, and many candidates say they will refrain from criticising their opponents.  nonetheless, one has only to watch television in the later stages of almost any major campaign to see negative advertisements. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  17  in south african politics, negative campaigning characterises many of the interactions between the ANC and the opposition parties, mainly the da and the eff. why are negative political adverts so common? does it work?  in many cases, negative campaigning involves trade-offs.  one cost is that negative campaigning tends to produce lower evaluations of both candidates.  in several laboratory studies, participants read campaign adverts that were either positive or negative. when both sides used negative adverts, the participants perceived both candidates more negatively.  negative adverts also made participants less likely to say they would vote, at least if voting was difficult (because of bad weather).  negative campaigning may be most effective as a desperation measure by a candidate who seems to have little chance and is willing to try anything to improve support.  negative campaigning does not win very many votes, but perhaps that is not its goal – instead, the goal is to reduce the other side’s votes.  if voters for the other side stay home while one’s own supporters are fanatical enough to vote despite an ugly, negative campaign, it might still work. c) overheard messages:  other research has shown that if people think they are overhearing a message, they are more persuaded than if they see it as a sales pitch aimed directly at them.  people are more persuaded by messages that do not seem to be designed to influence them.  advertisers sometimes use this “overheard communicator trick” to persuade consumers.  research has shown that advertisements with omitted conclusions are more persuasive than advertisements with conclusions.  consumers appear to be more strongly influenced by the advertised message if they draw the conclusion on their own.  because it is so easy to skip advertisements on television today, advertisers sometimes use product placement directly in television shows or movies.  one reason product placements work so well is that people don’t realise that advertisers are trying to influence them, so they let down their guard.  product placement occurs in most forms of media, including video games.  for example, product placement is very prominent in racing video games. players recall the products placed immediately after the game and also months later.  ”overhear” messages can be quite persuasive. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY  18 people from individualistic cultures are people from collectivistic cultures are more influenced by person-focused ads. more influenced by group-focused ads. d) repetition:  persuasive messages, such as advertisements, are often shown repeatedly. does this help or hurt the message?  remember that the mere exposure effect is the tendency for new stimuli to be liked more after the individual has been exposed to them repeatedly.  accumulated research confirms that repeated exposure to adverts does influence memory for adverts.  the initial attitude toward the product makes a difference.  if the person has a neutral or positive response to the message initially, then repeated exposure can make the message more persuasive; if the person hates the message right from the start, hearing it again and again will only make things worse.  even if audience members initially like the message, they don’t want to hear it too many times, or advertisement wear-out might occur. (def) advertisement wear-out – defined as a condition of inattention and possible irritation 222222222222 that occurs after an audience or target market has 22222222222 encountered a specific advertisement too many times.  it is possible that the advertising industry over-states the danger of wear-out, because the greater the perceived danger of wear-out, the faster companies buy new ad campaigns, and the more money advertisers make.  advertisers have to influence their clients as well as the people who watch their ads.  one good way to prevent advertisement wear-out is to use repetition with variation – repeat the same information, but in a varied format.  the same idea of repetition applies to the home.  parents may repeat themselves as they keep reminding children of a task they need to do, such as tidying up or completing homework.  the more this happens, and after a certain point, the child starts to ignore the nagging of the parents and pretends not to hear.  so, when is repetition (as a parent) enough and when does it get too much?  maybe parents need to follow the advertiser’s lead, and use repetition with variation. Jenna Minnaar SLK 220 CHAPTER 8 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY