Week 7 - Persuasion & Indoctrination PDF

2023-10-19 PSYC 1400 WEEK 7: PERSUASION PT 2, INDOCTRINATION 1 Audience Cognition & Persuasion Petty & Cacioppo (1986): Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of Persuasion  Argue that there are two main routes to persuasion: Central Route & Peripheral Route 2 1 2023-10-19 2 Routes: Elaborati...

2023-10-19 PSYC 1400 WEEK 7: PERSUASION PT 2, INDOCTRINATION 1 Audience Cognition & Persuasion Petty & Cacioppo (1986): Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of Persuasion  Argue that there are two main routes to persuasion: Central Route & Peripheral Route 2 1 2023-10-19 2 Routes: Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion  Central route to persuasion  Individuals thoughts  Must  focus on the arguments and respond with favourable be both motivated and able to process persuasive message Peripheral route to persuasion are influenced by incidental cues, such as the speaker’s attractiveness  Individuals 3 Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo) Persuasive Message Message Important Message Unimportant Central Route: Systematic processing of the message Peripheral Route: Heuristic processing of the message Persuasion depends on strength of arguments Persuasion depends on presence of peripheral cues (e.g., expertise, Attractiveness) 4 2 2023-10-19 Factors Affecting Elaboration  What determines whether or not people will pay attention to a persuasive message?  Fatigue: If the listener is tired, they’re less likely to process deeply (peripheral route)  Motivation: If the listener is highly motivated, they’re more likely to process deeply (central route)  Personality: Analytical people prefer central route  Mood states: Happiness leads to superficial processing (peripheral route); sadness leads to deep processing (central route) 5 Relying on Peripheral Cues  When people are not motivated or able to deeply process arguments, they look for cues in the environment to help them make a decision  Possible cues:  Length of the argument  Expertise of the person making the argument  Emotional tone of the argument 6 3 2023-10-19 Typical Persuasion Study Comprehensive final exams research:  Students read arguments in favour of instituting final comprehensive examinations at their school  Experimental manipulations: Motivation Argument Strength Expertise of Person who Wrote the Argument 7 Persuasion Research: 3 Independent Variables    Motivation: High vs Low  Exams will start next year (high motivation)  Exams will start in 5 years (low motivation) Arguments: Strong vs Weak  Graduates who write comps earn more (strong)  The university president favors comps (weak) Expertise: (High vs low)  A leading expert in implementing comps at universities (expert)  A fellow student doing research on comprehensive exams (nonexpert) 8 4 2023-10-19 Results High Motivation Low Motivation 6 Expert 5 Nonexpert Attitudes Toward Exams Attitudes Toward Exams 6 4 3 2 1 0 Expert Nonexpert 5 4 3 2 1 0 STRONG WEAK STRONG Argument Strength WEAK Argument Strength 9 Peripheral Cues in Advertising: Using Emotions Humour  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do M6IhfY8No  In fact, pick pretty much ANY page that compiles the best Superbowl commercials to find examples…  “Sadvertising”  https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=WK5NYCekCVM&mod=article_ inline  “The Waiter’s Mom” – classic example of sadvertising  Q: What about using fear in advertising? 10 5 2023-10-19 Fear Appeals  Advertisements that use the emotion of fear to provoke a response  https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AtFu/novartis-flood  Why would advertisers want to invoke fear? 11 Q: Do Fear Appeals Work?  A: Yes and No  Fear appeals grab attention  Negative emotion signals need for deep processing  Problem: fear alone won’t work – you need to provide a way to decrease that fear in your appeal 12 6 2023-10-19 Q: Does Subliminal Advertising Work?  A: Not really  Presenting messaging subliminally is no more effective than regular advertising 13 Persuasion Assignment: Part 1  Answer the following questions, in groups, then write your responses on your handout  What makes an ad effective?  Should the type of advertisement be tailored to the type of product?  When should you use humour?  When should you present facts?  When should you use a celebrity endorser? 14 7 2023-10-19 Persuasion Assignment: Part 2  Find one example of an ad that uses central route processing of the ad’s message  Provide a link to the ad, briefly describe the ad in your own words, and explain why you think the ad is using the central route  Find one example of an ad that uses peripheral route processing  Provide a link to the ad, briefly describe the ad in your own words, and explain why you think the ad is using the peripheral route  Then, discuss whether or not you think the ads are effective in the sense that the type of processing is suited to the purpose of the ad. Why/why not? 15 Indoctrination & Inoculation 16 8 2023-10-19 Cults and Indoctrination Tactics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB-dJaCXAxA (link posted in Week 6 folder to watch after class) Indoctrination: A process to teach members a partisan and uncritical acceptance of the group’s perspective on issues • In recent decades, cults/new religious movements have gained popularity 17 Cults: Persuasive Elements  The communicator  Successful cults have a charismatic leader  What is a charismatic leader? 18 9 2023-10-19 Cult Leaders 19 Cults: Persuasive Elements in the Messaging  The message  Vivid,  emotional messages can be appealing What kinds of messages do cults tend to give to their members? 20 10 2023-10-19 Cults: Target Audience  The audience  Recruits are often young or at a turning point in their lives  Most are educated  Often feel alienated from society 21 Indoctrination: Attitudes Follow Behaviour  How indoctrination works:  Compliance breeds acceptance  The greater the personal commitment, the more the need to justify it  The foot-in-the-door phenomenon  Once followers buy into the group in a small way, they commit to learn more  Commitment & consistency: people must show public commitment to others in the group 22 11 2023-10-19 Cults: Effects of Group Influence • Like all groups, a cult has the power to shape members’ views and behaviour • Cults separate members from previous social networks, family, friends • Individuals become more susceptible to poor/weak arguments 23 Resisting Social Influence REACTANCE; ATTITUDE INOCULATION 24 12 2023-10-19 How We Resist Social Pressure  Attitude Strength  Direct experience  Personal importance  Certainty 25 How We Resist Social Pressure: Asserting Our Uniqueness  Asserting Uniqueness  People feel better when they see themselves as moderately unique  Individuals act in ways that assert their individuality  We are conscious of what makes us different in society (e.g., being tall, having an unusual hairstyle, dressing uniquely, etc.) 26 13 2023-10-19 How We Resist Social Pressure: Reactance Reactance: A motive to protect or restore one’s sense of freedom Usually occurs when someone threatens our freedom of action • “Hard sell” approach • “Boomerang effect” 27 How We Resist Social Pressure: Avoidance of Messages  Avoidance through selective processing of information:  Information Processing Biases  Selective exposure  Selective attention  Selective perception  Selective judgment  Selective memory  Confirmation bias 28 14 2023-10-19 Resisting Persuasion  Biased Assimilation  Opposing views are devalued  Hostile  media phenomenon (sports reporting) Forewarning of persuasive intent:  People form counterarguments  Attitude inoculation 29 Attitude Inoculation •Attitude inoculation: Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations (counterarguments) available • How does it work? • Stimulates commitment • Challenges beliefs • Allows people to develop counterarguments 30 15 2023-10-19 Attitude Inoculation in Action Inoculating children against peer pressure to smoke   Inoculated  children half as likely to start smoking Inoculating children against the influence of advertising  The American Psychological Association has released guidelines about television and youth  In Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijcoS8qHIE  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R_tOSRynZU 31 Conclusions  Persuasion attempts must consider message, communicator, and audience factors  Ineffective persuasion is often counterproductive  Be an active listener and a critical thinker to avoid persuasion  Creating counterarguments leads to resistance to persuasion attempts 32 16