Chapter 7: Persuasion

CHAPTER 7:
PERSUASION
Social Psychology
WHAT IS
PERSUASION?
Kindly bring out a 1/4 sheet of paper.
Persuasion is the process by
which a message induces change
in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.
Persuasion is not Manipulation
Persuasion vs Manipulation
Persuasion enables us to promote health or sell
addiction, to advance peace or stir up hate
enlighten or deceive.
The word “persuasion” is neither good or bad,

only the purpose or context dictates that.
Vapes vs Cigarettes
COVID-19 and the Pandemic
Advertisements
Courtroom Trials
Democratic Elections
Democratic Elections
Good Persuasion = “education”
Bad Persuasion = “propaganda”
Whether it is “Education” or
“Propaganda”, persuasion is
everywhere.
WHAT PATHS
LEAD TO
PERSUASION?
Persuasion
Process by which
attitudes are change.
Typically based on Interpersonal
Communication.
Dual-Process Model
(Petty & Cacioppo)
processing strategy
High Ability Central

input & Motivation Route output
Source Persuasion
Audience
Message
Low Ability Peripheral

& Motivation Route
THE PATHS TO
PERSUASION?
Central Route
When people think critically about
a persuasive communication and
are influenced by strong
arguments.
It's an elaborative process
Attitude change following
central route processing is
enduring, resistant and
predictive of behavior
Peripheral Route
When people do not think
critically about a message, but
may be persuaded by other
superficial cues.
Speak fluently, Attractive
Long list of Arguments, Statistics
Celebrity Endorsement
General Support
Elaboration Likelihood Model
(Petty & Cacioppo, 1979)
Central Path Peripheral Path
Critical Thinking Superficial Cues
Quincy Rose
Elaboration Likelihood Model
(Petty & Cacioppo, 1979)
Central Path Peripheral Path
Critical Thinking Superficial Cues
Thirdy Juan
WHAT ARE THE
ELEMENTS OF
PERSUASION?
The Communicator
It’s not just the message that
matters, but also who says it.
CREDIBILITY- A characteristic of a communicator
perceived as both expert & trustworthy.
A) Perceived Expertise- A communicator is more persuasive
when they are perceived as expert.
B) Speaking Style- A communicator will appear credible if
they speak confidently and fluently
C) Perceived Trustworthiness- Audience are more willing to
listen to a communicator if they appear both expert and
trustworthy.
Credibility
A
.
B.
Credibility
Your paragraph text
C.
• ATTRACTIVENESS - Having qualities that appeal to
an audience. Arguments from attractive people are more
influential.
• LIKING- People respond more affirmatively to those
they like.
The Message Content
It matters not only who says
something but also what that
person says.
REASON VS. EMOTION
Reason- well educated people are responsive to
rational appeals.
Emotion- Uninterested audience are more affected by
their liking of the communicator
• A) The Effect of Good Feelings - A message will
become more persuasive through associations
with good feelings.
• B) The Effect of Arousing Fear - Messages can
also be effective by evoking negative
emotions/fear.
Reason vs Emotion
A B.
.
• MESSAGE CONTEXT- the context of the message can
make the difference how persuasive it is.
A.) Foot-in-the-door phenomenon- Tendency for people that
agreed in small request to comply in a larger request later.
B) Lowball technique- People who agree to an initial
request will often still comply
C) Door-in-the-face technique- After turning down a

large request, the same requester counteroffers with a
more reasonable request
Message Context
B. C.
A
.
• Recency - When two persuasive messages are
separated in time and the audience responds soon
after the second message, the second message has the
advantage.
• ONE-SIDED VS. TWO-SIDED- Two sided
message has the advantage to make the
communicator seem more honest.
• PRIMACY VS. RECENCY
Primacy- When two persuasive messages are back-to-

back and the audience then responds at some later
time, the first message has the advantage.
How the Message is Communicated
We need to communicate before we
can persuade, but there needs to be a
channel for that communication to
happen.
What is Channel?
Communication channels are the
means by which a message can be
delivered to its target audience.
Examples of Channel
• Face-to-face/verbal
• Written
• Media advertisement
• Non-verbal
Examples of Face-to-face
or Verbal Channel Gusto mo bang kumita ng
malaking pera? Yung 10k mo,
Mars, Pautang naman ng 5K
gawin nating 10k ko este 50k
kailangan lang inaanak mo para
in just 3 weeks, basta benta mo
sa beauty contest sa school nila.
yung products na ito.
Shout out ka niya kapag nanalo.
uwu
TARA MAGPUNTANG PNR ANG
OR SAMGY AFTER CLASS? MAHIWAGANG
DESERVE NAMAN NATIN BALLPEN!
NG KONTING
CELEBRATION DIBA?
Examples of Written Channel
Examples of Media Advertisement
Examples of Non-verbal Channel
The Audience
Persuasion varies with who . . . says what . . .
by what medium . . . to whom.
Let’s consider two audience characteristics: age
and thoughtfulness.
How old are they? What are they thinking?

How old are they?
A life cycle explanation: Attitudes change (for example,
become more conservative) as people grow older.
A generational explanation: Attitudes do not change;

older people largely hold onto the attitudes they adopted
when they were young. Because these attitudes are
different from those being adopted by young people
today, a generation gap develops.
The evidence mostly supports the generational explanation. In
surveys and resurveys of groups of younger and older people
over several years, the attitudes of older people usually show
less change than do those of young people. As David Sears
(1979, 1986) put it, researchers have “almost invariably found
generational rather than life cycle effects.”
The teens and early twenties are important formative years

(Koenig et al., 2008; Krosnick & Alwin, 1989). Attitudes are
changeable then, and the attitudes formed tend to stabilize
through middle adulthood.
Adolescent and early adult experiences are formative partly
because they make deep and lasting impressions.
That is not to say that older adults are inflexible. People born
in the 1930s (often known as the Silent Generation for their
conservative outlook) increased their approval of modern
cultural ideas such as premarital sex and working mothers as
they aged from their 40s to their 70s (Donnelly et al., 2015;
Twenge et al., 2015). These middle-aged people had
apparently changed with the times. Few of us are utterly
uninfluenced by changing cultural norms.
What are they thinking?
The key of central route persuasion is not the message,
but rather the reactions it produces in the audience's
mind. Our minds are not like sponges that can absorb
anything. We are persuaded by a message if it inspires
positive feelings. We cannot be persuaded if it makes us
consider counterarguments.
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED—IF
YOU CARE ENOUGH TO
COUNTERARGUE
What conditions encourage a counterargument? One is
being aware that someone will make an effort to
convince you. You would probably expect their begging
with you to stay if you had to inform your family that
you wanted to drop out of school. Then you'd be less
likely to be persuaded by them because you'd have a list
of arguments to oppose every claim they could make
(Freedman & Sears, 1965)
DISTRACTION DISARMS
COUNTERARGUING
A distraction that prevents people from considering
opposing viewpoints improves persuasion. This strategy
is frequently used in political advertisements. The
graphic images keep us distracted so we don't analyze
the contents while the words support the candidate.
When the message is straightforward, distraction is
particularly effective (Harkins & Petty, 1982; Regan &
Cheng, 1973).
UNINVOLVED AUDIENCES USE
PERIPHERAL CUES
Recall the two routes to persuasion, the central route of systematic
thinking and the peripheral route of heuristic cues. Like a road through
a town, the central route has stops as the mind analyzes responses and
the peripheral route speeds people to their destination.
high need for cognition enjoys thinking carefully and prefer central
routes.
low need for cognition are quicker to respond to such peripheral cues.
HOW CAN PERSUASION
RESISTED?
Attitude Inoculation
Exposure to weak attacks upon attitudes so that
when stronger attacks come, it will cause
refutations to be available or to develop
counterarguments.
Counterarguments - reasons why a persuasive
message might be wrong
If persuasion is a virus
Attitude inoculation is a vaccine
One research team had high school students
“inoculate” seventh-graders against peer pressures
to smoke (McAlister et al., 1980)
Results shows that inoculated students were half as

likely to begin smoking as than uninoculated
students.
Some persuasion we might get exposed to:
• Walwal over aral
• Fake news and disinformation
• Red-tagging
• Cults
• Illegal drug use or sell
POSTSCRIPT: Being Open but Not Naïve
Agree to Disagree
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!

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CHAPTER 7:

The word “persuasion” is neither good or bad,

High Ability Central

Low Ability Peripheral

Your paragraph text

C) Door-in-the-face technique- After turning down a

• PRIMACY VS. RECENCY

Primacy- When two persuasive messages are back-to-

How old are they? What are they thinking?

A generational explanation: Attitudes do not change;

The teens and early twenties are important formative years

Results shows that inoculated students were half as

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