Chapter 1: Why Study Persuasion?.................................................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: What Constitutes Persuasion?.....................................................................................................................18
Chapter 3: Attitudes and Consistency...........................................................................................................................28
Chapter 5: Communicator Characteristics and Persuadability......................................................................................53
Chapter 6: Conformity and Influence in Groups..........................................................................................................63
Chapter 7: Language and Persuasion............................................................................................................................75
Chapter 15: Esoteric Forms of Persuasion..................................................................................................................141
Chapter 16: The Ethics of Persuasion.........................................................................................................................152
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, Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank to accompany Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining, Fifth Edition
Chapter 1: Why Study Persuasion?
Key Terms and Concepts
persuasion as an art and science instrumental function
pervasiveness of persuasion communication competence
word of mouth (WOM) knowledge function
buzz marketing habitual persuasion
tipping points defensive function
“the law of the few” third person effect
mavens debunking function
connectors counter-intuitive finding
salespeople manipulation
context “tool” analogy of persuasion
stickiness meta-analysis
scalability propaganda
effortless transfer indoctrination
gamification
Chapter Summary
I. Persuasion is everywhere; it is ubiquitous.
II. Persuasion can be thought of as both an art and a science.
A. While much is known about processes of social influence, the scientific study of persuasion is still in its
infancy.
B. Persuasion isn’t evil or manipulative. It is an essential, indispensable feature of human interaction.
III. Persuasion is worth studying because it is pervasive; it is inevitable and unavoidable.
A. It is part and parcel of the “people professions.”
B. The average person is exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of ads per day.
C. Buzz marketing, also known as word of mouth (WOM) has gained favor because it is cheap, self-
perpetuating, and effective.
1) Social media are increasingly important channels for persuasion.
2) Sentiment tracking relies on social media to identify topics, brands, and threads that are trending.
D. Support for an idea, a brand, or a phenomenon by the influential “law of the few” creates momentum that
ultimately becomes the tipping point, or a self-perpetuating persuasive message.
1) Malcolm Gladwell (2000) suggests that certain people act as mavens, connectors, and salespeople.
2) Context, stickiness, scalability, and effortless transfer are essential for reaching a tipping point
3) There are no guarantees that viral marketing will succeed, just as there are no guarantees that any
persuasive campaign will succeed.
E. Gamification is designed to increase consumer engagement via active participation.
F. Persuasion is found in not-so-obvious places like the natural sciences, the arts, and a variety of other
communication contexts.
G. Weird persuasion is often aimed at generating controversy or buzz and, hence, free publicity.
H. The interpersonal arena is where influence attempts are most prevalent and have their greatest impact.
IV. Learning about persuasion serves four basic functions:
A. Learning about persuasion performs an instrumental function by enhancing the student’s ability to use
persuasion effectively and appropriately.
B. Learning about persuasion fulfills a knowledge function by increasing the student’s understanding of how
persuasion works.
1) People are often unaware of their own habitual patterns of persuasion.
C. Learning about persuasion serves a defensive function by making the student a more discriminating consumer
of persuasive messages.
1) People tend to underestimate the influence of advertising on themselves and overestimate its effects on
others, a phenomenon known as the third-person effect.
D. Learning about persuasion performs a debunking function by alerting the student to false or outdated notions
of how persuasion works.
1) Many common sense notions about persuasion are mistaken.
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, Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank to accompany Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining, Fifth Edition
2) Persuasion research has yielded insightful, counter-intuitive findings.
V. Two common criticisms regarding the study of persuasion merit consideration:
A. Some claim that studying persuasion is tantamount to teaching manipulation.
1) Persuasion research focuses on the means of influence, which tend to be amoral, rather than moral or
immoral.
2) Persuasion can be likened to a tool, such as a hammer. The tool itself isn’t good or bad. The end or
purpose for which the tool is used may be good or bad.
3) A persuader’s motives, more than the persuasive means, determine how ethical or unethical a given
influence attempt is.
4) The study of persuasion performs a defensive function, arming people against unscrupulous influence
attempts.
5) People who denounce the study of persuasion are themselves advocating a persuasive position.
B. Some claim that persuasion findings are overly qualified or contradictory.
1) Human behavior is complex, so one should expect a certain amount of complexity in how persuasion
operates.
2) A number of meaningful, yet qualified, generalizations have been established through meta-analyses.
VI. An important part of the process of learning how to persuade involves learning how to persuade ethically.
VII. (Box 1.1) Persuasion, propaganda, and indoctrination are related terms.
A. Propaganda and indoctrination have a pejorative meaning and are usually used to refer to persuasion used by
the opposition.
B. Four basic characteristics of propaganda are identified, along with some common propaganda techniques.
VIII. (Box 1.2) The advice on what to watch out for when buying a car illustrates the defensive function of
persuasion.
Exercises and Learning Activities
Exercise 1-A, Pervasiveness of Persuasion Exercise
Principle Illustrated: The ubiquity of persuasion
Purpose: To demonstrate the pervasive, ubiquitous nature of persuasion to students.
Time Required: approximately 10 minutes
Directions: Ask students to look around the classroom and identify as many persuasive stimuli as they can. The
instructor might want to divide students up into teams and have the teams compete to see which team can spot the
most persuasive stimuli.
Examples of stimuli to look for include:
official signs (e.g., no smoking, maximum occupancy, please turn lights off when leaving room, etc.)
posters, flyers, or other announcements on bulletin boards
slogans, insignia, or logos on students’ clothing, backpacks, or notebooks
graffiti on desks, chairs, or walls
the physical layout and arrangement of the room; furniture, equipment, space (the layout may signify power
or status differences, or encourage or discourage one form of communication over another)
students’ nonverbal cues (seating proximity, body position, eye contact, etc.)
distractions, such as outside noise, fans, poor acoustics, smells, etc.
In the process of identifying persuasive stimuli, students will gain an appreciation of how many messages are
competing for their attention at a given time, even in the rather limited environs of a college classroom. Students
will note that some persuasive stimuli are more subtle than others. Students may also disagree about what
constitutes a persuasive stimulus, which will get them thinking about some of the definitional issues discussed in
Chapter 2.
Exercise 1-B, Ethical or Unethical Persuasion?
Principle Illustrated: Ethical issues surrounding persuasion
Purpose: To get students to reflect on the ethical issues surrounding any choice to persuade. This exercise sets the
stage for getting students to appreciate the fact that every persuasive effort is fraught with ethical implications. The
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