STC 259 - Ch. 7 Review Questions

Name and describe the nine factors involved in persuasive communication?

(1) Audience analysis- knowledge of characteristics such as beliefs, attitudes, values, concerns, and lifestyles is an essential part of persuasion. 2) Appeals to self-interest- People become involved in issues or pay attention to messages that appeal to their psychological, economic, or situational needs. ( 3) Audience participation- attitude or beliefs are changed or enhanced by audience involvement and participation. ( 4) Suggestions for action- a key principle of persuasion are that people endorse ideas and take actions only if they are accompanied by proposed action from the sponsor. (5) Source Credibility- a message is more believable to an intended audience if the source has credibility with that audience. It is base on three factors expertise, sincerity and charisma. (6) Clarity of message- Many messages fail because the audience finds them unnecessarily complex in content or language. The most persuasive are direct, and simply expressed and contain only one primary idea. (7) Channels- different media with different features can be used for diverse public relations purposes. Television is visual, sensational, and entertaining. (8) Timing and context- a message tends to be more persuasive if environmental factors support the message or if the message is received within the context of other messages and situations with which the individual is familiar. (9) Reinforcement- People tend to ignore or react negatively to messages that conflict with their value or belief systems. A campaign that is out of sync with tan audience's core beliefs is unlikely to be successful.

What is the role of opinion leaders in the formation of public opinion?

. Opinion leaders as defined by Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld, are people who, because of their interest in and knowledge of a subject, become experts and inform others earth formally as spokespeople or informally through daily interaction with family members, colleagues, and peers. It plays a role in that through the influence of opinion leaders is why public opinion often crystallized into a measurable entity.

Public opinion is highly influenced by self interest and events. Explain this statement?

People constantly form and reviese their opinion about public figures, often in response to recent television appearances or internet gossip. The court of public opinion is fickle and variable.

Name several propaganda techniques and list ways they might be employed by public relations practitioners

Several Propaganda techniques are: Plain Folks, Testimonial, Bandwagon, Card Stacking, Transfer, and Glittering Generalities.

List the three factors involved in source credibility

Source credibility factors: Expertise- does the audience perceive the person as an expert on the subject, if so then they are credible which is good. The second is sincerity- Does the person comes across as believing what he or she is saying or portraying to the audience. The third is charisma- is the individual attractive, self-assured, and articulate, projection and image of competence and leadership?

List the three uses of persuasion. Which objective is the most difficult to accomplish?

The three main objectives and uses for persuasion are; (1) change or neutralize hostile opinions, (2) crystallize latent opinions and positive attitudes, and (3) maintain favorable opinions.

Which techniques can be used to write persuasive messages?

There are a few different techniques one can use to get a persuasive message a crossed. The first is lack of message penetration, the second competing or conflicting messages, third self-selection and lastly self-perception

What is the role of media in the formation of public opinion?

Through mass media, public opinion can be shaped quite easily. Mass media is able to distribute rapidly information to a mass amount of people and even sometimes millions. With this being said mass media is a major player when it comes to public opinion because where they get there information from is 50% of the time from public relations personal, so public relations is the key behind it all.