PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

The dynamics of persuasion

Anything that involves molding or shaping attitudes involves persuasion.

We have attitudes toward college, and about music, money, sex, race, even God. We don't all share the same
attitudes but we have attitudes and they shape our world in ways we don't always recognize.

Persuasion is the study of attitudes and how to change them.

Persuasive communications have been used by good people to implement change:

 Social activists have used persuasion to change attitudes toward minorities and women.
 Consumer advocates have tirelessly warned people about dishonest business practices.
 Health communicators have launched countless campaigns to change people's thinking about
cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and unsafe sex.
 Politicians (for example, American presidents) have relied on persuasion when attempting to influence
opinions toward policy issues, or when trying to rally the country behind them during national crises.

Persuasive communication happens nowadays very discreetly:

The sheer number of persuasive communications has grown exponentially. Advertising, public service
announcements, Internet banner ads, and those daily interruptions from telephone marketers are among the
most salient indicators of this trend.
Eons ago, prior to the development of broadcasting and the Internet, you could go through a day with
preciously little exposure to impersonal persuasive messages. That is no longer true. And it's not just
Americans who are besieged by persuasion. The reach of mass persuasion extends to tiny villages
thousands of miles away. A U.S. college student traveling in remote areas of China reported that, while
stranded by winter weather, he came across a group of Tibetans. After sharing their food with the student, the
Tibetans began to discuss an issue that touched on matters American. "Just how, one of the Tibetans asked
the young American, was Michael Jordan doing?"

PERSUASION: CONSTANCIES AND CHANGE S

The study and practice of persuasion are not new. Persuasion can be found in the Old Testament—for
example, in Jeremiah's attempts to convince his people to repent and establish a personal relationship with
God. We come across persuasion when we read about John the Baptist's exhortations for Christ.
Long before professional persuaders hoped to turn a profit from books on closing a deal, traveling educators
known as the Sophists paraded through ancient Greece, charging money for lectures on public speaking
and the art of political eloquence
Five centuries before political consultants advised presidential candidates how to package themselves on
television, the Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli rocked the Renaissance world with his how-to manual for
political persuaders, entitled The Prince. Machiavelli believed in politics and respected crafty political leaders.
He offered a litany of suggestions for how politicians could maintain power through cunning and deception

CONTEMPORARY PERSUASION DIFFERS FROM THE PART IN THESE FIVE WAYS:

1. Persuasive messages travel faster than ever before.

 Advertisements "move blindingly fast," one writer observes (Moore, 1993, p. B1).
 Ads quickly and seamlessly combine cultural celebrities (Michael Jordan), symbols (success, fame,
and athletic prowess), and commodity signs (the Nike swoosh).
  With a mouse click, political and marketing campaign specialists can send a communique across
the world.

2. Persuasion has become institutionalized.

 No longer can a Thomas Jefferson dash off a Declaration of Independence.

 In the 21st century the Declaration would be edited by committees, test-marketed in typical
American communities, and checked with standards departments to make sure it did not offend
potential constituents. Numerous companies are in the persuasion business.
 Advertising agencies, public relations firms, marketing conglomerates, lobbying groups, social
activists, pollsters, speech writers, image consultants—companies big and small—are involved with
various facets of persuasion. The list is long and continues to grow.

3. Continues to grow

 Persuasive communication has become more subtle and devious.

 We are long past the days in which brash sales people knocked on your door to directly pitch
encyclopedias or hawk Avon cosmetics.
 Nowadays, salespeople know all about flattery, empathy, nonverbal communication, and likability
appeals. Walk into a Nordstrom clothing store and you see a fashionably dressed man playing a
piano.
 Nordstrom wants you to feel like you're in a special, elite place, one that not so incidentally sells
brands of clothing that jibe with this image. Advertising no longer relies only on hard-sell, "hammer it
home" appeals, but also on soft-sell messages that play on emotions.

4. Persuasive communication is more complex than ever before.

 A marketer can't assume that her client thinks the same way she does or approaches a
communication encounter with the same assumptions.
 The intermingling of people from different cultural groups is a profoundly positive phenomenon, but
it makes for more dicey and difficult interpersonal persuasion.
 At the same time, attitudes—the stuff of persuasion—are ever more complex.
 Living in a media society in a time of globalization, we have attitudes toward more topics than
before, including people and places we have never encountered directly.
 Few people have met Bill Gates, but many people have opinions about him. We may have attitudes
toward global warming or capital punishment or how the news media covered these topics. Some of
us may have strong opinions about the media itself, or about how the media changed the minds of
people we have never met

Scholars have defined persuasion in different ways. Persuasion, according to communication

scholars, is:

• a communication process in which the communicator seeks to elicit a desired response from his receiver
(Andersen, 1971, p. 6);

• a conscious attempt by one individual to change the attitudes, beliefs, or behavior of another individual or
group of individuals through the transmission of some message (Bettinghaus & Cody, 1987, p. 3);

• a symbolic activity whose purpose is to affect the internalization or voluntary acceptance of new cognitive
states or patterns of overt behavior through the exchange of messages (Smith, 1982, p. 7);

• a successful intentional effort at influencing another's mental state through communication in a

circumstance in which the persuadee has some measure of freedom (O'Keefe, 1990, p. 17)
PERSUATION IS….

 A symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or
behavior regarding an issue through the transmission of a message, in an atmosphere of free choice

THE FIVE COMPONENTS OF THE DEFENITION

1. Persuasion is a symbolic process:

 Contrary to popular opinion, persuasion does not happen with the flick of a switch. You don't just
change people's minds, snap, crackle, and pop. On the contrary, persuasion takes time, consists of
a number of steps, and actively involves the recipient ofthe message.

 Persuasion also involves the use of symbols, with messages transmitted primarily through
language with its rich, cultural meanings. Symbols include words like freedom, justice, and equality;
nonverbal signs like the flag, Star of David, or Holy Cross; and images that are instantly recognized
and processed like the Nike Swoosh or McDonald's Golden Arches. Symbols are persuaders' tools,
harnessed to change attitudes and mold opinions.

2. Persuasion involves an attempt to influence.

 Persuasion does not automatically or inevitably succeed. Like companies that go out of business
soon after they open, persuasive communications often fail to reach or influence their targets.
However, persuasion does involve a deliberate attempt to influence another person. The persuader
must intend to change another individual's attitude or behavior, and must be aware (at least at some
level) that she is trying to accomplish this goal

IS IT PERSUATION OR NOT?

It pushes the envelope to say that very young children are capable of persuasion. True, a mother responds to
an infant's cry for milk by dashing to the refrigerator (or lending her breast, if that's her feeding preference).
Yes, we have all shopped in toy stores and watched as 2-year-olds point to toys seen on television and scream
"I want that." And we have been witnessed to the pitiful sight of parents, who pride themselves on being
competent professionals, helplessly yielding to prevent any further embarrassment. Yet the baby's cry for milk
and the toddler's demand for toys do not qualify as persuasion. These youngsters have not reached the point
where they are aware that they are trying to change another person's mental state. Their actions are better
described as coercive social influence than persuasion. In order for children to practice persuasion, they must
understand that other people can have desires and beliefs, recognize that the persuade has a mental state that
is susceptible to change, demonstrate a primitive awareness that they intend to influence another person, and
realize that the persuade has a different perspective than they do, even if they cannot put all this into words
(Bartsch & London, 2000). As children grow, they appreciate these things, rely less on coercive social influence
attempts than on persuasion, and develop the ability to persuade others more effectively (Kline & Clinton,
1998).

The main point here is that persuasion represents a conscious attempt to influence the other party, along with
an accompanying awareness that the persuadee has a mental state that is susceptible to change.

It is a type of social influence. Social influence is the broad process in which the behavior of one person alters
the thoughts or actions of another. Social influence can occur when receivers act on cues or messages that
were not necessarily intended for their consumption (Dudczak, 2001).

Persuasion occurs within a context of intentional messages that are initiated by a communicator in hopes of
influencing the recipient. This is pretty heady stuff, but it is important because if you include every possible
influence attempt under the persuasion heading, you count every communication as persuasion.
People persuade themselves

One of the great myths of persuasion is that persuaders convince us to do things we really don't want to do.
They supposedly overwhelm us with so many arguments or such verbal ammunition that we acquiesce. They
force us to give in. This overlooks an important point: People persuade themselves to change attitudes or
behavior. Communicators provide the arguments. They set up the bait. We make the change, or refuse to
yield.

As D. Joel Whalen (1996) puts it:You can understand the power of self-persuasion by considering an activity
that does not at first blush seem to involve persuasive communication: therapy. Therapists undoubtedly help
people make changes in their lives. But have you ever heard someone say, "My therapist persuaded me"? On
the contrary, people who seek psychological help look into themselves, consider what ails them, and decide
how best to cope. The therapist offers suggestions and provides an environment in which healing can take
place (Kassan, 1999). But if progress occurs, it is the client who makes the change—and it is the client who is
responsible fo rmaking sure that she does not revert back to the old ways of doing things. Of course, not every
self-persuasion is therapeutic. Self-persuasion can be benevolent or malevolent. An ethical communicator will
plant the seeds for healthy self-influence. A dishonest, evil persuader convinces a person to change her mind
in a way that is personally or socially destructive. Note also that persuasion typically involves change. It does
not focus on forming attitudes, but on inducing people to alter attitudes they already possess. This can involve
shaping, molding, or reinforcing attitudes

3. Persuasion involves the transmission of a message.

 Message may be verbal or nonverbal.
 It can be relayed interpersonally, through mass media, or via the Internet. It may be reasonable or
unreasonable, factual or emotional.
 The message can consist of arguments or simple cues, like music in an advertisement that brings
pleasant memories to mind. Persuasion is a communicative activity; thus, there must be a message for
persuasion, as opposed to other forms of social influence, to occur. Life is packed with messages that
change or influence attitudes.

4. Persuasion requires free choice.

 If, as noted earlier, self-persuasion is the key to successful influence, then an individual must be free to
alter his own behavior or to do what he wishes in a communication setting. But what does it mean to be
free? Philosophers have debated this question for centuries, and if you took a philosophy course, you
may recall those famous debates about free will verus determinism. There are more than 200
definitions of freedom, and, as we will see, it's hard to say precisely when coercion ends and
persuasion begins. I suggest that a person is free when he has the ability to act otherwise—to do other
than what the persuader suggests—or to reflect critically on his choices in a situation (Smythe, 1999).

Persuasion versus coercion

 Persuasion deals with reason and verbal appeals, while coercion employs force, you suggest.
 It's not a bad start, but there are subtle relationships between the terms—fascinating overlaps—that
you might not ordinarily think of.
 Philosophers define coercion as a technique for forcing people to act as the coercer wants them to act,
and presumably contrary to their preferences.
5. It usually employs a threat of some dire consequence if the communicators employed a direct or veiled
threat

The point to remember here is that persuasion and coercion are not polar opposites, but overlapping concepts.

THE BAD BOY OF PERSUASION

 One other term frequently comes up when persuasion is discussed—propaganda. Propaganda overlaps with
persuasion, as both are invoked to describe powerful instances of social influence. However, there are three
differences between the terms

First, propaganda is typically invoked to describe mass influence through mass media. Persuasion, by
contrast, occurs in mediated settings, but also in interpersonal and organizational contexts.

Second, propaganda refers to instances in which a group has total control over the transmission of
information
in persuasion situations, people can ordinarily question the persuader or offer contrasting opinions. A third
difference lies in the connotation or meaning of the terms. Propaganda has a negative connotation; it is
associated with bad things or evil forces. Persuasion, by contrast, is viewed as a more positive force, one that
can produce beneficial outcomes. Subjectively, we use the term

UNDERSTANDING PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION EFFECTS

There are different kinds of persuasive communications, and they have different types of effects. some
messages dramatically influence attitudes; others exert smaller or more subtle impacts. Taking note of this,
Miller (1980) proposed that communications exert three different persuasive effects:
1. shaping,
2. reinforcing,
3. and changing responses.

SHAPING
- It's a symbol that resonates and has helped make Nike a leader in the athletic shoe business. The now-
classic ad campaigns featuring Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson helped mold attitudes toward Nike by
linking Nike with movement, speed, and superhuman athletic achievement. A nastier example is cigarette
marketing. Tobacco companies spend millions to shape people's attitudes toward cigarettes, hoping they
can entice young people to take a pleasurable, but deadly, puff. Marketers shape attitudes by associating
cigarettes with beautiful women and virile men. They appeal to teenage girls searching for a way to rebel
against boyfriends or parents by suggesting that smoking can make them appear defiant and strong
willed. ("I always take the driver's seat. That way I'm never taken for a ride," says one Virginia Slims ad.)

REINFORCE
Contrary to popular opinion, many persuasive communications are not designed to convert people, but to
reinforce a position they already hold., health education experts attempt to strengthen people's resolve to
maintain their decision to quit smoking or to abstain from drinking in excess. Persuaders recognize that
people can easily relapse under stress, and they design messages to help individuals maintain their
commitment to give up unhealthy substances.

CHANGING
Communications can and do change attitudes. For example, the last 50 years on the subject of race. In the
1950s and '60s, Blacks were lynched for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, many southerners openly
opposed school desegregation, and northern Whites steered clear of socializing with Black friends or
colleagues. This changed as civil rights campaigns, heart-rending media stories, and increased dialogue
between Blacks and Whites led Whites to rethink their prejudiced attitudes toward African Americans
(Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 1997). Attitudes have changed on other topics too—sex roles, the environment,
fatty fast food, and exercise. Persuasive communications have had strong and desirable effects. They can
influence attitudes and social behavior.

WHAT IS PERSUASION?

Persuasion is an attempt to get a person to behave in a manner, or embrace a point of view related to values,
attitudes, and beliefs, that he or she would not have done otherwise.

THREE FORMS OF PROOF

Rhetorical scholars all the way back to Aristotle have identified at least three forms of proof: ethos, pathos, and
logos. Some of the most ancient knowledge ever taught in Western Civilization, indeed the first pay-for-
education lessons, concerned persuasive speaking. There are three forms of “proof,” or reasons for why
audiences agree with a speaker-persuader. These forms date back to antiquity, to the ancient Greeks.
ETHOS

Ethos is your credibility as a speaker. It is the degree to which an audience perceives a speaker having its
best interests at heart. The Greeks referred to this as the speaker having: Good Will, Good Sense, and Good
Morals. Today, part of this perception depends upon whether the speaker’s presentation is well organized and
whether the speaker seems knowledgeable about the subject, which includes having credible source material
and an engaging speaking style.
PATHOS

Pathos refers to the emotional impact of your message. Indeed, it is not enough that your argument makes
sense. Your argument must also resonate with an audience, or help an audience identify with your topic or
stance. Pathos also includes appeals to cultural heritage or shared values. For instance, both pro-war and anti-
war speakers must appeal to patriotism if their argument has a chance to be successful. Personal stories, or
hypothetical stories, are often used for the purpose of helping the audience identify with a speaker’s stance.
LOGOS

Logos refers to the reasoning employed by a speaker. A good argument is logical; it has a correct internal
structure, insofar as each point relates accurately to other points, and is complete – “no stone left unturned.”
Evidence in the form of statistical data and/or real or hypothetical examples are part of this form of proof. An
argument does not have to be “right” to be structurally sound, where a speaker’s claims are backed up by
credible evidence.

ARGUMENTATIVE FALLACIES

Argumentative Fallacies, or flawed logical appeals, are more common than many of us realize.
Argumentative fallacies are embedded in many of the persuasive appeals found in advertisements and political
campaigns. We even commit these fallacies in our own lives and relationships. The following is a short list of
some of the more common fallacies that we encounter daily:
Ad Hominem: attacking a person’s character instead of the content of that person’s argument. Engaging in
name-calling rather than addressing another person’s argument.
Appeal to Authority: appeal to a popular figure that is not an authority in that area.
Bandwagon: going along with the crowd in support of a conclusion.
Begging the Question: implicitly using your conclusion as a premise (reason).
False Analogy: a failure in analogical reasoning that draws an inappropriate comparison between two ideas or
situations.
False Cause: a failure in causal reasoning usually relying on coincidence or correlation.
False Dilemma: assumes falsely that a complicated problem has particular choices when there are more.

Hasty Generalization: a failure in inductive reasoning where assumptions (stereotypes) are based on

insufficient evidence—essentially making a rushed conclusion without considering all of the variables.
Non Sequitur: drawing a conclusion which does not follow from the evidence.
Red Herring: introduces an irrelevant or secondary subject to divert the attention from the main topic.
Slippery Slope: a string of “if-then” statements that form what may seem like a valid argument; but, typically
draws a conclusion that is exaggerated.
Straw Man: distorting an opposing view so that it is easy to refute.