Persuasion And Its Various Types
Persuasive communication, according to communication scholar Gerald R. Miller, is any message that aims to shape, reinforce, or change people's perceptions, emotions, beliefs, behavioural intentions, and behaviours. According to historical records, the study of persuasive communication dates back to Ancient Greece and spans more than two centuries. Plato and Aristotle defined rhetoric as an oral persuasion technique, which was followed by notable Roman scholars such as Buintillian and Cicero. Rhetoric, according to Cicero, is a speech intended to persuade.
EVOLUTION:
• The development of mass media facilitated the broadening of the concept of rhetoric beyond oratory after many decades. Kenneth Burke, a philosopher, was the first to recognise the persuasive power of nonverbal domains.
• Burke's work sparked interest in the study of persuasion in other domains, sparking a surge in visual rhetoric, which is defined as the art of persuasion through imagery and visuals. Persuasion is a long-term endeavour, according to the literature. It's a way of looking at the world and being in it.
DEFINATION:
• Persuasion is defined as the process of changing or reinforcing a person's attitudes, beliefs, or behaviour in management literature.
• People react to persuasive messages in one of two ways: thoughtfully or unconsciously.
• When people are thinking, the persuasiveness of a message is determined by the message's merits. People's brains are locked on automatic when they respond to messages mindlessly.
• The attractiveness of the speakers and the reaction of the listeners are the most important factors in persuasion. Communication, learning, awareness, and thought are all integral parts of persuasion.
PROCESS OF PERSUASION
• Both the persuader and the recipient of the persuasive message are willing participants in the persuasion process.
• Persuasion is a series of steps that must be followed in order to be successful:
• The communication is presented; the recipient pays attention to it; he comprehends the message's contents as well as the main point being pushed. However, in order for persuasion to work, the individual must first agree with or yield to the point being pressed, and then act on it, or in other words, carry out the behaviour implied by his new attitude change.
COMPONENTS OF PERSUASION
The source, message, context of the message channel, receiver, and audience are all parts of the communication process.
1. The perceived sender of the communication is one of the "source" factors.
2. The term "message" refers to what a person says, including style, content, and organisation.
3. "Channel" refers to the medium (e.g., press, radio, or television) through which the message is communicated.
• A persuasive message's source is the communicator who delivers it. If a source is seen as credible (believable) and attractive, he or she will be more persuasive.
A source can be trusted in one of two ways:
a. By claiming to be an expert
b. By appearing to be trustworthy.
1. The Message: Emotional appeals or rational opinions can be used to persuade people. Short emotional appeals may be more effective than rational arguments when time is limited. There is also evidence that two-sided messages persuade more intelligent audiences better, most likely because they are more aware of the issue's two sides.
2. The Context: Promoters frequently struggle to suppress internal counterarguments to their persuasive messages. People are usually free to limit our attention or silently counter argue with a persuasive message when they listen to or read it. When subjects are distracted, they are more likely to accept a persuasive message than when they are allowed to focus on their counterarguments, according to research.
3. The Audience: Several studies focused on persuasive message recipients, or the audience, to see when some people are more persuadable than others. Many audience characteristics, such as involvement or intelligence, interact with message variables. Simple emotional messages persuade intellectual recipients more than simple emotional messages persuade unintelligent recipients.
PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION CAN BE DIRECTED AT
1. Cognition: Persuasion can be used to persuade people to change their minds about an object or an issue, including attributes, interpretation, definition, and outcome, among other things.
2. Attitude: Persuasion can be used to change people's attitudes toward an object or an issue, which refers to categorising something or someone along an evaluative axis.
3. Behaviour: Persuasion can be used to change people's behaviour, which is their outward actions in response to an object or a problem.
Perloff, a well-known theorist, defined persuasion as a symbolic process in which communicators try to persuade others to change their attitudes or behaviours about an issue by transmitting a message in a free-choice environment.
PRIME ELEMENTS OF HIS EXPLANATION OF PERSUASION ARE THAT
1. Words, images, and sounds are all used in symbolic persuasion.
2. It entails a conscious attempt to sway others.
3. Persuasion of oneself is essential. People are not forced to do anything; instead, they are given the option to do so.
4. Persuasive messages can be delivered in a variety of ways, including verbally and nonverbally via television, radio, the Internet, and face-to-face communication.
PERSUASIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL MANIPULATION TECHNIQUES:
Persuasion techniques that have been around for a long time are frequently used.
1. FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR:
• The persuasion technique of foot-in-the-door, which starts with a small request and gradually builds up to larger requests.
• Accepting a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second, larger request, according to the foot in the door technique.
2. LOW-BALLING:
• Low-balling is a persuasion technique in which a product is offered at a lower price than it is intended to be charged.
• Low-balling is a popular strategy for persuading people to pay a higher price by ensuring buy-in at a lower level.
• People's need to be consistent in their behaviour once they've decided to buy something ensures that their decision was correct, even if the price is later increased.
• Low-balling is a common sales tactic in the auto industry. The key to low-balling success is not only to make the first offer appealing enough to elicit compliance, but also to avoid making the second offer so extravagant that it is rejected.
3. DOOR-IN-THE-FACE:
• The door-in-the-face persuasion technique starts with a large, often unreasonable request in order to gain eventual compliance with a smaller request.
• The door-in-the-face technique works by making an excessive and likely-to-be-rejected request first. The main goal is to persuade people to agree to the second, smaller request, which, when compared to the first, larger request, may appear to be quite reasonable.
• People may also feel guilty if they refuse the first request. The second request allows them to absolve themselves of their guilt. As a result, they're far more likely to say yes.
4. FOOT IN THE MOUTH:
• By telling someone that they are wonderful, he can make himself feel committed to acting in a manner that is consistent with that statement.
5. THAT’S NOT ALL (TNA):
• Discounts, incentives, and small perks are discussed in this technique of 'that’s not all, folks.'
• That's Not All: Using the reciprocity principle, the persuader gives the person something that will persuade them to comply with the request even more.
• This technique involves offering a high-priced product to a person, preventing them from responding for a short period of time, and then offering them a better deal by offering another product or lowering the price.
6. FEAR THAN RELIEF:
• In this technique, fear is invoked in the other person. Then, when they're looking for a solution, give them one that points them in the direction you want them to go.
• Threatening needs instil fear in people. It's possible that doing what you've asked for will bring you relief.
• Relief can also be given 'unrestrictedly' to build trust and invoke social exchange rules.
7. SCARCITY & REACTANCE THEORY:
• Scarcity is a persuasion technique in which the perception of limited availability is used to entice interest or competition.
• Persuasion research focuses on written or spoken messages sent from source to recipient, which is defined as a change in attitudes or beliefs based on information received from others.
• These studies are based on the assumption that when people are motivated and able to do so, they carefully process messages.
• The elaboration likelihood model and heuristic-systemic models are two types of theories used in modern persuasion research.
8. THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL:
• Cacioppo, Petty, and Stoltenberg's elaboration likelihood model is the most widely used in therapeutic and counselling settings.
• It denotes that how much and what kind of thinking a person does about a message influences the type of persuasion the message generates.
• Source, message, recipient, affect, channel, and context are all aspects of the persuasion situation in this model. The degree to which the message's issue is relevant to the recipient is of primary importance.
• This model has been shown to be effective in persuading people to make healthier choices, such as cancer patients, HIV/AIDS patients, and adolescents who are at risk of tobacco use.
9. HEURISTIC-SYSTEMIC:
• Argument strength will be most effective in persuading an individual when she is inspired and able to pay attention to the message, according to heuristic-systemic models.
• Persuasion will take place through more indirect means such as nonverbal cues or source credibility when the target individual is not motivated or unable to pay attention.
• Persuasion that occurs through the systemic route will be more long lasting. The heuristic route to persuasion is more likely to be temporary.
10. ATTRIBUTION THEORY OF PERSUASION:
• Individuals use attribution to clarify the causes of their actions and events. The study of models to explain those processes is known as attribution theory.
• Humans use either dis-positional attribution or situational attribution to explain the actions of others. Internal attribution attempts to indicate a person's traits, abilities, motives, or dispositions as a cause or explanation for their actions.
• External attribution, also known as situational attribution, attempts to point to the context around a person and factors in his environment, particularly things that are completely out of his control.
• People's tendency to place an excessive emphasis on internal characteristics (dispositional explanations) to explain other people's behaviour in a given situation, rather than considering external factors, is known as fundamental attribution error (situational explanations).
• When trying to explain or understand a person's behaviour, people tend to make dispositional attributions more often than situational attributions. This occurs when people are more focused on the individual because they are unfamiliar with their situation.
• People tend to explain positive behaviours and accomplishments with dispositional attributions, but their own negative behaviours and shortcomings with situational attributions, in order to persuade others.
11. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AS A PERSUASION PROCESS:
• In persuasion, conditioning is also important. Rather than giving direct commands, it is more common to guide someone into taking certain actions on their own.
• It can be used to advertise products. Because most purchases are made on the basis of emotion, this conditioning is thought to affect how people view certain products.
12. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY IN PERSUASION:
• Individuals who hold two or more contradictory views, ideas, or values at the same time, or who are confronted with new information that contradicts existing beliefs, ideas, or values, experience cognitive dissonance.
• Humans are constantly striving for mental consistency. Their cognition (thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes) can agree, disagree, or be unrelated to one another.
• These psychological processes can also agree or disagree with our actions. People experience a sense of incompleteness and discomfort when they detect conflicting cognition, also known as dissonance.
• People are motivated to reduce cognitive dissonance until their minds are in sync with one another. Dissonance can be reduced or eliminated in four ways:
1. Changing people's minds about one aspect of cognition.
2. Diminishing the significance of cognition.
3. Expanding the area of overlap between the two.
4. Reconsider the cost/benefit ratio.
13. Elaboration likelihood model:
• Traditionally, there have been two paths to persuasion.
• The central route is when a person evaluates information presented to them based on its benefits and drawbacks, as well as how well it supports their values.
• Change is mediated by the attractiveness of the source of communication and by skipping the deliberation process.
EFFECTS OF PERSUASION
According to Miller, persuasive communications have three different effects: shaping, reinforcing, and changing responses.
1. Shaping: People's attitudes are "shaped" by associating pleasant surroundings with a product, person, or idea.
2. Reinforcing: Contrary to popular belief, many persuasive communications are not intended to persuade people to change their minds; rather, they are intended to reinforce a position they already hold.
3. Changing: Perhaps the most important persuasive effect, and the one that comes to mind first when we think of persuasion. Attitudes can and do change as a result of communication.
• Persuasion is a powerful tool for changing someone's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours.
• Persuasion is a technique for persuading someone to change their mind about something, such as an event, an idea, an object, or another person.
• The process of changing attitudes or beliefs through the use of logic and reason is known as systematic persuasion. In business, persuasion techniques such as low balling, foot in the door, door in the face, and others are used to persuade clients.
• Heuristic persuasion is popular in theoretical models. It is the process by which people's attitudes or beliefs are influenced by habit or emotion.
• Persuasion is the process of influencing a reader's attitude, beliefs, or actions in favour of the persuader. It is a symbolic process in which communicators use the transmission of a message to persuade others to change their attitudes or behaviour toward a topic in a free-choice environment.