Download The Power to Persuade

The Power to
Persuade
BPOC
Fall, 2012
Marilyn Shaw, Instructor
•What is
Persuasion?
•Is Persuasion
good or bad?
Why or Why not?
Defined
• Persuasion is communication intended to
influence choice.
• To persuade is to limit the options that are
perceived as acceptable
• There is no force or trickery in persuasion
Four Theories to Persuasion
Information-Integration Theory
• Basic Approach
– The way people accumulate and organize information
(about a situation, event, person, or object) can result in
change). Attitude s are affected by the valence (+, -) of
information received.
• Respected Theorist
– Martin Fishbein(1975)—A person’s intention to change behavior is
determined by; their attitude toward the behavior times the strength
(weight) of that attitude plus beliefs about what others think they
should do times the strength of these other options.
Consistency Theories
• Basic Approach—because people prefer
consistency and balance and feel threatened by
inconsistency , attitude change can occur when
information creates inconsistency.
• Theorists—Festinger( 1957), theory of cognitive
dissonance. Dissonance (inconsistency) creates
stress and tension in people, which causes the to
(1) seek to reduce the dissonance (2) avoid other
dissonance-creating situations
Elaboration-Likelihood Theory
• Basic Approach—elaboration likelihood involves the
probability that listeners will evaluate arguments
critically (Littlejohn 2002)
• Theorists—Richard Petty and John Cacioppi (1986)
When evaluating arguments, people either use the
central route (elaborate carefully and critically) or
the peripheral route (decide quickly using little
critical thinking). For motivated and able people,
elaboration leads to attitudes that are resistant to
change.
Social Judgment Theory
• Basic approach—People use internal anchors (past experiences) as
reference points when making judgments about messages (Littlejohn,
2002, pp130-132). Anchors are more likely to influence
• Theorist—Sherif, 1965). A person’s ego involvement determines
messages that are acceptable (latitude of acceptance), totally
unacceptable (latitude of rejection) or merely tolerable (latitude of
noncommitment). The larger a person’s latitude of rejection, the more
difficult to persuade. Attitude changes result when people perceive that
an argument fits within their latitude or acceptance. When and argument
falls into their latitude of rejection, a boomerang effect may occur—the
original attitude may be strengthened rather than changed.
The Psychology of Persuasion
• Everyday we are confronted by persuasion. Food
makers want us to by their newest product, movies
want us to see the latest release, etc.
• The goal of persuasion is to convince the target
audience to internalize the persuasive argument
and adopt the new attitude as part of their core
belief.
A few highly effective techniques
• Create a need
• Appeal to social needs
• Use loaded words and images
Proposal Structures
• Problem solution
• Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
– Attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action
• N-A-R
– Narrative, argument, refutation
• Balance Structure
– Address competing solutions and explain why your
solution is superior
Why do people say yes? Patricia Fripp
and David Palmer
• Reciprocation—”the old give and take—and
take.”
• Commitment and consistency—”hobgoblins
of the Mind.”
• Social Proof—”Truths Are Us”
• Liking—”The Friendly Thief”
• Authority—”Directed Deference”
• Scarcity—”The Rule of the Few”
Six Stories You Need to Know How to
Tell—Annette Simmons
• Who am I Stories
• Why I Am Here Stories
• My Vision Stories
• Teaching Stories
• Values in Action Stories
• “I Know What You’re Thinking Stories