COMM 4060-Persuasion

Eaves

Chapter 7-O=Keefe

Read O=Keefe--pp. 169-180

Issues:

I. Experimental Design/Causal Inference

A. Basic Design

1. Independent vs. Dependent Variable

2. Explicit vs. Implicit--Conclusion

B. Variations

1. Initial attitude vs. Post-test

2. Post-test only

II. Two General Problems in Studying Persuasive Effects

A. Generalizability

B. Intervening Variables

C. External vs. Internal Validity

 

Chapter 8-O=Keefe

Read O=Keefe--pp. 181-213

Issues:

I. Credibility

A. Defined: judgments made by a perceiver concerning the believability of a communicator (p. 181)

B. Dimensions--Competence vs. Trustworthiness

1. Miles/Leathers (1984) study of an office setting

2. Issue of internal reliability (0.85 or higher)

3. McDonald=s vs. Burger King Study (Eaves/Leather-1991-Journal of Applied Communication Research)

C. Factors Influencing Credibility Judgments

1. Education, occupation, experience

2. Nonfluencies (uh, um, accent, pauses)

* Bowers (1965) study comparing rapid vs. Slow speech--one being an extroverted, the other introverted delivery style respectively

3. Speaking Rate-leads to greater perceived knowledge, intelligence, and objectivity--although conflict in the research about the effects upon credibility and trustowrthiness

4. Citation of Sources--many studies show that more citations in a speech enhances credibility and trustworthiness

5. Position Advocated-if the position DISCONFIRMS the audience=s expectations about the communicator=s views

6. Liking for the Communicator--variables about liking include: friendly, pleasant, nice, valuable--perceived impact on credibility include: honest, trustworthy, unselfish, just

7. Humor--Gruner is the number one source who has studied humor and communication--occasionally affect trustworthiness and almost never affect competence; some research even suggests that humor can DECREASE the liking of the communicator

D. Effects of Credibility

E. Liking--in general, the more liked a person is, the more persuasive he or she is

1. Effects of liking are minimized when there is increased receiver involvement (so liking is a peripheral cue, right?)

2. Grasshopper study

3. Other source factors --similarity, physical attraction

discuss problems of experimental design and results with these variables: problem in defintions, problems of internal reliability (cite: matching hypothesis study-UGA, 1988)