Persuasion Exam 2
Clothes
Authority though uniform Priests, cops, security guards, and people in well-tailored business suits
Influence and persuasion
Based almost entirely on the heuristic or peripheral side of the ELM 1. reciprocation 2. commitment and consistency 3. social proof 4. liking 5. authority 6. scarcity
Low-ball technique
Begins with a good and attractive deal. Then just before the seal, the deal changes to something less attractive. In the meantime, the target has generated additional justifications. When the original reason is removed (the part of the deal that was most likely too good to be true), the additional justifications remain.
Social influence vs. social proof
# 1 selling Fastest growing Real person testimonials What is the inherent persuasion strategy being used in each of these message strategies?
Milgram experiment
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Door in the face
A compliance gaining technique of making a very large initial request, which the recipient is sure to turn down, followed by a smaller request The concession is reciprocated Also implements the contrast principle -first request makes second one sound much better because it wasn't nearly as unreasonable
Reciprocal concessions
A process of negotiation Rejection then retreat (or concede or give in) "We must reciprocate concessions when concessions have been granted to us" What is being reciprocated here?
Factors affecting vulnerability to commitments
Age Individualism Pride Self-consciousness The higher it is, the higher the vulnerability What type of person are we talking about here?
Triggers and heuristics
All represented by the concepts that make up the Cialdini text
Regan (1971)
Art appreciation study In every condition, the confederate asks the participant to buy some raffle tickets Reciprocity condition: confederate leaves room and returns with a Coke for the participant. Liking was completely unrelated to ticket purchases. Control condition: confederate leaves and returns empty handed. The more they liked the confederate, the more tickets they bought. Participants given a Coke bought twice as many tickets as those not given anything.
Reciprocity defense
Best to not reject all gifts to prevent obligation -some gifts are sincere -people who reject gifts are also not liked in our society (goes against social norms) Better to accept gift, but accept it for what it really is -if genuine gift, be prepared to return favor -if attempt to profit, reframe it as such
Product placement
Blurs the line between advertising and entertainment, and we seem to love it! They provide the entertainment and the elements that make up our reality and we reciprocate by buying the products
Sherif and colleagues
Boys camp Group separations increased competition and started ill will -team based sports and activities -boys lived in different barracks Competition was resolved only by making the groups come together to solve simulated camp crises
Triggers
Can be evoked by the person with the upper hand. Usually controlled by advertisers or the persuader.
Festinger, Reiken, and Schachter (1964)
Cult of middle aged men and women and high school-aged children Mysticism and UFOs 1 woman (the leader) received messages from the guardian and his messages became the basis for the cult Flood, UFO rescuers, no metal on clothing Group members became outcasts Very secretive Finally, after months of participation in the cult, the spaceship was supposed to come at midnight. Unfortunately, it did not show. Group is devastated and decides to go public By doing this, they sought to establish social proof (increased followers, more who know the story)
Negative aspects of blind authority
Cults (Jim Jones) and the People Temple Church and their mass suicide Blinding love Unethical evangelists Military
Reciprocity norm
Desire to reciprocate caused by internal discomfort and shame for not reciprocating Does this sound familiar with anything we have discussed this semester? Link all of the heuristics with theories. Do you think the reciprocity norm affects all people?
Social psychologist explanations (Kitty Genovese)
Diffusion of responsibility (too many witnesses= lower individual responsibility) The higher the number of bystanders=lower level of individual responsibility
Reciprocity heuristic
Door in face, exchange, cognitive dissonance, give/ take obligation. The concession is what's reciprocated. Like/ unwanted. Logrolling- when people exchange political favors.
Applications
ELM and autonomous actions- head or heart, loyalty beyond reasoning, death tax vs. estate tax, emotional branding Conditioning and association- branding Commitment and consistency- cult like devotion. Ads change or manipulate our idea of self (attitudes, values and beliefs) an we feel a need to maintain this new elf image (that has been created by advertisers and large corporations) Narrative paradigm- BMW movie ads, ads becoming part of our culture and our stories Reciprocity- obligation to receive ads for entrainment and to reciprocate by purchasing. We are provided with gifts, entertainment, and information to construct our own realities from advertisers and large companies. What is their intention? Do we have to reciprocate? Politeness- we can be manipulated to do some pretty ridiculous things by people that ask us nicely and say they respect us Social judgment theory- advertisers hold the upper hand when it comes to knowing our latitudes and anchors for persuasive messages Liking- do we really like these people we see on TV? Do they really like us? If not, why do we let them persuade us? Scarcity- does scarcity of products and services ever truly exist? If something makes money and has a high level of demand, will it ever become scarce?
Types of framing
Equivalency- effects are those that involve the use of different but logically equivalent words or phrases to describe the same event Emphasis- involves placing emphases on different subsets of potentially relevant considerations (common in political ads)
Langer, Blank and Chanowitz
Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine? = 60% Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the xerox machine because I am in a hurry? = 94% Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the xerox machine because I have to make some copies? = 93% "Because" serves as a trigger. People were more apt to comply, even if the reasons for the request were totally pointless or irrelevant.
When suicide is presented in the media
Fatal crashes in airplanes and cars increase dramatically Incidents were specific to the actual region where news is released More publicity= higher fatalities Single suicides posted= single fatalities Multiple suicides posted= multiple fatalities Young/old age suicides posted= young/ old age suicides occur Reasons? The Werther Effect
Research conducted in our field
Focus groups Various cult-like groups Participant interviews Global interactive marketing Narrowcasting
Pavlov experiments
Food was given to a dog was always accompanied by a bell Soon the dog salivated at the sound of the bell, even when no food was present
Commitment and consistency heuristic
Foot in door manipulates self image. The commitment is to self image. Once you commit to your self image you are then consistent. Lowball.
Defense
Genuine authority? -are the credentials of the expert real? -if so, does his or her credentials match the advice that is being provided? Trustworthiness? -what does this expert have to gain by persuading you to comply with his or her requests?
Head or heart
Head= logical and central Heart= emotional and peripheral
Autonomous actions
Heuristic or action on your behalf that you do not think about while you are doing it. Cialdini says: We don't have time to process everything
Urban environments
High levels of confusion High population Low levels of acquaintanceship
Perceptual contrast
If we see two things in sequence that are different from one another, we will tend to see the second one as more different from the first one than it actually is. Ex. If you lift two objects- a heavy one first and then a light one-you will probably estimate the weight of the second one as lighter than if you had just lifted it by itself. Ex. Salesperson ALWAYS shows the most expensive item first. Adding on expensive accessories will result in them being perceived as not being as expensive as the initial expensive purchase. Suit- $800 Socks- $20 Matching coat- $200 Belts and sweaters- $80 Another example: building a car online. If you're paying $30,000 for a car, you may as well spend a little bit more for the upgrades. Does this sound familiar to something else we discussed this semester? When a comparison is available, our judgment of the difference between the two stimuli is skewed.
Public commitments
Increase the likelihood of hung juries
Abuse of reciprocity
Is due to the sender always being in control of gifts and exchanges Small favor= small debt Large favor= larger debt
Guerilla marketing
Is psychological reactance a good thing? The more we become desensitized by novel advertising techniques, the more they keep becoming nonconventional There is a drive toward more novelty
Conditioning and association
It is natural for us to dislike a person who brings us unwanted or unpleasant information (weatherman) One study found that people were more pleased (had more positive associations) with people and things they experience while eating Luncheon technique: political statements were made before, during, and after a meal. The only statements that gained approval were those shown while the audience was eating Good cop/ bad cop Salesperson vs. the evil car dealership owner "Birds of a feather, always flock together"
Gifts vs Rewards
James and Bolstein (1992) found that a $5 gift was more effective than a $50 reward in getting people to return a survey. Which of these evoke the reciprocity principle? Be able to explain
Bandura, Grusec and Menlove (1967)
Kids with dog phobia shown pics of boys playing with dogs This was done on a daily basis for a 4 day period After 4 days, 67% of kids were ready to play with a dog
Social proof heuristic
Kitty Genovese, does something because they think others do, uncertainty, bystander effect, to get over the bystander effect you should point specifically. Pluralistic ignorance. Social proof for Kitty Genovese- what is everybody doing? Nothing? Okay so I wont either. # 1 Selling, America's best. Bandura, phobia. Grade distribution.
Language vs. facts
Language that grabs our guts and moves us to an emotional level Language that creates public support...ethical or unethical? The theory behind this concept is often reverses to change a word to something that is more offensive Estate tax vs. death tax Tax cuts vs. tax relief
Click whir
Leaves us vulnerable. Used by professional persuaders. We must be able to recognize these attempts. Tapping into a person's motivations for behavior allows for manipulation.
Tupperware party (weapons of influence)
Liking: people feel obligated to buy because they are friends with the person that is throwing the party Commitment: participants publicly agree that they in fact like Tupperware by showing up to the party and therefore are committed to purchase Reciprocity: games played/ prizes won; gifts are given to non-winners before buying begins. Food is also served. Social proof: people buy because others are buying.
Media based politics
Manipulation of the mass media is essential to political survival Movement from print to electric Television relies often on visual cues rather than logical arguments
Commitments that change the self-image
Must be active, public, take effort, and freely-chosen Be prepared to explain the importance (the why?) of each of these components
Authority heuristic
Nuremburg and milgram. Clothing, titles, power, trappings. Mall cops.
Pluralistic ignorance
Occurs when a majority of individuals in a group assume that they are different when in reality they are more similar than they realize Is increased with strangers
Agenda setting
Occurs when the media give priorities to certain policy issues Rests on the fact that the media have a high capacity to influence which issues we perceive as important The media does not tell us what to think but they tell us what to think about
Reciprocity in long term relationships
Offers differently with families and long-term friendships Characterized by a willingness to provide what the other needs, when it is needed Tit for that reciprocity would be awkward and unwanted IT does appear that we, as family members or long term friends, keep some accounting
Endless chain
Once a customer admits to liking a service or product, the salesperson presses the individual to provide the names of friends who might also like the product Using the name of the friend who "suggested I call you" makes it hard for a new customer to say no
Fixed Action Patterns
Patterns of behavior that occur the same every time Related to the concept of autonomous actions (remember this from our characteristics of persuasion?) Any time you're persuading people, you're trying to tap into their peripheral actions A fixed action pattern is also called a click...whir moment
Duty of authority
People have an (innate?) responsibility to follow the orders of respected authority figures. Why? Is this an example of nature or nurture? Blind obedience to authority= click whirr= fixed action pattern
Trappings
People have more respect and esteem for people who drive luxury cars Luxury cars are often perceives as being faster
Common explanations (Kitty Genovese)
People, especially city dwellers, are generally apathetic and lazy People are insensitive and indifferent People are busy People do not want to get involved
Scarcity heuristic
Perceived availability down, desired worth up. Censorship: the more the info is available the more we want to know about it. Censorship= believe. Scarcity is related to what theory? Psch react. Time.
Reasons why we like someone
Physical attractiveness- extends past being good looking to include being talented, kind, honest, and intelligent. Research also shows that rich men and women are also perceived as attractive. Attractive people have higher candidate electability, higher income potential, less harsh sentences, more persuasive, and receive higher grades and are perceived as better students Similarity- you are more likely to say yes to individuals you know and like, often without much critical consideration. This is indicative of the autonomous actions aspect Compliments- humans have such an automatically positive reaction to compliments that they turn into victims when someone uses compliments in an obvious attempt to win their favor Contact and cooperation- we tend to go with things that are familiar to us (ex. candidate changing his name to a common name in order to win votes.) Liking increases with exposure.
Gatekeeping
Refers to how media content is controlled. Determines the content of salience transfer.
Salience transfer
Refers to the ability of the media to influence the relative importance individuals attach to policy issues
Types of two-sided arguments
Refutational- sender attempts to refute or debunk opposing arguments Nonrefutational- sender only acknowledges opposing arguments in his or her message. objective is to outweigh opposing arguments with positive ones
Increasing familiarity
Repeated contact with an individual -must be under positive influences and on demanding circumstances -use of mutual and successful cooperation -uses process of association
Values
Rhetorically (socially) constructed concepts -This is why they are harder to change than beliefs or attitudes. They actually shape our beliefs and attitudes. Once something is established as a value, it has the potential to control a person's perceptions, beliefs, and views of the world. Advertising places companies and their products into our own personal value systems (ex. part of who you are as a person)
Tupperware party
Sales exceed $2.5 million a day 1 party starts every 2.7 seconds Tupperware stopped selling its products at Target because the sales in the store were too good and they competed with the at home parties
Donations
Signs promoting towel reuse were 15% more fictive when they mentioned a donation that the hotel had already made on the guests' behalf vs. a donation that would be made if towels were reused (goldstein, cialdini, and griskevicius, in press) What's the difference between these two situations?
Liking heuristic
Similarity, attract, luncheon technique, contact and cooperation. Halo effect
Commitment and consistency
Small commitments manipulate a person's self image Once the self-image has been changed, people will naturally comply with large requests that are consistent with the new self-image
Foot in the door
Starts with a small request and then moves to a larger one in small increments Represents an example of commitment and consistency
Emotional branding
Success is dependent on becoming part of a culture Business vs. feel good Drive commerce or drive emotion Loyalty beyond reason
Nuremburg defense
Term coined during the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremburg after WWII Nazi war criminals who were charged with genocide, mass murder, torture, and other atrocities used the defense "I was only following orders" so frequently that the argument became know generically as the Nuremburg defense
The Werther Effect
The "Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Werther, the story's hero, commits suicide and this story caused a mass string of suicides across Europe Troubled people who read the suicide news stories follow the social proof, or lead of trolled others Car wrecks and plane crashes are often hidden suicides Suicide is legitimized Example of social proof at the societal level
Framing
The manner in which the media present news stories Influences the importance and interpretation people attach to potential items on the public agenda -involves selecting some aspects of a perceived reality and making them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, cause interpretation, moral evolution, and/ or treatment recommendation for the item described
Culture of clutter
The more messages that are created, the more messages are needed Once a culture becomes too accepting of advertisements, it's not a culture anymore
Association
The process of connecting one thing with something positive People tend to associate themselves with favorable events and stay away from the negative parts of something (sports fans)
Logrolling
The process of exchanging political favors Reciprocity in the political context Synonym for quid pro quo (latin for "what for what" or "something for something") Act of exchanging political favors, votes, or influence for mutual gain (the passage of certain projects and legislation)
Reptilian urges
Things you do without thinking about them aka peripheral route
When we begin to truly like someone
Timing, contact, characteristics, and communication
Three symbols of authority
Titles Clothes Trappings
Titles
Titles make people perceive others as being taller (Wilson, 1968) Titles prevent others from questioning instructions (Cohen and Davis, 1981)
Two elements that can amplify social proof
Uncertainty (among receivers) Perceived similarity (among receivers)
Bystander intervention
Very high levels of helping and assistance when the need is clear (90-100%) In ambiguous situations, a person will receive more help with a lone bystander Pluralistic ignorance greatest in groups of strangers; also worst in cities Better to have one bystander than many
When we are not sheep
We are more persuaded by experts that seem to be impartial than by experts who appear to have something to gain by convincing us (Eagly, Wood, and Chaiken, 1978) This finding is used by marketers that use an "expert" or ad that offers a small argument against the best interests of the products or company -Ex. the two-sided argument
Liking
We prefer to say yes to people we know and like A salesperson can make it seem like they like you The persuader has the upper hand
The rule of reciprocation
We should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided to us Give and take Tit for tat He who giveth shall receive What is the motivational factor that moves us to reciprocate? Cognitive dissonance goes with this Found in all human societies An honored network of obligation Web of indebtedness Creates interdependence and social bonds Works even when the gift is unwanted or the person who delivers the gift is unliked Desire to repay diminishes over time with smaller gifts. This is something to consider when attempting to cash in on small favors or gifts. Get repayment quickly! Some larger gifts result in a permanent indebtedness (international relations between countries)
Mental rapes
When activated, guide our actions related to specific activities. Human behavior is driven by these that allow for autonomous actions.
Halo effect
When one positive aspect of a person dominates the way he or she is viewed by others
Social proof
When we are uncertain in any given situation, we look to others around us for clues We determine what is correct by finding out what other people think is correct We view behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree we see other people performing it -social evidence
Research methods
You cannot (or are not supposed to) generalize with qualitative data One assumes that results from 25 people represent the view of the rest of the world
