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Psychology of Media and Communication Summary - Book "Psychology of Influence"
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Summary of the relevant chapters for the Psychology of Media and Communication exam. Exam grade: 9
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Summary The Psychology of Influence - Persuasive Communication
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PCM EXAM BOOK SUMMARY done by SLChapter 1: INFLUENCE – Definition, history and a model
Introduction
All of these agents deploy information in their efforts to influence people’s thoughts and behavior.
That information can take many forms – either verbal or non-verbal communication, images or
sounds, or a combination of different forms of communication.
Owen Gibson had seen 130 advertisements for more than 50 different products in a 45-minute
period. In all, 29 minutes were spent looking at ads. Asked what they were for, however, Gibson was
unable to recall a single one! And when shown them again, he recognized only half – most for
products he was interested in and had therefore looked at for longer than ten seconds. As Gibson’s
experiment shows, while we might not recall many of the messages we see, we do often recognize
them. This suggests that the information is indeed internalized, perhaps in ways many times subtler
than we might suspect at first sight
A brief history of influence research
Platos’ view to persuade others was that the power to do this is determined by characteristics of the
source of the information (the persuader), its recipient and its content. Aristotle also showed that it
is important to consider the public you are addressing and, above all, to concentrate on those
aspects that your audience finds important and is sensitive to.
Attitudes
According to Lasswell’s model of communication, the effectiveness of information is best
understood by asking ourselves ‘who says what in which channel to whom, with what effect? In
other words, it is important to look at the characteristics of the person issuing the message (who),
the content of the information being communicated (what), the medium used to transmit it (which
channel), the characteristics of the intended recipient (to whom) and the extent to which their
opinions or preferences are influenced as a result (what effect).
Attitude describes an evaluative response – positive or negative – to a person, a situation, a product,
an idea or an organization.
Factors like the reliability and expertise of the source help to determine how a message affects the
recipient’s attitudes and behavior. Hovland realized that the direct impact of a message often differs
from its indirect or delayed effect. For example, a patient may nod enthusiastically when told by their
doctor to take their medicine twice a day. After a period of time, however, many patients will have
forgotten their initial resolve, often resulting in a lack of adherence to recommended treatment
regimens. Hovland’s team devised a four-step process model of persuasion. First, people must pay
attention to the information contained in a message. Without that, they cannot be persuaded for the
simple reason that the information is not taken in. Secondly, the message must be presented in such
a way that it is understood. Once it is, the recipient can accept it and modify their attitude
accordingly. But for that change to influence their behavior permanently, the recipient must also
retain their new attitude. Each of these steps – attention, understanding, acceptance and retention –
,influences the probability of eventual attitude change. The likelihood that the entire process will be
completed depends upon various factors. The content of a message should relate to things that
people consider important. The nature of the source may also give the recipient greater or lesser
reason to pay attention to particular information and to use it in shaping their attitude. Existing
attitudes influence the persuasive power of a new message. Information that corresponds with the
ideas and attitudes a person already holds dear is more persuasive than a message which contradicts
them
The Yale model of persuasion allot the recipient of information a somewhat limited role: as soon as a
person is motivated to take notice of a message, they will internalize its contents, ultimately shaping
their attitude and behavior. In other words, the model asserts only that motivated people will take in
information; it does not state how exactly that process works or whether its machinations affect the
eventual outcome.
McGuire’s inoculation theory sets out how people can arm themselves against information intended
to influence and change their opinion. He identifies six steps rather than four: presentation,
attention, comprehension, yielding (accepting the arguments put forward), retention and, finally
behavior. In his view, the steps were more dynamically related and could influence each other. For
example, the intelligence of a recipient could be positively related to comprehension and retention
of the message, but negatively related to yielding, especially in the case of weak arguments. He uses
the term ‘inoculation’ to indicate that especially weak arguments might act like a ‘virus’, triggering a
cognitive reaction which actually protects, reinforces and helps to maintain an existing attitude.
Greenwald’s cognitive response theory examines the way in which information is processed, and
how that affect attitudes. Such information is often coupled and compared with existing attitudes
and preferences, and possibly even integrated into them. It is these interim processes which
determine whether, in the end, a person’s attitude and behavior will be modified. The approaches
adopted by both McGuire and Greenwald thus center more upon the processes involved in
persuasion.
The assumptions of Greenwald’s cognitive response theory – that all attitude change is the result of
conscious processes – is incorrect. People can indeed be influenced without realizing it.
Advertising and influence
THE AIDA model stands for ‘Attention, Interest, Desire, Action’. There is the addition of an ‘S’ for
‘satisfaction’ (AIDAS) as a necessary component to assure customer loyalty and so generate repeat
purchases. Persuasion does not necessarily follow a sequential order. In practice, the four steps tend
to run in parallel and one or more of them can be skipped. For instance, a preference (appeal) can
arise before there is any particular interest. In addition, the model assumes that people devote a
certain amount of time and attention to the information presented to them. In reality, however, that
is not always the case. Finally, the AIDA approach once again regards the recipient of the advertising
,message as fairly passive. Despite these shortcomings, however, AIDA is still widely used.
Chapter 2: ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
Introduction
Attitudes refer to people’s evaluative responses – positive or negative – to a stimulus, the so-called
attitude object. An attitude object can be a person (a politician, your landlord, yourself), an
organization (the tax authority, social services) or a situation (a party, a lesson at school), but also a
product (food, cosmetics) or an idea (halting immigration, raising the motorway speed limit).
Attitudes directly relate to behavior.
Attitudes, attitude formation and behavior
An attitude is not directly observable; its nature has to be inferred from the visible responses
induced by the attitude object. That makes it an example of what is referred to as a latent construct.
We start on the left-hand side with the attitude object or a representation of it. This invokes an
attitude in the observer, which is not visible in itself but can be deduced from the response we do
see to the object. These can be non-verbal signals, verbal statements or actions. Unfortunately, this
attitude is not something we can measure with much precision. The responses – thoughts, feelings
and behavior – provide an indication of the person’s attitude, but no more than that.
Attitudes have cognitive (beliefs, opinions), affective (feelings, emotions) and behavioral (actions,
conduct) components. For example, the cognitive component reflects what a viewer thinks of the
show. The affective aspect concerns the feelings it arouses and the behavioral refers to ‘action
tendencies’ (‘I almost always watch the show’).
This figure is from Rosenberg and Hovland. The cognitive response comprises the thoughts aroused
by particular characteristics of the attitude object, on the basis of which we form an evaluative
judgement about it (‘positive-negative’). The affective response takes the form of feelings,
, sentiments or emotions an attitude object elicits. These can be expressed through verbal and non-
verbal communications but also through a physiological response. The relative importance of the
affective and cognitive responses can vary considerably. Some attitudes are largely instinctive and so
primarily expressed affectively, whilst others are more reasoned and so reflected in the cognitive
response. The behavioral response forms a third category of attitude expression (consumer buying
habits, voter behavior, etc.). Each of the three components manifests an evaluation.
Behavior is often regarded as the consequence of an attitude towards which both cognitive
considerations and affective reactions have contributed. But conversely, behavior can also influence
the cognitive and affective responses to an attitude object. For example, a positive attitude that led
to the purchase of a product which proved to be a bad buy will become less positive as a result, and
will therefore also affect subsequent behavior. The affective and cognitive components of an attitude
are often closely related. This appears to be particularly true in the case of controversial topics with a
strong human dimension. One example is the reintroduction of the death penalty. In other areas, the
two components do not correlate so often and even contradict one another. So, you might have
positive feelings towards a particular brand of clothing, say, because it is designed well and suits you,
but still also think that the garments wear out quickly and are rather expensive.
This figure assumes that attitudes are an evaluative reaction based on cognitive and affective
responses evoked by an attitude object, and that it then determines behavior. However, the weight
the two underlying components are accorded can also vary: some attitudes are primarily the product
of the affective response, other attitudes are more reasoned. The resulting behavior can also feed
back into the existing cognitive and affective responses, and so in turn influence attitudes
The Five characteristics of attitudes
-They focus on an object, person, organization or event.
-They are evaluative, either positively or negatively.
-They can be based, either in whole or in part, on cognitive beliefs about characteristics of
the attitude object.
-They can be based, either in whole or in part, on affective responses to the attitude object
-They have repercussions for behavior towards the attitude object.
If we want to influence people, it is important to know what their attitude is based on. That helps
you to determine how best to modify it. With attitudes based solely upon affective reactions, there is
no point in addressing cognitive factors. For example, a person who wants to choose a car for its
aesthetic or ‘feel-good factors’ shouldn’t be told about the functional features of the care. Research
demonstrates that affective responses are better predictors of intentions to act, at least for some
behaviors. Affective responses seem especially relevant in health behavior (exercising, healthy
eating, etc.). It is these affective consequences that seem most predictive of people’s intentions to
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