Characteristic of Persuasion
Characteristics of Persuasion
301/ Social Psychology
Characteristics of Persuasion
Persuasion surrounds us; it is everywhere that humans exist. From politicians, teachers, religious leaders, police officers, sales persons, family and friends, we are literally surrounded. Anytime you log onto the internet and see an ad, when you are cruising down the road and see a billboard, when you pick up a sales ad for your favorite store, when you read reviews of a book before purchasing it, it is all persuasion. But why is persuasion so important, and how is it so effective?
There are three main parts to persuasion according to Feenstra (2011), “As we explore persuasion, we can divide the persuasive communication into three parts: the communicator, the message, and the audience.” The first part of persuasion, the communicator, is where all of the magic begins. To make an attempt of persuasion effective there are several key factors about the communicator that need to be established. Typically, prior research has shown that higher source credibility levels lead to increased persuasion but many variables can affect the impact of source credibility on persuasion (Petty & Wegener, 1998). First off the person had to be an expert in the field they are trying to persuade someone about. You cannot have a fashion designer talking about a new medication and expect people to listen. You can also not have an overweight person trying to do a sales ad for a terrific exercise machine and think it will be effective. Second, the audience needs to believe the person is trustworthy. Most people establish if a person is trustworthy by their physical appearance and their mannerisms. In general, more physically attractive communicators are more persuasive and less attractive communicators are less persuasive (Chaiken, 1979; Debevec, Madden, & Kernan, 1986; DeBono & Telesca, 1990).
People we personally know are also said to have more power over our persuasion. I buy Mary
301/ Social Psychology
Characteristics of Persuasion
Persuasion surrounds us; it is everywhere that humans exist. From politicians, teachers, religious leaders, police officers, sales persons, family and friends, we are literally surrounded. Anytime you log onto the internet and see an ad, when you are cruising down the road and see a billboard, when you pick up a sales ad for your favorite store, when you read reviews of a book before purchasing it, it is all persuasion. But why is persuasion so important, and how is it so effective?
There are three main parts to persuasion according to Feenstra (2011), “As we explore persuasion, we can divide the persuasive communication into three parts: the communicator, the message, and the audience.” The first part of persuasion, the communicator, is where all of the magic begins. To make an attempt of persuasion effective there are several key factors about the communicator that need to be established. Typically, prior research has shown that higher source credibility levels lead to increased persuasion but many variables can affect the impact of source credibility on persuasion (Petty & Wegener, 1998). First off the person had to be an expert in the field they are trying to persuade someone about. You cannot have a fashion designer talking about a new medication and expect people to listen. You can also not have an overweight person trying to do a sales ad for a terrific exercise machine and think it will be effective. Second, the audience needs to believe the person is trustworthy. Most people establish if a person is trustworthy by their physical appearance and their mannerisms. In general, more physically attractive communicators are more persuasive and less attractive communicators are less persuasive (Chaiken, 1979; Debevec, Madden, & Kernan, 1986; DeBono & Telesca, 1990).
People we personally know are also said to have more power over our persuasion. I buy Mary
References: Chaiken, S. (1979). Communicator physical attractiveness and persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1387–1397. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.37.8.1387 Debevec, K., Madden, T. J., & Kernan, J. B. (1986). Physical attractiveness, message evaluation, and compliance: A structural evaluation. Psychological Reports, 58, 503–508. DeBono, K. G., & Harnish, R. J. (1988). Expertise, source attractiveness, and the processing of persuasive messages: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 541–546. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.55.4.541 DeSteno, D., Dasgupta, N., Bartlett, M. Y., & Cajdric, A. (2004). Prejudice from thin air: The effect of emotion on automatic intergroup attitudes. Psychological Science, 15, 319–324. doi: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00676.x Jennifer S. Feenstra/ Ashford University. (2011). Introduction to Social Psychcology. Retrieved from Jennifer S. Feenstra/ Ashford University, PSYCH301 website. Petty, R. E., & Wegener, D. T. (1998). Attitude change: Multiple roles for persuasion variables. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (Eds.). The handbook of social psychology (pp. 323-390, vol. 1). New York: McGraw-Hill.