Download Persuasion, Attitude and Change

Persuasion, Attitude and
Change
Persuasion and
attitude change
Attitudes and
decision making
Effectiveness
of Television
Persuasion and Attitude Change
• Schwerin & Newell (1981)
• Behavioural change cannot occur without
attitude change
• Behavioural change is when you change
your lifestyle (ie. Healthier living) or
change your habits (ie. What you buy)
Persuasion and Attitude Change
• Changing attitudes = changing behaviour
• Psychologists look at the SCIENCE OF
PERSUASION
THE
HOVLAND-YALE
MODEL
ELABORATION
-LIKELIHOOD
THE HOVLAND-YALE MODEL
• Hovland worked for the US war dept. He had to find
ways to persuade Americans to support the final stages
of WWII.
• At Yale he studied the nature of persuasive
communication.
•
•
•
•
Achieved by focusing on who says what to whom
Communicator
Message
Audience
Major Findings
SOURCE
FACTORS
Experts
Popular/attractive
MESSAGE
FACTORS
Persuasive message is not
apparent
Level of FEAR
AUDIENCE
FACTORS
Low and High intelligence
Both sides of the argument
Methodological Problems
• What problems are there with the
Hovland-Yale approach?
ELABORATION-LIKELIHOOD
• Petty & Cacioppo (1981)
• Two different routes to persuasive
communication
• A) Focus on message
• B) Focus on other factors (how
attractive/creditable the source appears to
be)
Petty & Cacioppo (1981)
• CENTRAL ROUTE
• Focus on arguments
– which are of
personal interest to
them
• PERIPHERAL
ROUTE
• Focus on the context
of the message more
than the message
itself
Petty & Cacioppo (1981)
• CENTRAL ROUTE
• PERIPHERAL ROUTE
• Audience motivated
to think about the
message
• Focus on quality of
arguments
• Lasting attitude
change
• Audience not motivated
to think about the
message
• Focus on peripheral
factors
• Temporary attitude
change
ELABORATION-LIKELIHOOD
• AO2…………
• Need for cognition
• Real-life applications
• Support for central route processing