"Persuasion is an activity or process in which a communicator attempts to induce a change in the belief,

attitude, or behaviour of another person or group of persons through the transmission of a message in a
context in which the persuadee has some degree of free choice"
(Wilcox, Ault, Agee, & Cameron, 2000, p. 214-215).

Persuasion
-an effective means of communication;
-causes a person to do something because he/she wants to do it
(Newsom, Scott, & Turk, 1976);
-is used to:
-change antagonistic opinions;
-solidify positive attitudes;
-preserve favourable opinion
-ensures free choice of audience.

A PR Practitioner
Caring
Believable
Analytical
Communicative
To be an Effective
Persuader
(think and value
audience)
(help understand
the message will
bring positive changes)
(express clearly what the
audience wants/needs)
(analyze facts and critically assess situation)
Attitude Change Effect
Media Uses and Gratification Theory
Communicator
Audience
to inform
&
persuade
to be
entertained, informed or alerted
a) finding out what is happening;
b) for entertainment & decision-making;
c) reinforcing their opinions & beliefs.
According to uses and gratification theory:
A PR professional focus on designing messages that fulfill audience needs
(Wilcox, Ault, Agee, & Cameron, 2000).

Example:
TV, radio etc are media tools through which people can be informed, entertained or alerted.
Audiences respond to messages for various reasons:
(Blumler & Katz'- 1974)
Leon Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory:
Cognitive dissonance is the psychological conflict from holding two or more incompatible beliefs
simultaneously.
Dissonance can be created in three different ways:
- alarming target audience about changes in
circumstances;
- informing about new developments;
- using an unexpected spokesperson.
The theory states people do not like to think one way- but act in a different way. PR professionals using
this theory allows people to persuade themselves by offering them reasons to stop doing unfavorable
action.

Examples:
The American Red Cross aspired people to donate blood. The campaign focuses on PR messages making
people uncomfortable, even guilty, about not donating
(Cameron, Wilcox, Reber, & Shin, 2008).
Example of Cognitive Dissonance Behavior
Key Elements of
modern
effective Persuasion
Audience Analysis

A PR practitioner must
Identify

audience

(internal & external groups)

Analyze

psychographics:

what audiences know, feel,

do about an issue
Ranking audience
in order of importance
Source Credibility
A message appears more believable to the
audience if the source has credibility
(Wilcox, Ault, Agee, & Cameron, 2000).

Example:
Steve Jobs, president of Apple is highly credible because he is one of company's founder and 'geek' in his
own right.
Appeal to Self- interest
Audience shows involvement to messages that appeal to their psychological/economic needs;

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

Basic Needs:
food, water, shelter, transportation;
Security Needs:
security about jobs, retirement,
and safety in homes;
Belonging Needs:
seeking association with others;
Love Needs:
need for love and caring;
Self-actualization Needs:
achieve maximum
personal potential

(Wilcox, Ault, Agee, & Cameron, 2000).

A PR Practitioner must mould information to cater to audience needs.
Clarity of message
Persuasive
Message
Direct
Expressed in simple words
primary
idea
Will the audience understand the
message?
Channel Selection
A PR practitioner must select a specific media to effectively deliver message to the audience.
For example:
Dutch Alzheimers Foundation conducted an awareness campaign:
used Facebook tagging functionality people on Facebook are notified with the photos where they
unknowingly find themselves in.
created confusion in users minds to make them realize that people with Alzheimers disease face this
pain in their everyday lives (http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/the-alzheimers-facebook-timeline-
experience/).
Persuasion
in
Public Relations Practice
Persuasion techniques used to raise awareness
in
SPCA Dogs adoption
Used a number of
persuasive techniques
to help people
change their perceptions
about SPCA shelter dogs;
Targeted
at-
- potential dog adoptees;
- celebrities associated with animal rescue
cause;
- modern celebrities with active fan
networks.
Created a
strong pitch
conveying a new idea;
Adopted
an innovative strategy
for training the dogs to drive a MINI car-the idea turned
Used
Social Media channels
to promote
engagement of audience;
Involved
Online News Site
to prove
"credibility"
of the story;
No camera tricks were applied- "Ethical Approach"
(PRINZ, 2013).
SPCA DOG'S CAMPAIGN
Ethics in Persuasion
A PR practitioner must use
PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES
following
the code of Ethics
:
SPCA DOG'S CAMPAIGN
Proved successful
Brought the issue to limelight;
Changed people's perceptions about SPCA dogs;
Many people regained their interest in adopting
SPCA dogs;
Provoked the audience to rethink their beliefs
and attitudes.
Persuasive techniques can proved to be successful if used in an appropriate and ethical manner.
a)No false/distorted evidence should be presented;
b)No use of unsupported or illogical reasoning;
c) Avoid unnecessary representation of being an 'expert';
d)No use of irrelevant appeals to divert audience attention etc
(Wilcox, Ault, Agee, & Cameron, 2000).
SPCA DOG'S CAMPAIGN
Applied The Five-Stage Adoption Process
Awareness:
audience becoming aware of a new idea;
Interest:
develops interest after gaining more knowledge on the idea;
Evaluation:
evaluates the idea on basis of how it fulfills specific needs;
Trial:
trying out the idea on an experimental basis;
Adoption:
integrates the idea into his belief system.

Five-stage adoption proces

s is used to create awareness of a new idea- a person does not go through all five stages- there are chances
of few people will adopt the idea.

Several factors influence the persuasion stage of the adoption process.

Diffusion of Innovation
Everett Rogers outlines five factors affecting the persuasion stage of the adoption process:
Relative Advantage
Compatibility
Complexity
Trialability
Observability
Time Factor:
People approach innovation in various ways depending upon their personal traits and risk involved- time
required to adopt new idea.
Influencing the decisions:
PR practitioner at modern times design the message in a way which helps the audience to assess the
information and then make decisions
(Cameron, Wilcox, Reber, & Shin, 2008).

Limitations of Persuasive Messages

Lack of message penetration:
not everyone will be in the eventual audience;
possibility of distortion of message passing through media gatekeepers;
key messages are often delivered in negative way.
Self-perception:
people's perception of same message differently;
Social Judgement Theory
suggests internal factors (beliefs or values) limit the extent to which people accepts or rejects a
persuasive message

(Seitel, 1998, 1995)

.
CONCLUSION
Persuasion is considered to be an important weapon of Public Relations professionals.
Persuasive techniques used by PR practitioner compel the audience to rethink their beliefs and
attitudes only if they find some new information that they were previously unaware of.
The presentation has highlighted the development of field of public relations both in theory and
practice in terms of the use of persuasion techniques in order to influence people's beliefs and
attitudes.

PR practitioners have now started considering audience, message and media channels as vital
components in persuasion and have realized the importance of informing the people in an
appropriate manner in order to gain respect.
PR campaigns now focus on persuasive techniques (using digital media tools and technology as a
medium) to put across their message clearly and appropriately to a wide range of audience-
compelling them to rethink their beliefs in order to bring about a positive change in society.

It is important for PR professional to have a deep understanding of core values and likewise design
messages for reinforcing the audience's outlook toward a particular issue.

Persuasion can, therefore, be used to change hostile opinions; crystallize latent opinions and
promote favorable opinions.

In modern times PR practitioner stresses mainly upon the

key elements of persuasion- considering both the importance of message, medium of message and
audience to influence upon decision making.
Evolution of Persuasion
Theory and Practice
In Public Relations (PR)
Social Judgement Theory by Muzafer Sherif
According to Social judgement theory messages produce attitude change through judgmental processes
and effects.
The effect of a persuasive communication depends upon the way in which the receiver evaluates the
position it advocates.
The Three Zones
Latitude of Acceptance:
Series of ideas that a person considers acceptable;

Latitude of Rejection:
Series of ideas that a person considers to be unreasonable;

Latitude of Non-Commitment:
Series of ideas that a person neither accepts nor rejects.
Ego Involvement
Ego-Involvement of a person:

When a person's ego is involved with a topic- he/she believes the issue is important;
A topic that has personal importance to the person- is considered to be central to their sense- hence,
he/she is ego-involved.
This allows a persuader to make certain predictions about the recipient of a persuasive message:
1) more ego involved- larger the latitude of
rejection a person will have;
2) more ego involved- smaller the latitude
of non-commitment.
Contrast & Assimilation Effect
An assimilation effect:
occurs when a receiver perceives the message to be advocating a position
closer
to his or her own position than it actually does;
A

contrast effect:
occurs when a receiver perceives the message to be advocating a position
farther away
from his or her position than it actually does;
TWO EFFECTS
A communication that is perceived to advocate a position that falls in the latitude of acceptance will
produce attitude change in the advocated direction.
A communication that is perceived to advocate a position that falls in the latitude of rejection will
produce either no attitude change, or perhaps boomerang attitude change.
General Principle
The theory explains clearly why two people interpret a message differently.
Therefore, on the basis of this a persuader can employ the best technique to persuade the individual to
change his attitudes toward an issue
(http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/4985_Dainton_Chapter_5.pdf)
(1961)
1957
Shifted the focus
on
message
A shift towards
changing in attitudes
of audience
Focus on Fulfilling Audience's Needs
Focus on Influencing
audience's decisions
Definition of Persuasion
Two Way Asymmetric Model
Initiates two-way Communication;
Audience feedback considered to be important;
Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audience's behaviour according to the desires of the
organization;
Focuses on becoming more effective persuaders;
Dominant model practiced by PR consultancies on behalf of clients
(Newsom, Scott, & Turk, 1976).
Two way Symmetric Model
Grunig and Hunt's models
Press Agentry:
- Focuses on propaganda;
- Information distributed by practitioners
was incomplete; distorted; partially true;
- Main motive behind publicity- to persuade
people to take a specific course of action.

Public Information Model:

- Public be informed approach;
- Persuasion involved but no intention to
deceive the people;
- Attempted to initiate an honest approach
to communication;
- Example: 2009 anti-smoking campaign in
UK to inform parents who smoke how much
their children worried about their health

(Newsom, Scott, & Turk, 1976).

- Honest two way communication;

- Focuses on mutual respect and

promotes mutual understanding
between both parties;

- Initially PR practitioners employ two

way symmetric model in conversation
but later on shift to two way
asymmetrical way of communication
to promote their organization's goals

(Seitel, 1989, 1987, 1984, 1980).

Persuasion In PR
Important components of Persuasion:
Construction of message;
Changing in attitudes of recipients of the message;
Fulfilling audience's needs;
Influencing decision making of audience.
Free Choice of the Audience
Audiences should be left with the choice to select freely among several actions;

Bibliografie:

Dennis Wilcox, Reber Dennis, Public Relations Today: Managing Competition

and Conflict, Editura United States Of America: Pearson Education, Inc, 2008

Newsom, Doug., Scott, Alan., & Turk, Judy V. (1976). This is PR: the realities of public relations. United
States of America:
Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc.

PRINZ Case Studies. (2013). Public Relations & Communications Management: PRINZ
Award Entrants. Retrieved from www.prinz.org.nz

Seitel, Fraser P. (1989, 1987, 1984, 1980). The Practice of Public Relations (4th ed.). Columbus, United
States:
Merrill Publishing Company.

Dennis Wilcox, Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics, Editura Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers
Inc., New York, 2000, p. 2014.

http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/4985_Dainton_Chapter_5.pdf)

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0205943594.pdf