Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: DEFINITION, HISTORY AND A MODEL OF INFLUENCE.....................................................3
A BRIEF HISTORY OF INFLUENCE RESEARCH...................................................................................................3
ATTITUDES.............................................................................................................................................3
ADVERTISING AND INFLUENCE...................................................................................................................4
INFLUENCE AND ETHICS............................................................................................................................4
GENERAL MODEL OF INFLUENCE.................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR.........................................................................................6
ATTITUDES, ATTITUDE FORMATION AND BEHAVIOUR......................................................................................6
REASONED AND INTUITIVE ATTITUDES.........................................................................................................6
MEASURING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR.....................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 3: PERSUASION THROUGH ARGUMENTATION...................................................................9
ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION...................................................................................................................9
POSITIONING OF AN ARGUMENT................................................................................................................9
SOURCE EFFECTS IN ARGUMENTS..............................................................................................................10
FIGURES OF SPEECH AS PERSUASIVE TOOLS IN ARGUMENTATION.....................................................................10
VALUE-EXPECTANCY MODELS AND INFLUENCE.............................................................................................10
CHAPTER 4: COGNITIVE HEURISTICS................................................................................................11
COGNITIVE HEURISTICS IN DECISION MAKING..............................................................................................11
THE REPRESENTATIVE HEURISTIC..............................................................................................................11
THE AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC....................................................................................................................12
FRAMING EFFECTS.................................................................................................................................12
THE ANCHORING AND ADJUSTMENT HEURISTIC...........................................................................................13
THE AFFECT HEURISTICS..........................................................................................................................13
THE MORE-IS-BETTER HEURISTIC..............................................................................................................14
CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL HEURISTICS......................................................................................................15
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................15
AUTHORITY HEURISTIC...........................................................................................................................15
EXPERTISE............................................................................................................................................15
LIKEABILITY..........................................................................................................................................16
CONSISTENCY HEURISTIC.........................................................................................................................16
RECIPROCITY HEURISTIC..........................................................................................................................17
SCARCITY HEURISTIC..............................................................................................................................18
CHAPTER 6: EMOTIONS AND INFLUENCE.........................................................................................20
MOOD AND INFLUENCE..........................................................................................................................20
FROM GENERAL MOOD TO SPECIFIC EMOTIONS...........................................................................................20
POSITIVE EMOTIONS..............................................................................................................................20
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.............................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER 7: PUNISHMENT AND REWARD........................................................................................24
INSTRUMENTAL REWARD VS PUNISHMENT..................................................................................................24
SOCIAL PUNISHMENZT AND REWARD.........................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 8: AUTOMATIC INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR 6 BLZ...............................27
INFLUENCE; UNCONSCIOUS VS AUTOMATIC................................................................................................27
EVALUATIVE CONDITIONING....................................................................................................................28
MERE EXPOSURE...................................................................................................................................28
PRIMING.............................................................................................................................................28
CONTRAST EFFECT.................................................................................................................................29
SMELLS AND MUSIC...............................................................................................................................29
, THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT..................................................................................................................30
CHAPTER 9: SOCIAL NORMS AND SOCIAL COMPARISONS...............................................................31
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................31
DEVELOPMENT OF NORMS......................................................................................................................31
DESCRIPTIVE NORMS..............................................................................................................................32
DESCRIPTIVE NORMS ARE SUBJECTIVE........................................................................................................33
INJUNCTIVE (PRESCRIPTIVE) NORMS..........................................................................................................33
INFLUENCE OF ROLE MODELS...................................................................................................................34
CHAPTER 10: MODIFICATIONS OF COMPLEX BEHAVIOUR...............................................................36
INTERVENTION MAPPING........................................................................................................................36
IMPLEMENTATION INTENTIONS................................................................................................................36
2
,Chapter 1: Definition, History and a Model of Influence
Advertising
“Calls attention to” or “notifies/warns” people of something by means of an announcement in a
public medium. People such as salespeople, marketers, advertisers, public relations officers,
communications officers and ‘spin-doctors’ are all specialised for this.
- Allows deployment of information in order to influence people’s thoughts and behaviour.
o Information can be either verbal or non-verbal, images or sounds, or a combination
of different forms of communication.
- The total amount spent on advertising per year has increased 59.5% since 2003.
o Television broadcasting is the most important advertising medium worldwide, while
the internet is expanding rapidly.
o Because influence is often associated with a cost of exerting that influence, one
needs to understand:
How influence comes about?
What strategies and techniques are most effective?
Why are these strategies the most effective?
Advertising/publicity has become a popular topic for researchers that are approaching them from a
psychological, marketing or communications perspective. This means researching consumer
behaviour to health and lifestyle changes and voting behaviour to mobility issues (on the road).
- World Advertising Research Centre (WARC): An independent organisation that works
together with universities, trade associations, advertising agencies and market research
firms. Offers a big database of research on this.
o For example how many influence attempts do we actually see every day -> on
average between 3000-5000 messages a day. However this is quite a debated topic
with some suggesting far lower numbers (200).
o While we may not recall most of the messages we see, we do often recognise them;
hence indicating that information is actually internalised.
A brief history of influence research
Started with the ancient Greeks -> sophists gave lessons on rhetoric which paved the way for
developments in dialectics and logic. Sophists then focused on material success which gained them a
reputation as populists, braggarts and casuists -> capable of arguing that white is black.
- Plato: Believed they were not actually interested in truth, they just talked smoothly.
- Aristotle: Approached these processes of persuasion from a scholarly perspective, he is the
founder of argumentation studies (logic).
o The power of an argument lies in: The source of the information, the recipient of
the information, and the content of the information.
Attitudes
WW2 ( propaganda) was an important event in order to focus the emphasis of research on attitude
influence rather than the linguistic aspects of a message.
- Laswell model of communication (1948): Effectiveness of information is best understood by
looking at:
o The characteristics of the person issuing the message -> who.
o The content of the information being communicated -> says what.
o The medium used to transmit -> which channel.
o The characteristics of the intended recipient -> to whom.
o The extent to which their opinions/preferences are influenced -> what effect.
- Attitude: Evaluative response (positive or negative) to an attitude-object. Research was
strongly encouraged on this during WW2.
3
, o Hovland and colleagues: Found that the reliability and expertise of the source help
determine how a message affects the recipient’s attitudes and behaviour.
o Yale model of persuasion: Four steps involved in attitude change.
Attention: First people must pay attention to the information contained in a
message (otherwise information not taken in).
Content should relate to things that people consider important.
Nature of the source is also vital.
Understood: Message must be presented in a way that it is understood.
Accept: Recipients can accept and modify their attitude accordingly.
Existing attitudes will influence the persuasion
Retain: Recipients must retain their new attitude.
- Inoculation theory: Sets out how people can arm themselves against information intended
to influence and change their attitudes. There are six steps; presentation, attention,
comprehension, yielding (accepting the arguments), retention and behaviour.
o Many weak arguments act as a sort of vaccination to trigger an attitude that actually
protects, reinforces and helps maintain an existing attitude.
- Cognitive response theory: Models how information is processed and how it affects
attitudes. This information is coupled and compared with existing attitudes and preferences.
These small processes determine whether an existing attitude will be modified.
Advertising and influence
Models are also created for advertising:
- Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA) model: Can describe the steps that can result in
the recipient of a message being influenced. Shortcomings
o There is no sequential order for persuasion; steps can occur in parallel (preference
can occur before interest).
o Model assumes passiveness of recipients.
o Model assumes that certain amount of time is allotted to information
- An “S” added for “satisfaction: To assure customer loyalty and hence generate repeat
purchases. Only if the client is happy with the product will the process that culminated in a
transaction be repeated.
Influence and ethics
How far is too far? Two extreme standpoints are outlined on this issue:
- Thoughtless: Rhetoric has no truth; a view shared by Plato about the sophists.
o Includes associations and implicit learning.
- In the middle: Includes heuristics and peripheral processing.
4
CHAPTER 1: DEFINITION, HISTORY AND A MODEL OF INFLUENCE.....................................................3
A BRIEF HISTORY OF INFLUENCE RESEARCH...................................................................................................3
ATTITUDES.............................................................................................................................................3
ADVERTISING AND INFLUENCE...................................................................................................................4
INFLUENCE AND ETHICS............................................................................................................................4
GENERAL MODEL OF INFLUENCE.................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR.........................................................................................6
ATTITUDES, ATTITUDE FORMATION AND BEHAVIOUR......................................................................................6
REASONED AND INTUITIVE ATTITUDES.........................................................................................................6
MEASURING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR.....................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 3: PERSUASION THROUGH ARGUMENTATION...................................................................9
ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION...................................................................................................................9
POSITIONING OF AN ARGUMENT................................................................................................................9
SOURCE EFFECTS IN ARGUMENTS..............................................................................................................10
FIGURES OF SPEECH AS PERSUASIVE TOOLS IN ARGUMENTATION.....................................................................10
VALUE-EXPECTANCY MODELS AND INFLUENCE.............................................................................................10
CHAPTER 4: COGNITIVE HEURISTICS................................................................................................11
COGNITIVE HEURISTICS IN DECISION MAKING..............................................................................................11
THE REPRESENTATIVE HEURISTIC..............................................................................................................11
THE AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC....................................................................................................................12
FRAMING EFFECTS.................................................................................................................................12
THE ANCHORING AND ADJUSTMENT HEURISTIC...........................................................................................13
THE AFFECT HEURISTICS..........................................................................................................................13
THE MORE-IS-BETTER HEURISTIC..............................................................................................................14
CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL HEURISTICS......................................................................................................15
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................15
AUTHORITY HEURISTIC...........................................................................................................................15
EXPERTISE............................................................................................................................................15
LIKEABILITY..........................................................................................................................................16
CONSISTENCY HEURISTIC.........................................................................................................................16
RECIPROCITY HEURISTIC..........................................................................................................................17
SCARCITY HEURISTIC..............................................................................................................................18
CHAPTER 6: EMOTIONS AND INFLUENCE.........................................................................................20
MOOD AND INFLUENCE..........................................................................................................................20
FROM GENERAL MOOD TO SPECIFIC EMOTIONS...........................................................................................20
POSITIVE EMOTIONS..............................................................................................................................20
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.............................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER 7: PUNISHMENT AND REWARD........................................................................................24
INSTRUMENTAL REWARD VS PUNISHMENT..................................................................................................24
SOCIAL PUNISHMENZT AND REWARD.........................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 8: AUTOMATIC INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR 6 BLZ...............................27
INFLUENCE; UNCONSCIOUS VS AUTOMATIC................................................................................................27
EVALUATIVE CONDITIONING....................................................................................................................28
MERE EXPOSURE...................................................................................................................................28
PRIMING.............................................................................................................................................28
CONTRAST EFFECT.................................................................................................................................29
SMELLS AND MUSIC...............................................................................................................................29
, THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT..................................................................................................................30
CHAPTER 9: SOCIAL NORMS AND SOCIAL COMPARISONS...............................................................31
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................31
DEVELOPMENT OF NORMS......................................................................................................................31
DESCRIPTIVE NORMS..............................................................................................................................32
DESCRIPTIVE NORMS ARE SUBJECTIVE........................................................................................................33
INJUNCTIVE (PRESCRIPTIVE) NORMS..........................................................................................................33
INFLUENCE OF ROLE MODELS...................................................................................................................34
CHAPTER 10: MODIFICATIONS OF COMPLEX BEHAVIOUR...............................................................36
INTERVENTION MAPPING........................................................................................................................36
IMPLEMENTATION INTENTIONS................................................................................................................36
2
,Chapter 1: Definition, History and a Model of Influence
Advertising
“Calls attention to” or “notifies/warns” people of something by means of an announcement in a
public medium. People such as salespeople, marketers, advertisers, public relations officers,
communications officers and ‘spin-doctors’ are all specialised for this.
- Allows deployment of information in order to influence people’s thoughts and behaviour.
o Information can be either verbal or non-verbal, images or sounds, or a combination
of different forms of communication.
- The total amount spent on advertising per year has increased 59.5% since 2003.
o Television broadcasting is the most important advertising medium worldwide, while
the internet is expanding rapidly.
o Because influence is often associated with a cost of exerting that influence, one
needs to understand:
How influence comes about?
What strategies and techniques are most effective?
Why are these strategies the most effective?
Advertising/publicity has become a popular topic for researchers that are approaching them from a
psychological, marketing or communications perspective. This means researching consumer
behaviour to health and lifestyle changes and voting behaviour to mobility issues (on the road).
- World Advertising Research Centre (WARC): An independent organisation that works
together with universities, trade associations, advertising agencies and market research
firms. Offers a big database of research on this.
o For example how many influence attempts do we actually see every day -> on
average between 3000-5000 messages a day. However this is quite a debated topic
with some suggesting far lower numbers (200).
o While we may not recall most of the messages we see, we do often recognise them;
hence indicating that information is actually internalised.
A brief history of influence research
Started with the ancient Greeks -> sophists gave lessons on rhetoric which paved the way for
developments in dialectics and logic. Sophists then focused on material success which gained them a
reputation as populists, braggarts and casuists -> capable of arguing that white is black.
- Plato: Believed they were not actually interested in truth, they just talked smoothly.
- Aristotle: Approached these processes of persuasion from a scholarly perspective, he is the
founder of argumentation studies (logic).
o The power of an argument lies in: The source of the information, the recipient of
the information, and the content of the information.
Attitudes
WW2 ( propaganda) was an important event in order to focus the emphasis of research on attitude
influence rather than the linguistic aspects of a message.
- Laswell model of communication (1948): Effectiveness of information is best understood by
looking at:
o The characteristics of the person issuing the message -> who.
o The content of the information being communicated -> says what.
o The medium used to transmit -> which channel.
o The characteristics of the intended recipient -> to whom.
o The extent to which their opinions/preferences are influenced -> what effect.
- Attitude: Evaluative response (positive or negative) to an attitude-object. Research was
strongly encouraged on this during WW2.
3
, o Hovland and colleagues: Found that the reliability and expertise of the source help
determine how a message affects the recipient’s attitudes and behaviour.
o Yale model of persuasion: Four steps involved in attitude change.
Attention: First people must pay attention to the information contained in a
message (otherwise information not taken in).
Content should relate to things that people consider important.
Nature of the source is also vital.
Understood: Message must be presented in a way that it is understood.
Accept: Recipients can accept and modify their attitude accordingly.
Existing attitudes will influence the persuasion
Retain: Recipients must retain their new attitude.
- Inoculation theory: Sets out how people can arm themselves against information intended
to influence and change their attitudes. There are six steps; presentation, attention,
comprehension, yielding (accepting the arguments), retention and behaviour.
o Many weak arguments act as a sort of vaccination to trigger an attitude that actually
protects, reinforces and helps maintain an existing attitude.
- Cognitive response theory: Models how information is processed and how it affects
attitudes. This information is coupled and compared with existing attitudes and preferences.
These small processes determine whether an existing attitude will be modified.
Advertising and influence
Models are also created for advertising:
- Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA) model: Can describe the steps that can result in
the recipient of a message being influenced. Shortcomings
o There is no sequential order for persuasion; steps can occur in parallel (preference
can occur before interest).
o Model assumes passiveness of recipients.
o Model assumes that certain amount of time is allotted to information
- An “S” added for “satisfaction: To assure customer loyalty and hence generate repeat
purchases. Only if the client is happy with the product will the process that culminated in a
transaction be repeated.
Influence and ethics
How far is too far? Two extreme standpoints are outlined on this issue:
- Thoughtless: Rhetoric has no truth; a view shared by Plato about the sophists.
o Includes associations and implicit learning.
- In the middle: Includes heuristics and peripheral processing.
4
