Persuasion Skills

Dr. Arindam Das

Associate Professor
Alliance School of Business
Alliance University
 What is Persuasion
 Persuasion is the use of communication
to influence beliefs, attitudes and/or
behavior
› If the persuasive communication is meant
first and foremost to advance the interests
of the speaker/author ahead of other
considerations, it is propaganda
 The study of persuasion has been one
of the main foci of media studies
 Carl Hovland : (June 12, 1912 – April 16, 1961)
was a psychologist working primarily at Yale
University and for the US Army during World War
II who studied attitude change and persuasion.
He first reported the ”sleeper effect” after
studying the effects of the Frank
Capra's propaganda film Why We Fight on
soldiers in the Army.
 Applied Lasswell’s paradigm for study:
› Who?
› Says What?
› To Whom?
› In Which Channel?
› With what effect?
 Who?
 Hovland et al. looked at the effects of
credibility of source on the
effectiveness of attitude change
messages.
› Controlled experimental designs
› Presented identical messages but varied
the source of the message
 News stories and editorials supposedly
written by sources of greater or lesser
credibility, or from more or less credible
news organizations
 Hovland et al.
• The researchers found that credibility of
the source was an important determinant
of the persuasiveness of the message
– However, the impact of message source
seemed to decay over time
• Sleeper effect
– Credibility of the source was tied to a number
of characteristics
• Expertise
• Trustworthiness
• Likeability
 Expertise

 Does the source appear to be

knowledgeable on the topic?
› A source may be perceived to have
expertise even if he doesn’t
 “I‘m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”
 All sorts of actors dressed up as doctors in
early commercials
 FCC (Federal Communications Commission) of
America restricted representations of sources—
cannot be misleading or false
 Eg. Kajol in Lifebuoy Ads
 Trustworthiness
 If the source seems honest and
straightforward we are more likely to
be convinced by what she says
› The audience has some reason to believe
the source is honest
 Newsperson’s commitment to objectivity
 A history of openness and honesty (self-
disclosure)
 Eg. Oprah Winfrey Show
 Trustworthiness
• Another source of trustworthiness is situational.
– If the speaker or author is perceived to
be arguing in favor of a position that is in
her self-interest she will be less
persuasive
– If you overhear someone talking you are
more likely to be influenced than if they
know you are listening
• An experiment with a supposedly overheard
discussion led to greater attitude change
› When the speaker argues
against his own self-interest, he
is more persuasive
 A group of wealthy people opposed
to the repeal of the inheritance tax
 Charisma
 Personal charm or likeability
› Ronald Reagan
 “Teflon president”
› Celebrity endorsements
 Not really clear why some people are
appealing
 Physical attractiveness
› Physically attractive people are liked,
trusted
 Homophily
• If the speaker is a lot like the audience
member, he is more likely to be persuasive
– Probably a combination of expertise (she
understands me and my situation) likeability
(people like those who share their view of the
world) and trustworthiness (I can trust someone
like me)
• In propaganda studies, this is called “Just Plain Folks”
• Candidates try to portray themselves as resembling
the group they are targeting
– Eating ethnic foods
– Wearing work clothes
 Sources
 Heavy use of celebrities
› Positive affect prior to advertising, etc.
› Natural on-air presentation
› Physical attractiveness
› Association with certain image, roles
Says what? (content)
 Structure of arguments
› One-sided message v. two-sided
message
› Primacy v. recency
› Conclusive v. non-conclusive
 Rational v. emotional appeals
› Fear
› Humor
 Visual v. semantic appeals
 (cf. Elaboration Likelihood
Model Theory)
 Direct
 Peripheral (by sender)(as receivers are ‘cognitive
misers’ & at the lower level of elaboration continuum)
• Robert Cialdini (Psychologist): “Principles of Social
Effect”
•Authority (force/threat)
•Commitment ( even if product is slightly modified)
•Liking (Brand Ambassador)
•Reciprocity (harping on mutual benefit)
•Scarcity
•Social Proof (do as the society is doing)
 Prahalad, C. K. (2005). The fortune at the bottom
of the pyramid: Eradicating poverty through
profits. New Delhi: Pearson Education and
Wharton School.
According to the Hammond et al. study (Hammond, Kramer, Katz, Tran, & Walker, 2007),
it is said that the BOP is estimated to have 4 billion people with incomes below $3,000
per annum in local purchasing power. Also that BOP markets are predominantly rural
with the majority living in Africa, South Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the
Caribbean.

Best Mix: Communication and Awareness through CSR

 Fear appeals

• Fear appeals have been heavily studied

– Hovland et al. concluded that moderate fear
was the most effective
• Too little fear does not motivate
• Too much fear causes target to avoid message
or implications
– More recent findings have led to conclusion
that high levels of fear work well if a sense
of efficacy is generated and clear means of
dealing with the fear provided (eg. Images in
Cigarette Packets)
 Content
• Emotional content
– Pathos
– Humor
– Love
– Desire
– Jealousy
• Cultural symbolism
– Flags
– Weddings
– Cars
 Framing (Focusing & Filtering) Goffman
(1974) Fairhurst and Sarr (1996)

 Metaphor: To frame a conceptual idea through comparison to

something else.
 Stories (myths, legends): To frame a topic via narrative in
a vivid and memorable way.
 Tradition (rituals, ceremonies): Cultural mores that imbue
significance in the mundane, closely tied to artifacts.
 Slogan, jargon, catchphrase: To frame an object with a catchy
phrase to make it more memorable and relate-able.
 Artifact: Objects with intrinsic symbolic value – a visual/cultural
phenomenon that holds more meaning than the object it self.
 Contrast: To describe an object in terms of what it is not.
 Spin: to present a concept in such a ways as to convey a value
judgement (positive or negative) that might not be
immediately apparent; to create an inherent bias by definition.
 To whom?
• Personality factors
– Self-esteem
• Education
– Two-sided messages (favouring/opposing) are more
effective with more formally educated while one-
sided are more effective with less formally educated
– Rational appeals relatively more effective with more
formally educated
• Interest
– Topical interest predicts topical knowledge and pre-
existing attitudes (varies with demographics)
 Gender
› Women are more persuadable
 May no longer be true
 Social norms/beliefs
 Active participation
 Audience

• Targeting
– Choice of media based on the ability to
reach a target audience
• Target is usually “low hanging fruit”
• Fish where the fish are
• Fish when the fish are biting
– Messages written for particular audience
rather than for everyone
• “Tailored” messages are now possible—
evidence indicates they are more effective
 Audience
 Audience feedback is used to improve
messages, further communicate with
likely purchasers/buyers of your
persuasive message
 With what effect? (Ivan
Pavlov??)
• Learning
– Most common/easiest change
• Attitude change
– Especially when existing attitudes are not strongly
held
• Behavior intention
– Most predictive of actual behavior
• Behavior
– Changing behavior is very difficult because of the
multiple influences that determine behavior
• Biological, psychological, situational, cultural influences
 With what effect?
 Sleeper effect
 Selectivity
 Interaction with
education/demographics
› One-sided v. two-sided
 ‘Boomerang effects’
 Effect
 Varies across topics/products,
audiences, campaigns
› Information
› Attitude change
› Positioning/branding
 Other Approaches
 Classical Rhetorical Approach
(Ethos+Pathos+Praxis)
 Bait and Switch (bit unethical and
manipulative)
 Door-in-the-face Approach (rejection of
Claim 1 and then real offer)
 Foot-in-the-door Approach (small to big
offer)