PSYC 241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Cognitive Model, Attitude Change, Social Proof
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Persuasion
Attitude – applies some kind of opinion
Belief – some cognition
In persuasion a third party is trying to change attitudes, behaviours and beliefs
e.g. advertisements, friends/family,
Stages in the persuasion process
- Exposure
o Putting it into our field of vision or hearing
- Attention
o Do something to grab our attention
- Comprehension
o Provide this in a way that makes sense, in a way that gets us to do what they want
- Yielding
o We have to accept the message
- Memory
o We have to remember the message
Processing attempts at persuasion
- Given the ubiquity of persuasive attempts, we cannot process all of the persuasive
messages that we encounter
- What are some of the factors that will affect whether we process a message carefully?
o Make the ad visually appealing
o Connect to something that is socially desirable (weight loss etc.)
o Peer appeal
We will process a message carefully when we are:
- Motivated to do so
o We care enough to process it
o Involvement
▪ We care if the ad involves us somehow
o Personal responsibility
▪ If we are the ones buying the products, we care more
o Need for cognition
▪ Individual difference variable that is somewhat related to intelligence but
more so relate to the extent to which people enjoy thinking (e.g. doing the
crossword)
- Able to do so
o Distraction
▪ If we are distracted we may not notice the ad
o Knowledge
▪ If we don’t know much about the topic then it is unlikely to persuade us
o Time pressure
▪ If we are under a lot of time pressure we don’t have the cognitive space to
think about messages
Elaboration likelihood model (petty and Cacioppo)
- There are two routes to persuasion
o Central route
▪ People carefully and deliberately scrutinize message content
▪ Really look at the ads and think about the messages
▪ Substance of the argument really matters because people are going to
think about it
▪ E.g.
• Logic of arguments
• Strength of arguments
• Related evidence
▪ Attitude change:
• Enduring
• Resistant to change
▪ High motivation and high ability to process
o Peripheral route
▪ People attend to relatively simple, superficial cues
▪ The style of the argument matters, not so much the message
▪ E.g.
• Message length
• Communicator attractiveness
• Communicator expertise
▪ Attitude change
• Temporary
• Susceptible to change
▪ Low motivation and ability to process
Studies testing the ELM
- Students heard a message about instituting comprehensive exams
- The independent variables were
o Argument strength (weak or strong)
▪ People were told either strong or weak arguments
o Personal relevance (next year or 10 years from now)
Document Summary
In persuasion a third party is trying to change attitudes, behaviours and beliefs e. g. advertisements, friends/family, Exposure: putting it into our field of vision or hearing. Attention: do something to grab our attention. Comprehension: provide this in a way that makes sense, in a way that gets us to do what they want. Yielding: we have to accept the message. Memory: we have to remember the message. Given the ubiquity of persuasive attempts, we cannot process all of the persuasive messages that we encounter. What are some of the factors that will affect whether we process a message carefully: make the ad visually appealing, connect to something that is socially desirable (weight loss etc. , peer appeal. We will process a message carefully when we are: Motivated to do so: we care enough to process it, involvement, we care if the ad involves us somehow, personal responsibility. If we are the ones buying the products, we care more: need for cognition.
