Persuasion: Understanding the Influence on Attitudes and Behavior - Prof. Scott Thompson, Study notes of Psychology

Download Persuasion: Understanding the Influence on Attitudes and Behavior - Prof. Scott Thompson and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Persuasion: Anybody’s attempt to influence our attitudes or beliefs, subsequently influence our behavior.  education vs. propaganda  Education:  Propaganda:  Black and White Video: (1936: Reefer Madness) Teenagers at a party…. Smoking cigarettes/weed… peer pressure... Distributing narcotics to students … The student driving ran over a person… Rumors of crimes with students addicted to weed…  Advertising Industry: 100 Billion a year spent on persuading their products o Elaboration likelihood model:  Probability that the recipient of a persuasive message will elaborate on the information contained in the message o Elaboration Likelihood Model: Probability that the recipient of a persuasive message will elaborate on the information contained in the message  Central route processing: Carefully analyzed and understand the message (Are the arguments compelling? Yes Change attitude) o Ex: Buying cars  Peripheral route processing: Influenced by the superficial cues associated with the argument. (Are the peripheral cues compelling? No No attitude change) o Ex: Buying athletic shoes o Susceptible to counter-persuasion.  Jury should be influenced by central route, but often are influenced by peripheral route processing.  4 key elements: communicator, message itself, channel of communication, audience NBC & GM Commercial: They picked a beautiful well-respected journalist. Communicator  Credibility: Truth without compromise. - trustworthiness? - expertise (competence)  Attractiveness o Study of attractive/non-attractive people trying to get a petition signed around campus.  Attractive: 41%  Non-Attractive: 32%  Likeability  Similarity Fred Tuttle  79 yo farmer  10th grade dropout  $201  Won Candidacy by a 3-1 landslide  Huge likeability  Could trace his ancestry in Vermont to the 1800’s Jack McMullen  56yo multimillionaire  Two Harvard Degrees  $475,000 Message: We are not only persuaded by who says it, but by what is said.  Reason (rational) vs. emotion: Depends upon the audience o Well-Educated/Involved: Better to rely on rational o Not Well-Educated/Involved: Better to make emotional appeals  Emotional Appeals - Positive affect: make people feel good. (Food and Music) - Fear: (Reefer Madness movie, Egg frying=brain on pan, hot girl doing the commercial…more successful, President Johnson, don’t text and drive).