Persuasion and Communication: Understanding Persuasive Techniques and Theories - Prof. Fel, Study notes of Communication

Download Persuasion and Communication: Understanding Persuasive Techniques and Theories - Prof. Fel and more Study notes Communication in PDF only on Docsity! 23/02/2011 21:41:00 ← MC2525 REVIEW SHEET FOR EXAM #1: FEBRUARY 23- 25 WINDOW ← ← Exam Format : Computer-based Test, 50 Multiple-choice and True/False Questions ← Materials to be drawn from: ← Lecture content from 1/18-2/22 ← Pratkanis & Aronson: Chapters 1-7, 9, 12-15, 19-23, 33 ← Borchers #1 and #2 Readings, The Persuaders video ← ← For the following terms, (1) know the definition, (2) understand the significance, and/or (3) be familiar with EXAMPLES from the readings and the lectures: ← ← Persuasion vs. Coercion  Persuasion  vs. Coercion ← - The coproduction of meaning that results when an individual or a group of individuals uses language strategies and/or visual images to make audiences identify with that individual or group ← ← - Can be either positive or negative ← ← - Manipulation ← ← - needs to be ethical ← ← - Necessary ← ← - has choice! ← ← - ex: Retail-using coupons to get us to spend money. ← commercials=persuasion ← ← - The use of force to compel an ← audience member to ← do what a persuader desires ← ← - Denies audience members ← the right to fully identify with them ← ← - no choice, not voluntary ← ← - does not require trust ← ← - ex: · A car-salesman gets someone to buy a car from him by telling the buyer that the car is in "excellent working order", when the salesman knows that the car is really in very poor condition. (Type of coercion: fraud.) ← · A parent forces a child to do something by beating the child or threatening to do so. ← - Many governments govern through coercion: killed for not doing what government says to do. ← ← ← Linear model of communication  Source Message Channel  Receiver  “pigeon message” piece of paper tied to pigeon o message: piece of paper o channel: pigeon o receiver: prince to save you  this model is limited; o assumes passive receiver o assumes uniderctional communication  there is no feedback; all the arrows are going one way o assumes type of channel doesn’t matter (media/medium)  when the receiver gets the message: that the message will be interpreted (understand)  ex: your message: your going to break up with someone.  What channel are you going to pick?.. facebook (no) text (no).. face to face o it doesn’t actually capture all of communication; too mechanical o B. Weaknesses of this Model  This model (THE LINEARY MODEL) has some problems and limitations.  There is a lack of feedback. It is very linear, but the receiver never gets to talk back. It doesn’t have some of the gatekeepers that are often involved in the process, like media. We don’t know because there are others players involved here.  Another problem is the idea of transmission, this notion of communication being just sending messages. It is assuming that when the receiver gets the note that the receiver will obviously understand the message. That is normally not the case, there is often miscommunication. Interpretation is limited.  The last weakness is that we don’t get a sense of how much the channel really matters. Depending on which channel you use you can have effective or ineffective persuasion. Ex: break up with someone, message, but somehow there is a difference between a face to face breakup and an e-mail breakup. Thank You notes, seemingly an archaic measure, it is much more personalized. This model has some limitations. To improve on this model, in chapter 1 there is a definition of persuasion that tells us that it is much more complicated. ←  ex: Super bowl ad: Pepsi Twist Advertisement: Pepsi is the persuader, the audience is the super bowl watchers, message: drink Pepsi twist, medium: TV.  What sort of co-production of meaning is necessary for this ad to work?  You need to know who the Osborne’s are as well as the Ozzman’s. You need to know who Florence Henderson is (Mrs. Brady). You have a lot of cultural references you need to know to get this ad. That is where the co-production of meaning is! You need to know that there is a reality show. It get’s your attention through humor and irony. This ad worked really well, it had a 150% higher recall than all the other Super bowl ads.  Identification o Forming relationships: Either changing views OR reinforcing them o Not always changing but forming a relationship so you can move that person wherever you want them to be  A lot of PR money that’s get put in to “loyal customers”  Much of advertising and PR is meant to reinforce what you already think about certain brands, products, companies. (i-pod commercial, still enjoy seeing i-pod ads because of identification you are asked to reinforce your i-pod decision) o Effective persuasion has a goal of identification with the audience. IF there is no relationship established, persuasion will not occur. o Persuasion isn’t used to just alter attitudes, it is often used to strengthen them.  Strategies of Identification o Forming relationships: either changing views OR reinforcing them; - when you laugh b/c it's funny, you'll remember it o Obvious and direct :  This strategy says “I am one of you.” Talk in his or her language.  President Bush is known for this strategy. Knowing the language of many Americans, his speeches and responses were simplistic. “I’m an ordinary guy.” His communication style was very distinctive and very purposeful.  Example: Bill Clinton as a speaker (targeted the Baby Boomers); George Bush (simple, plain words that are easily understandable  Mike Huckabee/Chuck Norris commercial. Ordinary people know Chuck Norris, using humor and a particular celebrity to say that he gets the average man and understands average humor. o Creating Antithesis ; “Us” vs. “Them”  Creating an us vs. them.  persuader tries to unite the audience with themselves  You are creating a mutual enemy which creates a connection with your audience. You are setting yourself into a separate group. The whole point is to create an us vs. them. This is typical in sports, think LSU vs. Alabama, cheerleaders are there to create antithesis, us vs. them. Another way you see this played out is in commercials. Can be humorous, like MAC ads. o Unnoticed, subtle  a way of creating identification that will fly under the radar; assumes the audience is with them already  This is where you assume that the persuader is going to act in a way that assumes the audience is already on the same page as they are. This is often used when people are using the “we” language. “We will overcome this trial.” Any president will use this language. They assume that their audience is on board. Using “we” to create identification.  Example: Obama/McCain ad - there's an assumption that we're ordinary and we are who they are talking/referring to  Contemporary Characteristics o Characteristics of Contemporary Persuasion in a Mediated World: o Persuasion is Audience Oriented –  a long time ago, persuasion was speaker oriented, but now the audience is in control of the messages that are seen  Audience has to make decisions. Audience is interactive. The audience is proactive.  Audience must interpret message, and critique the message.  Message must grab the receiver  The source uses language strategies and visual images to suggest meaning to an audience, but the audience, using its own attitudes and reasoning skills, constructs its own meanings.  audience is a critical part of persuasion. The power is not solely invested in the source.  The persuader does not have as much power as they used to; but rather the audience has gained more power (ex: remote gives audience power)  With every new media on the internet it gives the audience more power/say on how they will be persuaded o Causes of successful persuasion are hard to determine:  we live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by persuasion. The choices of what soft drinks we drink, who we vote for are from persuasive attempts and it is difficult to figure out which source made us come to that decision. Persuader’s know this! o Much is left unsaid;  use of irony - you don't necessarily get a lot of information about the product; the message is subtle  The use of irony is increasing, in the cases of Pepsi Twist- a lot of ads are assuming that the audience will know the inside jokes. o Everywhere, but invisible to us  it's so prevalent; sometimes we don't even see/acknowledge the persuasion, etc.  the sheer amount of persuasion is so great that most of the time we don’t even see it anymore. o Reflexive and on-going  persuader's work in deeps ways for long periods to persuade and guide us  it has to do with the fact that persuasion is not a one-time event. It is dynamic and it continues and builds from year to year. ← ← Role of persuasion in American Revolution, Industrial Revolution  The American Revolution (persuasion as a political function) o Faneuil Hall: The road to Independence  Actual hall in Boston where people came together and discussed current issues o The Constitution  Ensured that persuasion would be at the center of our nation through the First Amendment (freedom of speech) o US Government's 3 branches  System of checks and balance; watch each other to prevent abuse of persuasion  Industrial Revolution Persuasion on a Mass Scale (18/19th Century) o Market purposes o Vinnie is not persuasive, he is asleep, he has no explanation, the clothes he is wearing, no respect for the audience or the court of law in general. He doesn’t follow the correct procedures.  Court of law, Legal setting  Lawyer and prosecutor trying to persuade a judge and jury  Ex: “My Cousin Vinnie”  Forensic speech made by the prosecutor:  The opening speech, he presented his case  Vinnie’s speech wasn’t persuasive in that he didn’t state any facts and didn’t even present his side of the case  Doesn’t provide any evidence or make any assertion  You can’t trust him- crazy accent, weird suit (not much credibility)  Epideictic speeches: o Memorial eulogies, ceremonial speeches. The most common one would be a eulogy, which praises someone’s life. These speeches can also be used to make someone look bad.  Memorial eulogies, Ceremonial  Given in memorial settings  Positive: praising someone’s life  Negative: speeches that make someone look bad (VP speech is supposed to attack the other candidate) ← Four Strategems of influence, ethos, pathos, logos, atechnoi ← Key Components of Persuasion: There are two parts, you must make a claim and then you have to demonstrate it or prove it.  1. Claim  2. Proof (evidence) ( 2 kinds) o Inartistic Proof  Involves anything like statistics, visual images, photos that prove or demonstrate your claim. It is inartistic because it is just a fact. There is no persuasion other than the facts. o Artistic Proof: Ethos, Pathos, Logos  Aristotle is more interested in artistic proof. This is the kind of proof that the persuader has to be active in demonstrating. There are four kinds of artistic proof, ethos, pathos and logos, atechnoi  Ethos o has to do with credibility of the speaker and character of the speaker. o credibility, how trustworthy a speaker is, refers to immediate sense if you can trust a person o Refers to virtue, someone with high moral standing  Vinnie does not do this: dressed badly, rude  Pathos o has to do with the ability of the speaker to appeal to the audiences’ emotions and how to direct those emotions o Emotion, ability of the persuader to appeal to the audiences emotions  In Vinnie, the prosecutor is very serious, uses hand motions and tells a story  Logos: o how to construct an argument that is reasonable, logic. o constructing a logical, reasonable argument o Having a claim and presenting it reasonably ex:Statistics, photos, concrete materials  Atechnoi o Pre-persuasion; try to frame/shape the issue; putting a spin on things ← Example of 4 strategems: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech  Ethos : a well-known reverend, famous because he was put in jail for a protest, he was willing and committed to the cause  Pathos : he kept saying “we” meaning he was speaking about the whole country and himself, dramatic descriptions and experiences  Logos : He ties his argument with existing laws (declaration, emancipation, etc.), making logical arguments about his claim ← ← Gettysburg Address as an act of persuasion  Marshall McLuhan- “The Medium is the Message”  Media = Medium + Content  NPR’s Form of the Gettysburg Address o Gettysburg: Lincoln was asked to make a speech at one of he bloodiest battle site in U.S. history  2 different messages  Direct eulogy; Epideictic  Persuader: Lincoln, President; the source: founding fathers o Takes a very unpopular war and compares it with the birth of the nation; the early constitution this value and call for the nation to be defined by equality o He is saying people died for worth and for our country; not over petty slavery issue or politics. o Reframing the war  Audience: soldiers, families  Content: the written material  Medium of the Gettysburg Address, what makes it famous is that it was only 300 words to capsulate the entire Civil War. You would be hearing the Gettysburg Address in a cemetery. o The Medium : inherent technical features of a media that characterize or shape how the content gets delivered  Content is the written material, the medium is the actual speech o The Content : the programming, the written material or the messages that are distributed through media  Messages: biblical, birth of nation, emotion; saying that lets hope that something will come out of these hard times ← ← Walter Ong’s Theory of Mediated Cultures: oral, literate, electronic, digital ← He argues that each dominant medium of a certain time in history requires a different way of thinking or looking at the world. ← Implication (suggests): The medium defines & privileges certain forms of knowledge and intelligence. ← Culture Medium Sender- Receive experience Thinking Style Persuasive Technique Oral Face to face immediate No abstract thought Memory aids/stories Literate Writing/ print separated Abstract thought/reason Evidence/ logic  THINK: WHICH TYPE OF BELIEF IS MOST PERSUASION DIRECTED TOWARDS? Peripheral; people aren't as resistant  Affective Information o Emotions our attitudes aren't always based on rational, reasoned out premises o Needs o Values  Example: Northface outerwear. Living in Louisiana, heavy outerwear isn't usually necessary, but people buy it any way  Past Behaviors/ Experiences o If we have a positive experience, we are inclined to carry out the action again.  Example: Dr. Song's positive experience with the Lexus changed her attitude of luxury car o If negative, we will avoid...and tell others to avoid  Sometimes the three forces of attitudes (cognitive info, affective info, experience) conflict. o Example: you know in your mind you don’t need anymore chocolate, but you want it. ← ← Elaboration-likelihood model, central route and peripheral route processing, motivation and ability, cognitive misers  Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM says there are two ways people develop attitude o Central-route processing: relies on logical, information-based messages  Requires audience motivation and ability  Results in long-term attitude change o Peripheral-route processing: uses sensory or symbolic cues (music, celebrity, images)  Results in short-term attitude change o Motivation:  is the audience motivated to pay attention to the message?  Is the message personally relevant?  If the person is personally motivated they are more likely to get involved.  Example: The cholesterol ad. Who is concerned with cholesterol? Who is likely to pay attention to an ad about lowering cholesterol? o Ability  having the capacity or the knowledge to understand certain technical and specialized jargon: would the audience understand the technical or specialized terms used in the message?  Ex: pick up truck advertisement with all the technical terms; also computers o If audience is motivated and have the ability, they are more likely to engage a message with central-route processing. o If not, they are more likely to engage a message with the peripheral-route processing o cognitive misers: Cognitive miser is a term which refers to the idea that only a small amount of information is actively perceived by individuals when making decisions, and many cognitive shortcuts (such as drawing on prior information and knowledge) are used instead to attend to relevant information and arrive at a decision. o Persuasion resulting from central-route processing is more resistant to change than what is processed through the peripheral-route. o Be strategic in reaching "motivate" audiences with high "ability." o Be proactive in cultivating personal relevance for audiences ← ← ← Pathos, emotions, feelings, socialization theory, significant others, generalized others  Pathos = emotion  Feelings: physiological experiences that occur in reaction to something: tangibly sense in your body. Sweaty palms, light headed, butterflies in your stomach. Physical things that occur because of something  Emotions: belief systems that guide how we understand our feelungs and how we oeganize our responses to those feelings. How we organize our response to feelings. o Emotions are social constructions: we learn them o What you actually understand or think is happening when you have (ex)sweaty palms o Emotions involve our self-esteem, or our sense of who we are or ought to be o Emotions structure and order our experiences  Socialization Theory : how learn, identify  individuals acquire personality and learn the ways of life through a process of social interaction and indentification o How we learn emotion o Learning through social interaction with SIGNIFICANT OTHERS  Significant others: who you are in contact most frequently: usually mother, father, guardian  Children: primary way of socialization is through language; how to name emotions or experiences  Bring Eli (1.5 years old) to swing and he slowly understands through Mrs. Song dancing and smiling that this is happy  As you grow the circle of significant others grow: peer groups, teachers, priest, etc.  Indentification: taking on attitudes/roles of significant others as one’s own.  Interact and identify with generalized others o Ex: boy falls on pavement and skins his knee. He has been told by his parents and older brothers that boys don’t cry. Socialization is altering his emotions because he wants to cry but he doesn’t. ← ← ← Cognitive dissonance theory, dissonance, rationalization trap  Dissonance: the uncomfortable paring of two inconsistent idea or beliefs o Can come from doubt, guilt, hippocracy etc.  Individuals seek balance, or consistency, in their lives  If we are commitied to our first belief, we might rationalize and decide not to change our behavior  Preservation of self-esteem/ego is strong ex: keets and followers saying they saved the world.  through our mediated world in order to get to people you have to create our safe trustworthy image.  Image: A conception that we have of people, institutions, or nations; a mental picture we have of something that is not physically present.  For a trustworthy image you need:  Qualification: the expertise of the source, (i.e.: training, knowledge and intelligence)  source ability: having witnessed it o do you have the basis to say the things you have to say  objectivity: you personally have nothing to gain about what you are claiming; FDA  Dynamism: charisma and boldness of the source  Doesn’t mean you have to over the top personality: ex: mother Teresa, Martin Luther King  Outcomes of Credibilty  Legitimation: the power to gain acceptance for a point of view because of the status of an individual  Sometimes legitimacy is reciprocal: lends some Clooney’s celebrity aurora to the darfor cause. It can act back on Clooney by saing “hey, I think he is a better guy than I thought he was” just because he was involved in a good cause. It reciprocates back to clooney o Ex product endorsements: tiger wood’s endorsements pulled out after all his sandals.  Mystification: the use of special symols or technical jargon to communicate special authority and expertise to which others should defer.  will just listen to an expert and not question  Contemporary Challenges to Source Credibility  Media condenses and interprets = gatekeepers  The news media has its own logic and wants to condense all the logic in to a very short period.  Social Media online demands 24/7 image management  “slide quote”  silence = death. If you are not responding the complaints; you will have problems  1. Have to understand the media  2. How to use it to Help manage an image.  Examples/issues of credibility o Do you trust online review?  Ex: zappos, amazon, yelp: the reviews tell us why the shoe is different than the manufacturer sais about it.  Yelp; commercial website that sells add space to local businesses. A business did not want to advertise on yelp; so it rocked yelp’s credibility  Even google… the top results when you search something is paid for by that result.. so it might not be that credible. o How darfor came to public knowledge: George Clooney credible  His interview on CNN said” cameras follow me around and that’s good to get this isse out.” ← ← Framing the Issue through Language  George Allen vs. Jim Webb race for Virginia senator  Allen used racial slurs, interviewer questioned whether or not he's racist. Had to talk his way out of it  George Allen Example  -Primary Audience (the people who are already there at the event) vs. Secondary Audience (the audience is not intended to receive the message who are watching this clip after the fact) o You have to be mindful of both your primary and secondary audiences. Understand that your message may end up somewhere that you didn't intend for it to.  -Language matters  The Nature of Language  Language: A symbolic instrument and vehicle for human action and expression o We use language as a tool to persuade ← ← ← Sign (characteristics of); signifier, the signified; semiotics; “meanings exist in people, not in the signs or symbols themselves”; denotative vs. connotative meaning; functions of persuasive language  sign and semiotics (Ferdinand de Saussure)  signs: anything that designates something other than itself o ex: images, sounds, gestures, words, language; you can have a sign of an illness, a fire-truck siren  signifier: a sign’s physical form perceived by our senses  the signified: the mental concept of idea to which sign refers  Signs and meaning o signs are flexible  flowers (weeds) sign of love for trash o signs are arbitrary  no intrinsic reason why that meaning is attached to that particular signifier o sign are culturally learned  Meaning: the relationship, or the connection between the signifier and the signified. o Meaning exists in people, not the signs themselves  Denotative meaning: the generally agreed-upon meaning that describes the basic characteristics of the signified  Connotative meaning: the positive or negative overtones that are connected to a particular word or symbol  Persuasive language functions to:  1. Indentify what is important  2. control how issues are defined  3. prescribe what out to be done ←  Pop Culture: The products of a culture that are owned and produced by businesses for the purpose of making a profit. o something made for the masses, created for commercial purposes (television shows) o majority  Sub-Culture- a sub-culture or part of a larger culture o can be based regionally, ethnically, geographically. Have very particular elements that make up the culture. For example: Mardi Gras  Material culture: beads  Practices: parades, parties  Lifestyle: philosophy behind that culture  Material vs. Non-material Culture  Material Culture - "cultural products: or artifacts produced by people in a society. The tools. Roads, bridges, anything. It is something produced, that we make, but not necessarily tangible. A music lyric and a website are material culture.  Non-material Culture - Beliefs, values, behaviors that sustain a particular people.  Types of Non-material Culture (in America) o Beliefs: what you hold to be true or false  Everyone should work  If you work hard, your life will improve  Each person is responsible for their own well-being  People are equal and deserving of having their rights protected o Values: standards of preference based on cultural beliefs (beliefs drive values)  Achievement & success  Freedom & equality  Progress  Individualism o Behaviors: practice or actions taken based on cultural beliefs and values  Insistence on choice  Pursuit of the (seemingly) impossible dream  Acceptance of mistakes  Urge to improvise, self-educated o Ex: Home Depot ad  Amy from "True Stories" campaign (single mom remodeling her own house)  Identify cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors expressed in this commercial  Behaviors: do it yourself, pursuit of the impossible dream, self educated  Values: achievement & success, progress, individualism, family  Beliefs: if your work hard, your life will improve  Institutions: bundles of beliefs, values, and behaviors in a specific area of life o Example: the institution of marriage  Beliefs: purity → wear white dress, get married because you love someone (not for money, not arranged)  Values:  Practice: wedding, daddy walks bride down the isle o Ex: DeBeers  "A Diamond is Forever" "And she thought these things only happen in the movies" ad  Beliefs: true love  Value: romance  Behavior: diamonds are a desirable thing in that marriage  DeBeers created value in a diamond. There's no history behind why you propose with a diamond. They are wholly responsible for creating that culture. ← ← Mainstream culture model, referent class; cultural conflict model  Mainstream Culture Model o Mainstream culture: The core beliefs, values, and behaviors that have been part of the American dialogue since the 1600s and that have been maintained and are accepted by a majority of Americans.  Referent Class (dominant culture) -people look to this group for the trends o Historically: white, male protestant. Today: Urban professionals, college educated, BLACKS o Marginalized resistance-people who don’t want to participate, don’t have the means to participate; sub-culture;  Home schoolers are an example of marginalized resistance  Cultural Conflict Model o David Brooks' Red & Blue America o  As Americans, we come from different communities and so values very different from the people around us  Persuaders want to bring out these differences and push people to work harder against the other side  ← ← The Persuaders Video Guide ← Correspondent: Douglas Rushkoff ← ← Introduction: a high-concept marketing campaign for new low-cost airline Song.