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Theories of Persuasion

Study Guide
Week 6

What is a cognitive element (cognition)?

A cognitive element is any belief/opinion about anything.

Possible relationships between two cognitions

Explain how two cognitions can be irrelevant to each other.

Two cognitions that have little to do with one another.

For example, a belief that a charity does good work has no connection
with a belief in the lack of standardization of a swiss language

Explain how two cognitions can be consistent with each other

A consonant relationship.

For example, a belief that a charity does good work, and you give
money to them

Explain how two cognitions can be inconsistent with each other.

A dissonant relationship.

For example, a belief that a charity wastes money, but you give money
to them. Or the smoker dilemma.

When are two cognitions said to be in a dissonant relationship?

Two cognitions are in a dissonant relationship if the opposite of one follows


from the other. X and Y are in a dissonant relationship if the opposite of X
follows from Y.

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What are the properties of dissonance? What sort of state is it?

A person experiences dissonance when two cognitions are in a dissonant


relationship. It is an aversive motivational state towards which people are
adverse.

Can dissonance vary in magnitude?

Yes. A greater amount of dissonance leads to a greater motivation to reduce it.


(Hungrier you get, the more you want to eat)

Factors influencing the degree of dissonance experienced

Explain how the relative proportion of consonant and dissonant elements


influences dissonance.

Elements tend to be in clusters, so the bigger the cluster of


consonance or dissonance, the more consonant of dissonant one feels.

Explain how the importance of the elements and the issue influence
dissonance.

The importance of the elements and the issue vary in magnitude and
therefore influence the varying magnitude of the dissonance.

For example, in the case of elements, if expense is more important than


anxiety reduction, then smoker is likely to feel more dissonant. In the
case of the issues, in the cases of choosing where to eat lunch vs.
choosing a career path, the latter tends to be more important.

Two basic ways of reducing dissonance

Change the proportion of consonant and dissonant elements or change the


importance of the elements and issue.

You can change the proportion of consonant and dissonant elements


by minimizing dissonant elements or adding new consonant elements.

Example:

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Minimizing dissonant elements: everything causes cancer so
smoking wont matter.
Adding new consonant elements: smoking prevents colds,
controls weight.
Change the importance: smoking is expensive but I can afford
it, my first career doesn't really matter because I will probably
have several.

Explain how choice (decision-making) inevitably arouses dissonance.

We basically never get to choose between two alternatives which are perfectly
good/bad in every way. Not a ton of easy choices. We usually face a nuanced
choiceboth have good and bad outcomes.

Is dissonance a pre-decisional or post-decisional state?

Dissonance is a post-decisional phenomenon.

What state is a decision-maker said to be in before having made the decision?

Before someone makes a decision, they are said to be in a state of conflict.

What state is a decision-maker said to be in after having made the decision?

After a choice is made, people inevitably experience some form of


dissonance.

How can dissonance be reduced following a decision?

One straightforward way to reduce dissonance is to reevaluate the alternatives


such that the chosen alternative is chosen more positively and the unchosen
alternative is rated more negatively.

What is post-decisional spreading of alternatives?

Post-decisional spreading of alternatives is the manifestation of dissonance


reduction.

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Has research commonly detected postdecisional spreading of alternatives?

Yes.

How does regret manifest following a decision?

The chosen alternative is temporarily rated more negatively and the unchosen
alternative is temporarily rated more positively.

Does regret precede or follow dissonance reduction?

Regret precedes dissonance reduction.

Explain how regret can lead to a reversal of a decision.

People may want to back out/reverse their decision following the choice. Not
all decisions are reversible, like skydiving. Where they are reversible, however,
they very may want to reverse their decision.

Explain the function of follow-up persuasive efforts in the context of postdecisional


processes.

Persuasion occurs even after people make a decision so follow-up efforts can
be crucial.

Example: Car sales. Treatmentfollow-up phone call reminding them of the


great things about their car. In that decision, the back-out rate was cut in half.
Speeds process from regret to dissonance reduction.

What is induced compliance?

Induced compliance is a form of persuasion where a person is induced to act


in a way that is discrepant with their beliefs and attitudes.

What is counter-attitudinal advocacy?

Counter-attitudinal advocacy is a special case of induced compliance where a


person is induced to advocate a POV that is inconsistent with their opinions.

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Explain the dissonance theory view of induced-compliance situations. What is the
key influence on the amount of dissonance experienced in such situations?

The amount of dissonance experienced will be a function of how much


incentive is offered for engaging in the counter-attitudinal action

Explain the relationship between incentive and dissonance in such situations.

With increasing incentive theres increasing dissonance up the point of


compliance but past that increasing incentive means decreasing dissonance

If one is not experiencing very much dissonance, they are unlikely to change
their attitudes very much.

Explain, from a dissonance perspective, the operation of low-price offers. From the
marketer's point of view, what is the ideal amount of incentive to offer?

Low-price offers undermine customer loyalty. As a marketer, you want to offer


a good price that is sustainable so that you wont lose your customers after the
sale is over.

Explain, from a dissonance perspective, the operation of promotions that invite


consumers to send in essays explaining why they like the product (or to send in
advertisements, etc.), in return for being entered in a prize drawing.

Dissonance is activated by the chance of winning.

For example, Write an essay on why your dad is a Brookstone dad and you
could win $10,000. If it was guaranteed, then there would be no dissonance.
But since its a chance, dissonance is activated.

Explain, from a dissonance perspective, the effects of insufficient incentive for


counterattitudinal action. When might a persuader want to offer such insufficient
incentive?

You can offer not-quite-enough incentive to act inconsistent with an attitude in


order to induce dissonance and strengthen the position.

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For example, at the end of your first year working in Amazon Warehouse, they
offer $2,000 for you to quit. They say we hope you dont!. Most people dont
take it but they could have gotten $2,000. To justify their decision, people say
this is a great job, and I love working here. At the end of the second year,
Amazon offers $3,000 if you quit. The $ amount grows by $1000 every year.
And people dont take it. If they had offered $5,000 at the beginning, people
might bail, but the price constantly going up as the price of compliance moves
to meet peoples attitudes becoming more positive.

Identify a limiting condition on the occurrence of the predicted dissonance effects in


induced-compliance situations.

Perceived freedom of choice is a limiting condition. Dissonance occurs only


when a person chooses to engage in that behavior, so it follows that without
freedom of choice, there is very little dissonance.

What is hypocrisy induction?

When there is attitude-behavior inconsistency, persuaders can exploit it by


drawing attention to their hypocrisy. That arouses dissonance in them,
resolved by people swinging their behavior around.

Identify a common persuasive situation in which hypocrisy induction might be useful


to a persuader.

Hypocrisy induction is useful in persuading people to conserve energy, or


practice safer sex.

What two things are made salient in inducing feelings of hypocrisy?

Existing attitude and previous inconsistent behavior.

Explain how a persuader can use hypocrisy induction to change behavior; identify a
necessary condition for such effects.

A persuader can remind their persuadee on their existing attitude by having


participants sign a pledge or make a video about the action (ex: safe sex or
energy conservation). Then, they can be reminded of their previous
inconsistent behavior by having them get feedback on their actions (energy

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conservation) or make a video where they describe times they didnt practice
safe sex.

Explain how and why hypocrisy-induction efforts might backfire.

PBC must be high for hypocrisy induction to take place.

If PBC is not sufficiently high, then hypocrisy induction can lead to boomerang
effects in which the attitude changes in the opposite direction of that desired
by the persuader. People will make their negative behaviors be matched by
negative attitudes.

For example, in a study about recycling, people actually recycled less after
participating, because they decided recycling wasnt a such a good idea to
match and justify their neglectful behavior.

What is the selective exposure hypothesis? Explain how the hypothesis reflects the
main tenets of dissonance theory.

The selective exposure hypothesis states that people seek out information
supportive (consonant) with their current beliefs and avoid non-supportive
information (dissonance). This reflects dissonance theory because people seek
to avoid dissonance.

Describe the usual research design for studying selective exposure. In such designs,
what sort of result represents evidence of selective exposure?

Ask a participant on their attitude on a subject. Then, ask them to select


literature that is clearly aligned one way or the other with that same subject.
Generally, people choose literature that supports their opinion, and therefore
representing selective exposure.

Is there evidence of a general preference for supportive information? Is this a strong


preference?

There is evidence for a general preference for supportive information but,


preference for supportive information is weak because there are other
competing influences of information exposure.

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Factors that influence information exposure

Explain how perceived information utility can influence information exposure


(and can override a preference for supportive information).

People seek out useful information, regardless of supportiveness.

Example: Do you prefer multiple choice or essay exams? The majority


of people chose the articles that were not supportive of their
preference. (How essay questions help you learn was chosen by a pro-
multiple choice advocator)

Explain how curiosity can influence information exposure (and can override a
preference for supportive information).

Humans are curious! Curiosity trumps supportive information.

Example: Participant rates how qualified a job seeker seems (half of the
participants given qualified job seeker and half given terrible job
seeker). Participant asks would you hire them?. Participants choose
from literature of why people got hired and they choose the opposite
of their choice to see why people would hire their alternative.

Explain how fairness norms can influence information exposure (and can
override a preference for supportive information).

People want to get both sides of the story.

Example: Participant gives a verdict: guilty/not guilty. Chose the


literature that described why people chose the other verdict.

Identify three broad means by which advocates might seek to get a hearing for their
views.

Stress usefulness of information


Pique audiences curiosity
Emphasize fairness, hearing all sides, etc.

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