What Constitutes Persuasion Notes PDF

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What Constitutes Persuasion? +What Constitutes Persuasion? 1) Pure versus borderline Cases of Persuasion ● Pure persuasion: clearcut cases of persuasion (examples include presidential debate, television commercials, or an attorney’s closing remarks to a jury) ○ These would be considered “paradigm cases” bc they are at the core of what we think of when we envision persuasion at work ● Borderline cases of persuasion: less clear-cut, more “iffy” ○ As the shading in the model suggests, the dividing line between pure and borderline persuasion is fuzzy, rather than distinct ● There is no single, correct definition of persuasion ○ There are certain functionalities that a contemporary definition of persuasion should have ○ A contemporary definition should take into account the rich complex of verbal, nonverbal, and contextual cues found in interpersonal encounters ■ There also needs to be an acknowledgement of many subtle, implicit cues that accompany face-to-face influence attempts 2) Limiting Criteria for Defining Persuasion ○ A second consideration in defining persuasion involves the limiting criteria that form the basis for a given definition ○ There are five basic criteria that can be gleaned from the various definitions offered in literature ○ Intentionality ■ Is persuasion necessarily conscious or purposeful? ● Many who write about persuasion adopt a source-centred view by focusing on the sender’s intent as a defining feature of persuasion ● Perloff (2013) “persuasion does involve a deliberate attempt to influence another person. Persuaders must intend to change another individual’s attitude or behavior and must be aware (at least at some level) that they are trying to accomplish this ■ Is there such a thing as “accidental” persuasion? ● Parents quite commonly instill beliefs, impart values, and model behavior for their children, known as “social modeling” (Bandura, 1977) ○ Parents don’t realize how much of what they say and do is absorbed by their young-uns ○ Many lessons taught by parents are completely unintended ● Socialization processes are another form of unintentional influence ○ From the moment children are born, they are socialized into their respective gender roles, cultural customs, religious practices, and socioeconomic habits ○ Some are mindful, many are not

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An intent criterion is problematic because people do not always know what specific outcome they are seeking ● Face-to-face encounters are influenced by spontaneity ● Sometimes persuasion just happens A third problem with relying on an intent criterion involves situations in which there are unintended receivers ● “Unintended receiver effect” third party is effected/persuaded ● “That’s not what I intended.” There is difficulty in ascertaining another’s intent ● There can be a difference between a persuader’s stated intent versus his or her actual intent (“I never wanted to hurt you”) The linear view of persuasion ignores opportunities for mutual influence

■ Effects ■ Has persuasion taken place if no one is actually persuaded? ■ Some authors adopt a receiver-oriented definition of persuasion by restricting its use to situations in which receivers are somehow changed, altered, or affected. ● “I persuaded him” is to imply a successful attempt to influence ● A person can be engaged in persuasion even if it is ineffective persuasion (same as a salesperson trying to sell or a dancer dancing poorly with their partners) ■ An effect criterion emphasizes persuasion as a product rather than a process ● Scholars and researchers are more likely to gain insights into how persuasion functions bc they are focusing on what’s going on, not simply on how things turn out ■ An affection criterion embodies a linear view of persuasion, from source to receiver ● In face-to-face interactions, there isn’t simply a source and a receiver, both parties might be simultaneously engaged in persuasion ○ They shape, adapt, and adjust their strategies in response to one another ■ It is impossible to measure persuasive effects ● Rotzoll and Haefner (1996) concluded that only 20 to 40 percent of advertising is effective, the other 60 to 80 percent is also persuasion (just ineffective persuasion) ● What constitutes successful persuasion? ■ Pure cases of persuasion can usually be evaluated by their overall effectiveness ■ What is achieved isn’t always what is intended, and what is intended isn’t always what is achieved Free will and conscious awareness

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View that there is a distinction between persuasion and coercion Receiver based view but it focuses on whether a person is aware that she or he is being persuaded and how much freedom the person has to accept or reject the message ● This suggests that persuasion is noncoercive ■ If a person is unaware that influence attempt is taking place, they cannot consciously resist it ● Mindfulness is a prerequisite for free choice ■ Persuasion can and does occur without the conscious awareness of receivers ● Ackerman, Nocera, and Bargh (2010) found that applications attached to heaver clipboards were rater higher overall ■ Many influence attempts succeed precisely because they operate at a low level of awareness ● How to be successful with small talk ■ Most influence attempts we encounter in daily life include both persuasive and coercive elements ● Example: a friend asking for $20 and we say “no” there may be relational consequences for declining ■ The issue isn’t so much whether a situation is persuasive or coercive as how persuasive or coercive the situation is Symbolic Action ■ Persuasion begins and ends with symbolic expression ■ Authors who limit the scope of persuasion to symbolic action fear that without such a limitation, all human behavior could be construed as persuasion ● A definition that limits persuasion to words and clearly codified symbols leaves out too much ■ The most intriguing aspects of persuasion can be found in nonverbal behavior, which lies on the edge of symbolic action ● Research shows that physical attributes influence judgments of source credibility (Chaiken, 1979) ■ There are situations where pure behavior is persuasive ● Basketball player making a head fake, persuading the defender to go the wrong way, the fake is all behavior but the player has to sell the fake in order to persuade the defender to “bite” ■ The study of persuasion exclusively to symbolic expression leads to a fragmented understanding of the subject because there are more factors involved outside of language usage and symbol usage Interpersonal Versus Intrapersonal ■ Does persuasion only involve one person or does it require the participation of two or more distinct persons? ■ Does it take two to tango? ■ Self-persuasion is quite common

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People talk themselves into whatever they wish to do The “two or more” perspective is valid with pure cases of persuasion because of the image of one person persuading another ■ When we include borderline cases, we imagine instances in which individuals sometimes try to convince themselves 3) A model of the Scope of Persuasion ● An enhanced model that encompasses both pure and borderline cases of persuasion ● Inner circle represents pure persuasion ● Outer circle represents borderline persuasion ● Superimposed on top of these two circles are five wedges, each representing one of the five limiting criteria previously discussed ● The inner portion of each wedge represents the pure case of that criterion, the outer portion represents the borderline case ● Remember the shading between the inner and outer circles reflects the fuzzy dividing line that exists between pure and borderline persuasion ● Different definitions feature different wedges of the inner and outer circles ● All definitions of persuasion are linguistic constructs (they exist in the world of worlds) ● Whether a given situation involves persuasion is not a matter of fact but of judgment ● We must look at both the inner and outer rings to fully understand the phenomenon of persuasion 4) The Context for Persuasion ● The context in which persuasion occurs is crucial because it is the context that determines the nature of the communication process ○ Face to face tends to be a mutual, two-way process ○ Advertising tends to be more linear, from the advertiser to the consumer ● The context is not only the number of communicators present but how synchronous or asynchronous communication is ○ Synchronous refers to the simultaneous sending and receiving of messages ○ Asynchronous refers to a back-and-forth process that involves some delay ● The ratio of verbal to nonverbal cues is another contextual factor ○ The ratio available in any persuasive situation imposes particular constraints on the persuasion process ● Another contextual factor is the nature and type of media used in the persuasion process ○ Each medium imposes its own constraints on the persuasion process ● Another contextual factor involves the goals of the participants ○ Three types of goals, self-presentational goals, relational goals, and instrumental goals ○ Identity management

○ What people want out of their relationships ○ Compliance gaining ● Sociocultural factors ○ People from different cultures or subcultures may persuade and be persuaded in different ways ○ Different cultural traditions can dramatically affect what is expected or accepted in the way of influence attempts ● All these contextual factors are operating at once in a given persuasive situation ● Each factor constrains the process of persuasion in one way or another 5) A working definition of persuasion ● “Persuasion involves one or more persons who are engaged in the activity of creating, reinforcing, modifying, or extinguishing beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, and/or behaviors within the constraints of a given communication context” ○ This definition encompasses the full scope of persuasion, both pure and borderline cases ○ It also emphasizes persuasion as an activity or a process (it is something people do) ○ This definition encompasses the nation that in face-to-face encounters, persuasion is a two-way street ○ Stress that persuasion doesn’t involve simply changing one’s own or another’s mind ○ The latter approach is exemplified by Alcoholics Anonymous’s position that alcoholics must abandon the belief that other people are responsible, or circumstances are to blame, for their dependency ● The figure shows the process of persuasion and its given contexts and how persuasion is used in different areas of communication 6) So what isn’t persuasion? ● Ingredients for persuasion can be found in most communication transactions ● The degree to which these persuasive ingredients are present is what matters ● Not everything humans do is persuasive unless the given context allows it 7) Dual Processes of Persuasion (Chaiken & Trope, 1999) ○ How persuasive messages are perceived and processed ○ The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion ■ Two basic routes to persuasion that operate in tandem ● The central route (central process) involves cognitive elaboration ● This means thinking about the content of a message, reflecting on the ideas and information contained in it, and scrutinizing the evidence and reasoning presented ● The peripheral route (peripheral processing) involves focusing on cues that aren’t directly related to the substance of a message ● Focusing on a nonverbal cue as a basis for decision making ● The two routes represent the ends of an elaboration continuum ● On one end, a person engages in no or low elaboration and on the

other end, a person engages in high elaboration The idea of parallel processing allows a person to use both routes at once ● A person may use both routes, but one route will always have more influence than the other one ● The person’s ability to process information determines which model they use ○ The heuristic systematic model of persuasion ■ Two different modes of information processing ■ Systematic processing (more thoughtful and deliberate) ● Similar to central processing ■ Heuristic processing (relies on mental shortcuts) ● Similar to peripheral processing ■ Based on the application of decision rules or heuristic cues that help simplify the thought process ■ Simultaneous processing: messages travel the heuristic and systematic routes concurrently ■ Motivation and ability are two primary determinants of the extent to which processing will be used ■ There is limited empirical evidence of simultaneous processing in laboratory studies of persuasion ■ Sufficiency principle: people strive to know as much as they need to when making decisions, but no more or less ● People want to devote time and attention to issues without spending all their time and mental energy worrying about every little thing ● People create the best “fit” for the issue at hand 8) The unimodel of persuasion (Kruglanski & Thompson 1999) ● Single route to persuasion ● The alleged differences in processing based on the ELM and HSM merely reflect differences in the messages themselves ● Longer more complex messages require more thought, while shorter, simpler messages require less thought ● There are cases in which persuasive messages are processed in fundamentally different ways 9) Today we cover persuasion in its various forms to be able to better identify different types of persuasion in our everyday lives. It is important to be aware of what is persuading oneself in order to make the best decision for themselves. ●...