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Persuasion

Now in its sixth edition, Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining continues to boast an accessible voice and vibrant aesthetic that appeals to undergraduate students of communication, psychology, advertising, and marketing. In addition to presenting established theories and models, this text encourages students to develop and apply general conclusions about persuasion in real-world settings. Along the way, students are introduced to the practice of social influence in an array of contexts (e.g., advertising, marketing, politics, interpersonal relationships, social media, groups) and across a variety of topics (e.g., credibility, personality, deception, motivational appeals, visual persuasion). The new edition features an expanded treatment of digital and social media, up-to-date research on theory and practice, and enhanced discussions of topics such as political campaigning, emotional marketing, olfactory influence, and ethics. Instructors can also use the book’s downloadable test bank, instructor’s manual, and PowerPoint slides in preparing course material.

Robert H. Gass is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at California State University, Fullerton, USA.

John S. Seiter is Professor in the Department of Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies at Utah State University, USA.

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Persuasion Social Influence and Compliance Gaining Sixth Edition

Robert H. Gass John S. Seiter

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Sixth edition published 2018

by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2018 Taylor & Francis

The right of Robert H. Gass and John S. Seiter to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in

accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,

mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information

storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for

identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Pearson Education, Inc. 2002

Fifth edition published by Routledge 2016

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Gass, Robert H., author. | Seiter, John S., author.

Title: Persuasion : social influence, and compliance gaining /

Robert H. Gass, John S. Seiter.

Description: Sixth edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017042512| ISBN 9781138630598 (hardback) |

ISBN 9781138630611 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Persuasion (Psychology) | Influence (Psychology) |

Manipulative behavior.

Classification: LCC BF637.P4 G34 2018 | DDC 153.8/52—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017042512

ISBN: 978-0-8153-5821-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-63061-1 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-20930-2 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon

by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK

Visit the eResource: www.routledge.com/9781138630611

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https://www.lccn.loc.gov/2017042512
http://www.routledge.com/9781138630611
To Banjo and Julep, my two English Setters, who keep me company when I’m writing at home.

Bob Gass

To Miss Gordon, my second-grade teacher, for knowing that self-concept is the proper starting place.

John Seiter

To our families—Susan, Jordan, Graham, Debora, Dean, Andy, and Christian—for doing without us when we were writing and for putting up with us when we weren’t.

Robert Gass and John Seiter

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 1.

Contents

Preface for the Sixth Edition Acknowledgments

Why Study Persuasion?

Aims and Goals

Persuasion Is Not a Dirty Word

Persuasion Is Our Friend

The Pervasiveness of Persuasion: You Can Run but You Can’t Hide

Tipping Points, Buzz Marketing, and Word of Mouth

Nudges: Sometimes Less Is More

New Persuasion: Digital and Online Influence

eWOM: Digital Buzz

Sponsored Content: The Native Advertisers Are Getting Restless

Opinion Mining and Sentiment Tracking: I Feel You

Gamification: You’ve Got Game

Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding: Lending a Helping Hand

Persuasive Technology: My Heart Says Yes, but My Watch Says No

Persuasion in the Sciences

Persuasion in the Arts

Other Not-So-Obvious Contexts for Persuasion

Weird Persuasion

Persuasion in Interpersonal Settings

Five Benefits of Studying Persuasion

The Instrumental Function: Be All That You Can Be

The Knowledge and Awareness Function: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

The Defensive Function: Duck and Cover

The Debunking Function: Puh-Shaw

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Well-Being and Self-Worth: I Feel Good

Two Criticisms of Persuasion

Does Learning About Persuasion Foster Manipulation?

Are Persuasion Findings Too Inconsistent or Confusing?

Ethical Concerns About the Use of Persuasion

What Constitutes Persuasion?

Pure Versus Borderline Cases of Persuasion

Limiting Criteria for Defining Persuasion

Intentionality

Effects

Free Will and Conscious Awareness

Symbolic Action

Interpersonal Versus Intrapersonal

A Model of the Scope of Persuasion

The Context for Persuasion

A Working Definition of Persuasion

So What Isn’t Persuasion?

Dual Processes of Persuasion

The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion

The Heuristic Systematic Model of Persuasion

The Unimodel of Persuasion

Attitudes and Consistency

What Is an “Attitude” in 20 Words or Less?

So How Do You Measure the Durn Things?

Explicit Measures: Self-Report Scales

Visually Oriented Scales

Pitfalls in Measuring Attitudes

Implicit Measures: What’s Rattling Around Inside Your Brain?

More Roundabout Ways of Measuring Attitudes

Physiological Measures of Attitude

The Reasoned Action Approach (RAA)

Behavioral Beliefs and Attitudes: Believe It or Not

Normative Beliefs: It’s What the Cool Kids Are Doing

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Perceived Behavioral Control: I Got This

The Persistence of Attitudes

Attitudes as Associative Networks: Your Mind Is a Web

Manufacturing Favorable Associations: Jiggling the Web

Brands and Branding: That’s the Life

Who Are You Wearing? Brand Personality

Authenticity: Keeping It Real

Cause-Related Marketing: The Feel-Good Factor

Sloganeering

Sponsorship

Psychological Consistency

The Inner Peace of Consistency

Methods of Maintaining Consistency

Marketing Strategies: How to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Brand Loyalty: Accept No Substitute

Write and Tell Us Why You Love This Book in 24 Words or Less

Marketing Inconsistency

Capitalizing on Inconsistency

Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT)

Cognitive Dissonance and Buyer’s Remorse

Polarization of Alternatives

Cognitive Dissonance, Self-Image, and Culture

Factors That Affect the Magnitude of Dissonance

Dissonance and Persuasion: Putting It All Together

Forbidden Fruit: Psychological Reactance

Counterattitudinal Advocacy: Playing Devil’s Advocate

I’m All In: Increasing Commitment

Commitments Can “Grow Legs”

Credibility

Celebrity Selling Power: The Answer Is in the Stars

The Match-Up Hypothesis: Why Jonah Hill Should Not Be Revlon’s Spokesperson

Catch a Falling Star

What Is Credibility?

Credibility Is a Receiver-Based Construct

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Credibility Is a Multidimensional Construct

Credibility Is a Situational/Contextual Phenomenon

Credibility Is Dynamic

The Factor Analytic Approach to Credibility

Primary Dimensions of Credibility

Secondary Dimensions of Credibility

The Factor Analytic Approach and the Real World

Credibility as a Peripheral Cue

It’s What’s Up Front That Counts

The Sleeper Effect

Credibility and Image Management

Interpersonal Credibility, Impression Management, Facework, and Accounts

Strategies for Enhancing Credibility: Get Your Mojo Working

Communicator Characteristics and Persuasion

Demographic Variables and Persuasion

Age and Persuasion: Pretty Please With Sugar on Top

Gender Differences and Persuasion: The Times, They Aren’t a-Changin’

Ethnicity, Culture, and Persuasion: “Me” and “We” Perspectives

Intelligence and Persuasion: Dumb and Dumber

Psychological and Communication States and Traits

Self-Esteem and Persuasion: Feelin’ Kinda Low

Anxiety and Persuasion: Living in Fear

Preference for Consistency: I Wouldn’t Change a Thing

Self-Monitoring and Persuasion: Periscope Up

Ego Involvement: Not Budging an Inch

Issue Involvement: What’s This Have to Do With Me?

Dogmatism, Authoritarianism, and Social Vigilantism: You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Narcissism: How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways

Cognitive Complexity and Need for Cognition

Persuasion and Aggression: Sticks and Stones

Analyzing and Adapting to Audiences

Pay Attention to the Situation

Keep Your Audience’s Mind in Mind

Remember the Importance of Audience States and Traits

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Don’t Forget About Audience Demographics

Conformity and Influence in Groups

Conformity as Persuasion: In With the Crowd

In the Beginning: Early Research on Conformity Effects

Variables Related to Conformity

Social Proof: Using the Sheep Factor to Persuade Others

Ostracism: Shuns and Guns

Deindividuation, Social Loafing, and Social Facilitation: Getting Lost in the Crowd

What a Riot: An Examination of Deindividuation

Social Loafing: Not Pulling Your Own Weight

Social Facilitation: Would You Rather Be Alone?

How Groups Affect Decision Making: To Risk or Not to Risk

Language and Persuasion

Symbols, Meaning, and Persuasion: The Power of Babble

Connotative and Denotative Meaning: That’s Not How I See It

Ultimate Terms: Speak of the Devil

Aphorisms and Familiar Phrases: That Rings a Bell

Metaphors: One and the Same

The Power of Labeling

Euphemisms and Doublespeak: Making the Worse Appear the Better and Vice Versa

Language Intensity, Vividness, and Offensiveness

##@!!!!##: Profanity and Persuasion

Political Correctness

The Effects of Vividness: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

Language Intensity

Powerless Language and Persuasion: Um’s the Word

Nonverbal Influence

The Direct Effects Model of Immediacy

Types of Nonverbal Communication

Kinesics: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes

Haptics: Reach Out and Touch Someone

Keep Your Distance? Proxemics and Persuasion

Chronemics: All Good Things to Those Who Wait?

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Artifacts and Physical Features of the Environment: Dress for Success

Physical Appearance: Of Beauties and Beasts

Paralinguistics and Persuasion: Pump Up the Volume?

Structuring and Ordering Persuasive Messages

Implicit and Explicit Conclusions: Let Me Spell It Out for You

Gain-Framed Versus Loss-Framed Messages: Keep on the Sunny Side?

Quantity Versus Quality of Arguments: The More the Merrier?

The Use of Evidence: The Proof’s Not in the Pudding

Repetition and Mere Exposure: You Can Say That Again

Order Effects and Persuasion: First Things First

Primacy and Recency Effects: The First Shall Be Last, and the Last Shall Be First

An Ounce of Prevention: Inoculation, Message-Sidedness, and Forewarning

Inoculation Theory: Of Needles and Arguments

One-Sided Versus Two-Sided Messages: Both Sides Now

Forewarning: You’d Better Watch Out

Compliance Gaining

Actions Speak the Loudest: A Definition of Compliance Gaining

In the Beginning: The Roots of Compliance-Gaining Research

Situation: The “It Depends” of Compliance-Gaining Behavior

Seeking Compliance From Strangers and Intimates

Power, Legitimacy, and Politeness

Who Are You? Individual Characteristics and Compliance-Gaining Behavior

The Study of Compliance-Gaining Goals: Eyes on the Prize

How Goals Bring Meaning to Compliance-Gaining Situations: What’s It All About, Alfie?

Primary and Secondary Goals: Wanting and Eating Your Cake

Problems Facing Compliance Research: Trouble in Paradise

Compliance Gaining in Action: Seeing Is Believing

Sequential Persuasion

Pregiving: The Old “I’ll-Scratch-Your-Back-if-You’ll-Scratch-Mine” Approach

Why Is the Pregiving Tactic Persuasive?

Foot in the Door: The “Give-Me-an-Inch-and-I’ll-Take-a-Mile” Tactic

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Why Is a Foot in the Door So Persuasive?

When Does a Foot in the Door Work?

The Door-in-the-Face Tactic: “Ask for the Stars”

Why Is a Door in the Face So Persuasive?

When Does a Door in the Face Work?

The That’s-Not-All Tactic: Seeking Compliance by Sweetening the Deal

The Low-Ball Tactic: Changing the Deal

Why Lowballing Works

“Sorry, We Don’t Have Any More of Those in Your Size, But…”: The Bait-and- Switch Tactic

The Disrupt-Then-Reframe and Pique Techniques: I’m So Confused

Legitimizing Paltry Contributions: Even a Penny Will Help

The Evoking Freedom Technique: “…But You Are Free to Accept or Refuse”

Fear-Then-Relief and Happiness-Then-Disappointment Procedures: The Emotional Roller Coasters of Social Influence

Deception

What Is Deception? Lies and Damn Lies

Telling Lies: The Enactment of Deception

Theoretical Frameworks

What Makes a Liar Persuasive?

Detecting Deception: I Can See Right Through You

Factors That Influence Detection

Motivational Appeals

Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation

Emotion and Persuasion: Oh, What a Feeling!

Emotions and the ELM

Emotional Marketing

Logical and Emotional Appeals: A Fuzzy Distinction

Fear Appeals: If You Don’t Stop Doing That, You’ll Go Blind

The Stage Model: Scared Stiff

The Extended Parallel Process Model: Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

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Negative Emotions: Woe Is Me, Shame on You

Humorous Appeals: Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One

Humor as an Indirect Form of Influence: All Kidding Aside

Self-Disparaging Humor: LOLing at Yourself

But Is Humor Persuasive?

Maximizing Humor’s Potential

Pride and Patriotism: Turning Red, White, and Blue Into Green

For Mature Audiences: Sex Appeals

How Sex Sells

Caveats and Cautions

Warmth Appeals: Straight From the Heart

Ingratiation: Polishing the Apple

Mixed Emotions: Other Appeals and Combinations of Appeals

Visual Persuasion

Image Is Everything

Overlooked and Under-Appreciated

The Power of Images: A Thousand Words

How Images Persuade

Iconicity: Bearing a Resemblance

Indexicality: Seeing Is Believing

Syntactic Indeterminacy: Don’t Look for Logic in Images

The Art of Persuasion Includes Art as Persuasion

The Paintbrush Is Mightier Than the Sword

Art and Social Change: I Must Protest

Cinematic Persuasion: Sex, Drugs, and Popcorn

Acting Out: How Movies Persuade

Images in Advertising: And Now a Word From Our Sponsors

Visual Extravaganzas: Now You’ve Got My Attention

Anti-Ads: You Can’t Fool Me

Image-Oriented Advertising: Materialism as Happinessv

Shock Ads: Edgy Images as Persuasion

Photojournalism as Persuasion: The Camera Does Lie

Playing Tricks With the Camera: Photographic Deception

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Esoteric Forms of Persuasion

Color as Persuasion: The Grass Is Always Greener

Color Coded at Birth: Dyed in the Wool

Colorful Associations: A Blonde Walks Into a Bar…

Color and Branding: Big Blue, Red Bull, and Pink (Victoria’s Secret)

Color and Emotion: Mood Indigo

Color and Behavior: Hue Made Me Do It

Subliminal Influence: Hidden Messages or Hokum?

The Laboratory Versus the Real World

What Is and Isn’t Subliminal

Subliminal Advertising: Much Ado About Nothing

Subliminal Priming: That Rings a Bell

Not So Fast: Limitations of Subliminal Priming

Subaudible Messages: The Power of Suggestion

Backward Masking and Reverse Speech: Turn Me On, Dead Man

What Advertisers Really Do

Neurolinguistic Programming: The Emperor’s New Clothes

Music as Persuasion

Music as a Central and Peripheral Cue

Music in Advertising and Sales

Background Music: Shop Till You Drop

Music Videos and Persuasion: Is Hip-Hop Harmful?

Weaponizing Music: What a Buzz Kill

Cautions: Face the Music

Aroma and Persuasion

Perfume: Romance in a Bottle

Love Stinks

Ambient Aromas: Something Special in the Air

Caveats and Qualifications

The Ethics of Persuasion

Is Persuasion in General Unethical?

The Motives Color the Means

Ethics, Culture, and the Issue of Central Versus Peripheral Processing

Ethical Questions That Can’t Be Answered Through the Study of Persuasion

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Our Approach: Characteristics of Ethical Influence

Ethics and Our Model of Persuasion

Persuaders as Lovers

Bunglers, Smugglers, and Sleuths

Ethical Issues Arising From Previous Chapters

Ethics and Credibility

Ethics and Communicator Characteristics

Ethics and Deception

Ethics of Using Threats as a Compliance-Gaining Strategy

Ethics and Fear Appeals

Ethics and Emotional Appeals

Ethics and Ingratiation

Ethics and Visual Persuasion

Ethics and Subliminal Influence

Author Index Subject Index

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Preface for the Sixth Edition

ERSUASION CONTINUES TO OCCUPY the attention of academics and nonacademics alike. Not only scholars, but practitioners such as advertisers, lawyers, lobbyists, marketing

firms, motivational speakers, politicians, public relations experts, social activists, syndicated columnists, and others have a vested interest in knowing how persuasion works. Therefore, students who aspire to careers in any of the “people professions” would be wise to acquire a basic understanding of how persuasion functions.

With each edition of this text, we marvel at how much persuasion changes over time, yet still remains the same. For example, controversies over “fake news” have altered the way people perceive facts and assess source credibility. Even so, credibility remains as central to the process of persuasion as ever. It is perceived credibility that counts. The credibility of news sources is in the eye of the beholder.

The observation that “the more persuasion changes, the more it remains the same” applies to almost every aspect of persuasion. Compliance-gaining strategies such as the “foot in the door” now occur in online settings. Audience analysis is key to persuasion, but rather than examining demographic data, persuaders can now use microtargeting to tailor their messages to niche groups. For example, in the 2016 presidential election, rumors swirled that Cambridge Analytica, a company that specializes in opinion mining and data analysis, identified low-information voters in key swing states and bombarded them with highly targeted messages (Confessore & Hakim, 2017). Product placement, once only found on television and in movies, is now prevalent in novels, pop music, and virtual environments such as computer games. Fear appeals, long a staple of persuaders, have moved online. In addition to being fearful of Ebola, terrorism, and clowns, we can now be worried about cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and whatever diet and nutrition advice Gwyneth Paltrow is about to post.

In this edition, we address the increasing importance of digital and online persuasion, while emphasizing the importance of traditional forms of persuasion as well. Since the last edition, digital persuasion has come into its own. On social media, pop-up ads and banners have given way to more sophisticated forms of marketing, such as webtracking (Avergin,

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2016). Using third-party cookies, canvas fingerprinting (Kirk, 2014), and other techniques, Web marketers can follow users’ activities across websites. “Like” a bluegrass video on YouTube, “follow” a fiddle player on Facebook, or post some banjo pictures on Instagram, and you’ll start getting messages about hoedowns and honky-tonks in your area.

Persuasion on the Web also relies on sentiment tracking or opinion mining. For example, using natural language processing software, millions of tweets can be analyzed to see what topics, people, or brands are trending and what emotion-laden words or emojis are being used in connection with those topics or issues. Insights about political preferences, brand images, and economic trends can be gleaned from the results. As Bannister (2015) noted, “shifts in sentiment on social media have been shown to correlate with shifts in the stock market” (para. 3).

The widespread use of mobile technology has also been accompanied by increasing apps and techniques designed to influence. Texting, tweeting, and other apps disseminate word- of-mouth (WOM) messages. WOM is perceived by many as more genuine, authentic, and trustworthy than commercial advertising or expert opinions. Of course, marketers can sneak into these conversations via sponsored tweets and promoted posts. In many ways, social media has become a form of mass interpersonal persuasion. Posting a picture on Instagram may seem interpersonal in nature, but posts can be shared far beyond one’s social network. Just ask Anthony Weiner.

Despite the advent of digital and social media, most of us still live in a face-to-face world, too. Traditional forms of influence still matter, and interacting “in person” is by far the most effective way to persuade other people. A retail salesperson talking to a customer has a much greater chance of success than a pop-up ad reminding you about the last item you viewed on Amazon.com. That said, we often underestimate our effectiveness in one-on-one-settings. For example, Roghanizad and Bohns (2017) found that when people were asked to judge their influence via email versus in person, they overestimated the former and underestimated the latter. Groups, too, exert enormous influence over people. Whether within a family, a classroom, a workplace, at a coffee shop with friends, or some other group setting, the pressure to conform or risk being isolated is potent. Mass persuasion has greater reach, but less effectiveness.

As long as humans occupy planet Earth, they will be engaged in persuading one another. If apes or machines do take over one day, who can say? For now, we believe a solid understanding of persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining will be an asset in this world. With that in mind, we hope you catch our enthusiasm for this field of study and turn

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http://www.Amazon.com
the pages of this book with a better understanding of how persuasion functions, an improved knowledge of ways to maximize your own persuasion efforts, and a greater ability to resist influence attempts, especially unscrupulous influence attempts, by others.

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REFERENCES

Avergin, J. (2016, September 2). Internet tracking has moved beyond cookies. FiveThirtyEight.com. Retrieved on July 26,

2017 from https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/internet-tracking-has-moved-beyond-cookies/

Bannister, K. (2015, January 26). Understanding sentiment analysis: What it is & why it’s used. Brandwatch.com. Retrieved

on July 26, 2017 from www.brandwatch.com/blog/understanding-sentiment-analysis/

Confessore, N., & Hakim, D. (2017, March 6). Data firm says “secret sauce” aided Trump: Many scoff. The New York

Times. Retrieved on July 26, from www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/cambridge-analytica.html

Kirk, J. (2014). Three devious ways online trackers shatter your privacy. PCWorld, 32(10), 38–40.

Roghanizad, M. M., & Bohns, V. K. (2017). Ask in person: You’re less persuasive than you think over email. Journal of

Experimental Social Psychology, 69, 223–226. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2016.10.002

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http://www.FiveThirtyEight.com
https://www.fivethirtyeight.com/features/internet-tracking-has-moved-beyond-cookies/
http://www.Brandwatch.com
http://www.brandwatch.com/blog/understanding-sentiment-analysis/
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/cambridge-analytica.html
Acknowledgments

We would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone at Routledge/Taylor & Francis for their support throughout the process of completing this edition of our text. They are a skilled and talented group. We are especially grateful to Laura Briskman and Nicole Salazar for their relentless graciousness in answering our many questions and guiding us through the requirements for completing this project. Their patience is officially legendary. We also want to thank Josh Curtis and members of his team for painstakingly proofreading and copyediting the drafts of all the chapters.

We are also extremely grateful to the graduate and undergraduate students who offered numerous illustrations of real-life examples of persuasion. In particular, we single out Taylor Halverson for her excellent work. Every time we think we have taught the brightest group of students ever, another sharp group comes along. We also want to thank the many instructors using our book who have sent comments and suggestions for this edition, as well as the many short-course participants who have offered ideas and insights leading up to this edition.

Finally, we are fortunate to be working alongside the best colleagues anyone could ever hope for. Thank you all for making “work” a fun and rewarding place to be!

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CHAPTER 1

Why Study Persuasion?

Aims and Goals Persuasion Is Not a Dirty Word Persuasion Is Our Friend The Pervasiveness of Persuasion: You Can Run but You Can’t Hide

Tipping Points, Buzz Marketing, and Word of Mouth Nudges: Sometimes Less Is More

New Persuasion: Digital and Online Influence eWOM: Digital Buzz Sponsored Content: The Native Advertisers Are Getting Restless Opinion Mining and Sentiment Tracking: I Feel You Gamification: You’ve Got Game Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding: Lending a Helping Hand Persuasive Technolog: My Heart Says Yes, but My Watch Says No

Persuasion in the Sciences Persuasion in the Arts Other Not-So-Obvious Contexts for Persuasion Weird Persuasion Persuasion in Interpersonal Settings Five Benefits of Studying Persuasion

The Instrumental Function: Be All That You Can Be The Knowledge and Awareness Function: Inquiring Minds Want to Know The Defensive Function: Duck and Cover The Debunking Function: Puh-Shaw

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Well-Being and Self-Worth: I Feel Good Two Criticisms of Persuasion

Does Learning About Persuasion Foster Manipulation? Are Persuasion Findings Too Inconsistent or Confusing?

Ethical Concerns About the Use of Persuasion

NE OF THE AUTHORS was enjoying a day at the beach with his family. As he sat in a folding chair, lost in a good book, he could hear the cries of seagulls overhead and the

pounding of the surf. Nothing was bothering him. He was oblivious to the world around him. Or so he thought. As he reflected more on the situation, however, he became aware that he was being bombarded by persuasive messages on all sides. A boom box was playing a few yards away. During commercial breaks, various ads tried to convince him to choose a new cellphone provider, switch auto insurance companies, and try a hot, spicy cheeseburger. A nearby sign warned that no alcohol, glass objects, or smoking were permitted on the beach. A plastic bag in which a nearby family’s children had brought their beach toys advertised Walmart on its side. The family picnic cooler proudly displayed its manufacturer, Igloo, as well.

And that was only the beginning. A plane flew overhead, trailing a banner that advertised a collect calling service. The lifeguard’s tower displayed a Hurley logo. Their swimsuits were sponsored by Izod. The lifeguard’s truck, a specially equipped Toyota, announced that it was the “official emergency vehicle” of “Surf City USA,” a moniker trademarked by the city of Huntington Beach, California. Oh, the indignity of being rescued by an unofficial vehicle.

There were oral influence attempts, too. His son tried to lure him into the water by saying, “Come on, it’s not that cold.” But he knew better. His son always said that, no matter how cold the water was. “Would you mind keeping an eye on our things?” the family next to the author’s asked. I guess our family looks trustworthy, he thought. His wife asked him, “Do you want to walk down to the pier? They have frozen bananas.” She knew he would be unable to resist the temptation.

And those were only the overt persuasive messages. A host of more subtle messages also competed for the author’s attention. A few yards away, a woman was applying sun block to her neck and shoulders. The author decided he’d better do the same. Had she nonverbally influenced him to do likewise? Nearby, a young couple was soaking up the sun. Both were wearing hats with the Nike “swoosh” logo. Were they “advertising” that brand? A young man

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with a boogie board ran by, headed for the water. His head was shaved and he sported a goodly amount of body art. Did his appearance advocate a particular set of values or tastes? Was he a billboard for an “alternative” lifestyle? A half dozen male heads turned in unison as a trio of bikini-clad women walked by. Were the males “persuaded” to turn their heads or was this simply an involuntary reflex? Two tan, muscular dudes were tossing a Frisbee back and forth. Both had six-pack abs. The author made a mental note to do more sit-ups. There seemed to be as many persuasive messages, or potentially persuasive messages, as there were shells on the beach.

The preceding examples raise two important issues. First, persuasion and social influence are pervasive. We are surrounded by influence attempts, both explicit and implicit, no matter where we are. As Cascio, Scholz, and Falk emphasize (2015):

social influence is omnipresent, occurring through implicit observation of cultural norms, face-to-face and mediated interpersonal communication, as well as mass mediated communication. Even though individuals are often unaware of the power of social influence, research shows its effects on behavior in a wide variety of circumstances.

(p. 51)

Second, it is difficult to say with any certainty what is and is not “persuasion.” Where should we draw the line between persuasion and other forms of communication? We address the first of these issues in this chapter. Here we examine the pervasive nature of persuasion and offer a rationale for learning more about its workings. In the next chapter, we tackle the issue of what constitutes persuasion and related terms such as social influence and compliance gaining.

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AIMS AND GOALS

This is a book about persuasion. Its aims are at once academic and practical. On the academic side, we examine how and why persuasion functions the way it does. In so doing, we identify some of the most recent theories and findings by persuasion researchers. On the practical side, we illustrate these theories and findings with a host of real-life examples. We also offer useful advice on how to become a more effective persuader and how to resist influence attempts, especially unethical influence attempts, by others.

If learning how to persuade seems a bit manipulative, remember, we don’t live in a society populated with unicorns and rainbows. The real world is brimming with persuaders. You can avoid learning about persuasion, perhaps, but you can’t avoid persuasion itself. Besides, we can’t tell you everything there is to know about persuasion. Nobody knows all there is to know about this subject. One of the points we stress throughout this book is that people aren’t that easy to persuade. Human beings are complex. They can be stubborn, unpredictable, and intractable, despite the best efforts of persuaders.

Persuasion is still as much an “art” as it is a “science.” Human nature is too complicated, and our understanding of persuasion too limited, to be certain which influence attempts will succeed and which will fail. Think how often you flip the channel when a commercial costing millions of dollars to produce and air appears on television. As one advertising executive put it, “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted … but I don’t know which half” (cited in Berger, 2011, p. 1). Think how many candidates for public office have spent fortunes campaigning, only to lose their elections. Or think how difficult it is for the federal government to convince people to stop smoking, practice safe sex, or avoid texting while driving—behaviors that are in their own self-interest.

The science of persuasion is still in its infancy. Despite P. T. Barnum’s axiom that “there’s a sucker born every minute,” people are uncannily perceptive at times. It is tempting to believe that if one only knew the right button to push, one could persuade anybody. More often than not, though, there are multiple buttons to push, in the right sequence, and the sequence is constantly changing. Even so, persuasion is not entirely a matter of luck. Much is

known about persuasion. Persuasion has been scientifically studied since the 1940s.1 Written

texts on persuasion date back to ancient Greece.2 A host of strategies and techniques have been identified and their effectiveness or ineffectiveness documented. Persuaders are a long way from achieving an Orwellian nightmare of thought control, but a good deal is known

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about how to capture people’s hearts and minds. Before proceeding further, we want to address a common negative stereotype about persuasion.

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PERSUASION IS NOT A DIRTY WORD

The study of persuasion has gotten some bad publicity over the years. Everyone seems to agree that the subject is fascinating, but some are reluctant to embrace a field of study that conjures up images of manipulation, deceit, or brainwashing. There is, after all, a sinister side to persuasion. Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, and Osama bin Laden were all accomplished persuaders—much to the

detriment of their followers.3 We, however, do not think of persuasion as the ugly stepsister in the family of human communication. Rather, we find the study of persuasion to be enormously intriguing. Persuasion is the backbone of many communicative endeavors. We can’t resist the urge to learn more about how and why it works. Part of our fascination stems from the fact that persuasion is, on occasion, used for unsavory ends. It is therefore all the more important that researchers learn as much as they can about the strategies and tactics of unethical persuaders.

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PERSUASION IS OUR FRIEND

Persuasion isn’t merely a tool used by con artists, chiselers, charlatans, cheats, connivers, and cult leaders. Nobel Peace Prize recipients and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists are also persuaders. In fact, most “professional” persuaders are engaged in socially acceptable, if not downright respectable, careers. They include advertising executives, bloggers, campaign managers, celebrity endorsers, clergy, congresspersons, diplomats, infomercial spokespersons, lawyers, lobbyists, mediators, media pundits, motivational speakers, political cartoonists, press secretaries, public relations experts, radio talk-show hosts, recruiters, salespersons, senators, social activists, syndicated columnists, and whistleblowers, to name just a few.

Let’s focus on the positive side of persuasion for a moment. Persuasion helps forge peace agreements between nations. Persuasion helps expose corruption and open up closed societies. Persuasion is crucial to the fundraising efforts of charities and philanthropic organizations. Persuasion convinces motorists to buckle up when driving or refrain from driving when they’ve had a few too many. Persuasion is used to convince a substance-abusing family member to seek professional help. Persuasion is how the coach of an underdog team inspires the players to give it their all. Persuasion is a tool used by parents to urge children not to accept rides from strangers or to allow anyone to touch them inappropriately. In short, persuasion is the cornerstone of a number of positive, prosocial endeavors. Very little of the good that we see in the world could be accomplished without persuasion.

Persuasion, then, is a powerful and often prosocial force. Having highlighted the positive side of persuasion, we address the question of why the study of persuasion is so valuable. The next section, therefore, offers a justification for the study of social influence.

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THE PERVASIVENESS OF PERSUASION: YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE

We’ve already mentioned one of the primary reasons for learning about this subject: Persuasion is a central feature of every sphere of human communication. The same is true of social influence. We can’t avoid it. We can’t make it go away. Like Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas, persuasion is here to stay. Various estimates suggest that the average person is exposed

to anywhere from 300 to 5,000 messages per day.4 There are more ways to persuade than ever before. Indeed, traditional persuasion in the form of political speeches, television commercials, print ads, billboards, and product placements in movies and television is alive and well. So too are protest marches, demonstrations, sit-ins, and other forms of symbolic action. In the last two decades, social media has been added to the mix. You can submit online reviews of products and services, post a YouTube video advocating your message, engage in hashtag activism, advocate a cause via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, solicit funding via crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter or GoFundMe, or promote change through a website such as www.change.org or www.dosomething.org. Let’s consider one of these pervasive strategies, known as viral persuasion, more closely.

Tipping Points, Buzz Marketing, and Word of Mouth Key concepts and principles associated with viral persuasion were laid out by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestseller, The Tipping Point (2000). Gladwell likens word-of-mouth (WOM) to a virus through which a message is spread until the whole society is “infected.” Based on what he calls “the law of the few,” a small number of influential people can generate a groundswell of support for an idea, brand, or phenomenon. If a message gains sufficient traction, it reaches a tipping point and becomes “contagious.” In order to reach the tipping point, however, a number of things have to happen.

Über Influencers

First, the right kinds of people must be involved. Gladwell identifies three types of people who are essential to the process. Mavens possess specialized expertise. They are in the know. They may be celebrity chefs, fashionistas, fitness gurus, tech geeks, or wine snobs. Mavens needn’t be rich or famous, but they must be ahead of the curve. They are the early adopters, opinion leaders, or what some call alpha consumers, the ones who hear about ideas and try out gadgets first. “One American in ten,” Keller and Barry (2003) maintain, “tells the other nine

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http://www.change.org
http://www.dosomething.org
how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy” (p. 1). In addition to mavens, Gladwell states that connectors are also essential. Based on the viral

metaphor, they are carriers. They have large social networks. When connectors learn from mavens what the “next big thing” is, they spread the word. Since social circles tend to be overlapping, forwarding messages spreads them increasingly outward from their epicenter.

The last type Gladwell identifies is salespeople. They receive the message from a connector and then talk it up within their own circle of friends. Salespeople tell their friends, “You must see this movie,” “You’ve got to try this restaurant,” or “You gotta read this book.”

FIGURE 1.1

ALS ice-bucket challenge in New York City.

Source: Saklova/Shutterstock.com

Orchestrating the Next Big Thing

In addition to having the right kinds of people, some additional conditions must be satisfied for an idea to go viral. Context is critical. The idea must come along at the right time and place. Twitter, for example, wouldn’t have worked before there was widespread mobile access to the Internet. An idea also must possess stickiness, which means that it is inherently attractive. Without some sort of natural appeal, people won’t gravitate toward the idea or pass it along (Heath & Heath, 2008). For example, in 2014, the ALS water bucket challenge,

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http://www.Saklova/Shutterstock.com
which dared people to dump ice water over their own or other people’s heads, went viral, raising over $100 million in the USA alone (www.als.org). Its stickiness was based, in part, on its eye-catching appeal, its urgency (there was a 24-hour deadline to respond), and the fact that it was for a good cause.

Scalability is another requirement: It must be easy to ramp up production of the idea, product, or message to meet demand. The ice-bucket challenge met this requirement because almost everyone can find a bucket and some ice. Finally, effortless transfer is yet another ingredient in the recipe for an effective viral campaign. A viral campaign has to leverage free media. Ideas that can be spread by forwarding an email, including an attachment, or embedding a link are easy to disseminate. The more time, effort, or money it takes to spread the word, the less likely the idea will go viral. In the ice-bucket campaign, most challenges were issued from one friend to another via video.

Infectious or Inexplicable?

Although viral marketing holds considerable potential, it is often a hit-or-miss strategy, with far more misses than hits. What’s more, evidence for the effectiveness of tipping points is largely anecdotal, and there is no guarantee that an idea will gain traction. If one does, its shelf life is often limited. The ice-bucket challenge, for example, came and went in a few months. And flash mobs, another approach to viral marketing, were a flash in the pan.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMM) offers advice for conducting viral campaigns. The very concept of viral marketing, however, is something of an oxymoron. A viral campaign is planned to appear unplanned. It is contrived to seem genuine. As consumers grow wise to the strategy, it will become less effective. There are also ethical questions about using friends as shills. The FTC now requires any online endorsement that involves compensation to be disclosed (Sprague & Wells, 2010).

Nudges: Sometimes Less Is More The ubiquitous nature of persuasion is also illustrated by nudge theory, developed by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2008). They maintain that subtle changes in the way choices are presented to people can influence, or “nudge,” them to behave in certain ways. For example, when men use a public restroom, they aren’t always neat and tidy. They often miss the mark, to put it mildly, which increases janitorial costs significantly. To address this, folks at Amsterdam’s Schiphol international airport gave men a target of their own. Specifically, urinals were installed that included a stenciled image of a housefly near the drain. The result?

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http://www.als.org
Having a target made all the difference. The men’s aim improved considerably (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

As another example, school cafeterias tried offering apples at lunch. Most of them wound up in the trash can. However, when kids were given sliced apples, as opposed to whole apples, they were 73 percent more likely to eat them (Schwartz, 2016). Similarly, when vending machines listed the calories in snack foods, people were more likely to make healthier choices.

Although some critics have accused nudge theory of being paternalistic (Pasquale, 2015), others (Sunstein, 2014) argue that people are free to resist nudges if they wish. Kids can still throw apple slices in the trash. They are simply being provided with options that encourage healthy behaviors (www.nudges.org). That said, some nudges may be perceived as more like shoves. To encourage organ donors, for example, some countries have adopted a “presumed consent” policy, meaning that a person must take the initiative to opt out if she or he does not want to be an organ donor.

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http://www.nudges.org
NEW PERSUASION: DIGITAL AND ONLINE INFLUENCE

Some people seem to spend their every waking moment texting, tweeting, blogging, or posting their views on all matter of subjects large and small. That said, social media isn’t just an entertaining diversion, it is an important tool for influence. Whenever someone likes, follows, posts, shares, tweets or retweets, forwards, or comments on a message, online influence is taking place. Let’s consider a few forms of digital influence.

FIGURE 1.2

Persuasion is everywhere—even in the womb.

Source: Baby Blues © 2001, Baby Blues Partnership. King Features Syndicate. Reprinted with special permission.

eWOM: Digital Buzz Earlier, we mentioned the importance of viral persuasion and word-of-mouth (WOM). Like WOM, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is all the rage. People actively comment on brands, companies, political issues, and public figures via all manner of social media. By way of illustration, Twitter alone accounts for 6,000 tweets per second or 500 million tweets per day (www.internetlivestats.com). Eighty percent of Twitter users have mentioned brands in their tweets and 54 percent of users report that they have acted based on tweets (Midha, 2014).

Like WOM, eWOM is most effective when it is perceived as genuine rather than manufactured and peer driven rather than commercially sponsored. eWOM enjoys several advantages over traditional advertising and marketing techniques (Erkan & Evans, 2016). It operates largely through interpersonal channels (cellphone, email, texting), lending it an air of authenticity. It is inexpensive compared to traditional media. And it is self-perpetuating. Moreover, eWOM is far more effective than traditional media at reaching younger audiences.

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http://www.internetlivestats.com
Sponsored Content: The Native Advertisers Are Getting Restless The rise of social media has spawned a surge in advertising masquerading as genuine peer-to- peer influence. For example, sponsored content includes promoted tweets and Instagram posts, which are essentially paid advertisements. Native advertising involves ads posing as news stories. Native ads function as “clickbait,” luring in readers with snappy headlines or provocative photos. Both approaches are effective because many users have difficulty distinguishing such content from genuine material (Wojdynski, 2016).

Opinion Mining and Sentiment Tracking: I Feel You The Web is an opinion-rich environment. People constantly share their attitudes, opinions, and values via social media. And marketers are listening. Many companies, for example, now specialize in opinion mining and sentiment tracking by monitoring social media to gauge the public’s mood in nearly real time (Ravi & Ravi, 2015). Sophisticated algorithms can track how a person, brand, or issue is trending based, not only on the number of tweets generated, but also on how favorable, neutral, or negative those tweets are (Kennedy & Moss, 2015; Lee, Yang, Chen, Wang, & Sun, 2016). As an example, after analyzing over 10,000 online mentions from auto-enthusiast websites, the Ford Motor Company adopted a three-blink turn signal on all of its vehicles (Rosenbush & Totty, 2013).

As sophisticated as such methods seem, a problem with opinion mining is that the data is often “squishy”—that is, the people commenting aren’t always articulate or coherent. Furthermore, the tone of a message—that is, whether it is ironic, satirical, or hyperbolic—can be hard for artificial intelligence to decipher. Nevertheless, programmers are getting better at analyzing and interpreting words related to feelings, emotions, and opinions.