Chapter 9

Eaves-Persuasion

Read pp. 158-174

Message Factors:

I. Message Structure

A. Climax versus anti-climax order of the arguments

(Has little impact on the overall persuasion--some exceptions to this general rule--i.e., attorney before S Ct)

B. Recommended to use explicit conclusions, even for more intelligent or educated audiences

II. Message Content

A. In general, two-sided persuasive messages are MORE effective than are one-sided messages (p. 161)

B. For both familiar and unfamiliar messages, two-sided messages are more effective (pp. 161-162)

C. Refuting objections is good, ONLY when the objection is about an issue that the audience deems relevant (p. 162)

D. Persuasion is a relative term--degree of attitude change can be achieved (p. 163+)

E. Discrepancy-Effectiveness Relationship:

Inverted U-Curve Relationship--it appears that large and small discepancies are least effective--ideally, there should be MODERATE amount of discrepancy for the most persuasion (p. 164)

F. Fear Appeals

1. Strong vs. Weak Fear Appeals (definition, fear arousal)

2. Research conclusions:

a) It is NOT easy to manipulate the fear arousal in the audience (p. 166)

b) The message that DOES PRODUCE FEAR, will, in general, lead to more persuasion

c) Fear appeal must meet BOTH standards as outlined in F, 1 above--it should meet strong definition and create audience arousal

3. Fear Appeal is largely a central cue, although elements and consequences could become peripheral cues--give examples of each--a Horror story--text is graphic--but the presentation makes it more scarry--example Darth Vader--Star Wars, combination of central and peripheral cues in his FEAR APPEAL to Luke

G. Examples versus Summaries

Example-case history--much detail about one thing

Summary--numerical representation of many things, very little detail

Research illustrates that example persuasion may be MORE EFFECTIVE, less decay, than the messages with summary (p,169

III. Sequential-Request Strategies

A. Foot-in-the-Door (FITD)

Small initial request, approval, followed by a larger request

1. Will improve compliance on occasion (p. 169)

2. Factors influencing FITD:

a) no obvious external justification for complying with the original request

b) the larger the first request, the more successful the FITD strategy

c) if the receiver actually PERFORMS the first request

d) more effective when requests come from institutions (i.e., environmental groups, Kiwanis, etc)

B. Door-in-the-Face (DITF)

Larger initial request, approval, then smaller, more critical request

1. Will improve compliance on occasion (p. 171)

2. Factors influencing DITF:

the volunteer study --Cialdini et al (1975)

Factors:

a) Reciprocal Concessions--second request, since smaller, is seen as a concession by the requestor, thus the receiver agrees

In general, poor research findings on DITF