Persuasion Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos. Outline McGuire’s Attitude Change Model Yale Programme Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Fear Appeals Dr.

Persuasion

Dr. K. A. Korb

University of Jos

Outline

McGuire’s Attitude Change Model Yale Programme Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Fear Appeals

Dr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Persuasion

Persuasion: Changing attitude and behavior based on exposure to information about the attitude


McGuire’s Model of Attitude Change (1968)

AttentionAttention

ComprehensionComprehension

AcceptanceAcceptance


Yale Conditions for Successful Persuasion

Audience: Who is object of persuasion

Source: Who is persuading Message Factors


Yale Programme

Audience Need for cognition Ability Motivation

Source Expertise Trustworthiness Likeability Attractiveness

Message Organization Content


Audience: Need for Cognition

Need for Cognition: Extent which people enjoy effortful cognitive activities


Audience: Need for Cognition

1. I would prefer complex to simple problems.2. Thinking is not my idea of fun.3. I would rather do something that requires

little thought that something that is sure to challenge my thinking abilities.

4. I like to have the responsibility of handling a situation that requires a lot of thinking.

5. I prefer my life to be filled with puzzles that I must solve.

6. I only think as hard as I have to.


Audience: Need for Cognition(Cacioppo, Petty, & Morris 1983)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Low High

Need for Cognition

Per

suas

ion

.

Strong arguments

Weak arguments


Source Credibility(Hovland & Weiss, 1951)

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Medicine Atomicsubmarines

Steel shortage Movie theaters

Perc

ent C

hang

e

.

High Credibility

Low Credibility


Source Credibility

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Immediately After 4 weeks

Pers

uasi

on

.

Persuasive Message

No Message


Source Credibility: Sleeper Effect

(Reardon, 1981)

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Immediately After 4 weeks

Pers

uasi

on

.

High Credibility

Low Credibility


Source Credibility: Sleeper Effect

Sleeper Effect: Persuasive message with a discounting cue results in higher persuasion over time

Three necessary conditions for Sleeper Effect: Message itself is persuasive Discounting cue initially suppresses attitude

change Discounting cue must become dissociated from the

message over time Sleeper Effect disappears if audience is

reminded of the sourceDr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Source Attractiveness(Chaiken, 1979)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Attractive Less Attractive

Per

cent of P

eople

who

Sig

ned

Pet

itio

n


Message

Organization Introduction: Implicit Main body

One sided: Only give pros Two sided: Give pros, cons, and evidence

against cons Conclusion: Explicit

Content


Message: Number and Quality of Arguments (Petty & Cacioppo, 1984)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

3 9 3 9

Number of Arguments

Per

suas

iven

ess

.

High Involvement

Low Involvement

Weak Quality Strong Quality


Yale Programme

Source

Message

Receiver

AttentionAttention

ComprehensionComprehension

AcceptanceAcceptance

Attitude Attitude ChangeChange

+ + BehaviorBehaviorChangeChange


Yale Programme

Strength: Identify factors that influence persuasion Much research confirmed conclusion

Weakness: Does not explain how persuasion (acceptance) actually occurs


Educational Implications

Source: Ensure you portray the following: expertise, trustworthiness, likeability

Message: Keep your lessons organized Provide quality and many examples for

your course content


Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1980)

Elaboration: Think about a message More elaboration, less superficial cues influence

attitude Two Routes to Change Attitudes

Central Route: Think carefully about an issue Peripheral Route: Attitudes changed by

superficial cues Attitudes changed through central route

have different outcomes than attitudes changed from peripheral route



Central Route: Attitudes change based on quality of

argument Attitudinal Outcomes

Greater persistence Greater prediction of behavior Greater resistance to counter-persuasion Boomerang effect: Negative opinions of

message Possible if arguments are weak or false information



Peripheral Route: Attitudes changed by superficial cues

Attractiveness Expert Endorsement Number of Arguments


Elaboration Likelihood Model

Motivational Factors Personal relevance of message Need for cognition

Ability Factors: Availability of cognitive resources Relevant knowledge

High Motivation and Ability leads to central route


Elaboration Likelihood Model

Strength: Identify conditions to determine what influences processing of persuasive message

Weakness: Processing of message is not exclusively central or peripheral Elaboration continuum: Low elaboration

(low thought) to high elaboration (high thought)


Educational Implications

Ensure students process information through the central route. Motivation: Make lessons personally

relevant Ability

Reduce distractions Ensure students have relevant background

knowledge


Fear Appeals(Janis & Feshbach, 1953)

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Low Moderate High

Fear in Appeal

Perc

ent W

orrie

d

.


Fear Appeals(Janis & Feshbach, 1953)

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

Low Medium High

Fear in Appeal

Perc

ent B

ehav

ior C

hang

e

.


Fear Appeals

Consequences of not taking action are severe, but not exaggerated

Problem is relevant to audience Suggest a specific action that can be taken

to prevent the portrayed consequence Audience believes the proposed solution is

effective Solution is easy


Bias Assimilation(Lord et al., 1979)

Participants: Strong beliefs about capital punishment as deterrent against homicide

Procedure: Read summary of two “authentic” research studies – one that supported and one did not. Also read a critique of each study.

Findings: Students thought studies with same viewpoint were more convincing and better conducted than the opposing view

Conclusion: After reading evidence on both sides, more convinced of correctness of initial position than at the beginning of study


Bias Assimilation

Bias Assimilation: After examining data on both sides of an issue people believe evidence on own side more compelling


Revision

According to McGuire’s Model of Attitude Change, what are the three steps in persuasion?

According to the Yale Programme, what are the three major factors that influence persuasion? Describe a few ways that determine the effectiveness of

each factor. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, what

determines whether a message will be processed through the Central or Peripheral route?

What will make a fear appeal effective?


Persuasion Dr. K. A. Korb University of Jos. Outline McGuire’s Attitude Change Model Yale Programme Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Fear Appeals Dr.

Documents

korb university of jos

persuasion persuasion

object of persuasion

likeability message

persuasive message

message factors

yale programme audience

sleeper effect sleeper