1. The TARES Test: Five Principles for Ethical Persuasion
Baker & Martinson
- Although the short-term – or immediate – goal, in the case of advertising for
example, may well be increased sales, the ethical persuader will only utilize those
messages and methods that demonstrate genuine respect for those to whom the
particular advertisement is directed.
o Genuine respect dictates that the persuader places the interests of persons to
whom a particular persuasive effort is directed before his or her narrowly
defined self-interest
o The persuader must ethically evaluate his or her efforts from a relative last
end perspective which views a particular persuasive effort as…
Assisting the receiver in attaining that which is already implicitly in the
receiver’s interest
The persuader must communicate truthful and substantially complete
information
In a context that will enable the receiver to make a rational decision to
accept or reject that which is being put forth
- Persuaders are engaged in acts of communication and any effort to communicate can
be judged as ethical only to the degree with which it provides, as a relative last end,
genuinely truthful information.
o One who communicates false, misleading, or deceptive information in a
serious circumstance, does wrong because to do so perverts the very purpose
of speech (communication)
- People distrust persuasive communicators because they fear those in the field do not
respect them as individuals and are interested only in achieving immediate and
narrowly defined self-interested goals or objectives that are often not in the interest
of those to whom persuasive communication is directed
o People distrust professional persuaders because they believe that too often
those persuaders are attempting to manipulate them
- The advertiser may hope to increase sales, the public relations practitioner may wish
to improve the image of a business, but in the attempt to achieve those ends,
advertisers and public relations practitioners act unethically if they utilize methods
intended more to manipulate, exploit or both, listeners and persuades than to
respect them
- TARES Test: Five principles for ethical persuasion
o Defines the moral boundaries of persuasive communications and serves as a
set of action guiding principles directed toward a moral consequence in
persuasion
o These five principles comprise the legitimate end of persuasive
communications
1. Truthfulness (of the message)
o The principle of truthfulness requires the persuader’s intention not to
deceive, the intention to provide others with the truthful information they
legitimately need to make good decisions about their lives
2. Authenticity (of the persuader)
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, o Genuineness and sincerity in promoting particular products and services to
particular persuades; loyalty to appropriate persons, causes, duties, and
institutions; and moral independence and commitment to principle
Integrity and personal virtue: not only do the right thing, but also have
motivation and emotion in being good and doing right
Sincerity and genuineness: persuaders should personally believe int h
product, service, or cause they are advancing
Loyalty and independence: persuaders examine their loyalties and
balance those in a given situation or context
3. Respect (for the persuadee)
o Persuaders should regard other human being as worthy of dignity, not violate
their rights, interests, and well-being for raw self-interest or purely client-
serving purposes
4. Equity (of the appeal)
o Requires that persuaders consider if both the content and the execution of
the persuasive appeal are fair and equitable, if persuaders have fairly used
the power of persuasion in a given situation or if they have persuaded or
manipulated unjustly
o Vulnerable audiences must not be unfairly targeted
5. Social responsibility (for the common good)
o Requires persuaders to be sensitive to and concerned about the wider public
interest or common good
- The five principles in the TARES test are interrelated moral safeguards; the principles
are mutually supporting and validating
- There may be times in which adherence to one principle will cause one to violate
another, e.g. truthfulness and respect
o Moral dilemma: two core values come into conflict, right vs. right
Occurs when a choice is required among actions that meet competing
commitments or obligations, but there are good reasons for and
against each alternative
In situations in which the principles conflict, one must decide which of
the principles has the greatest moral claim on one in a given context
2. Social psychological factors in lifestyle change and their relevance to policy
Mai et al.
- Changing the behaviours entails changing the context of the behaviour and the
individual’s role in producing the behaviour
- For example, healthy choices, are often made in environments that require
psychological effort to combat temptation
o Freedom of choice makes it more difficult to resist temptation
o Stress and habit formation also impede the ability to resist temptation
- When armed with the relevant theory and evidence, public information and social
marketing campaigns aimed at lifestyle should be quite successful
- Habit: frequent behaviour that is conducted with little conscious awareness and
intention, is mentally efficient, and may sometimes be difficult to control
o In addition, a habit is cued by the environment in which the behaviour is
conducted
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, o These two elements, automaticity and being environment cued, make habits
difficult to change
o Habit can lead to ‘tunnel vision’ when habits have developed, an individual
is less motivated to attend to and acquire new information, particularly
information that is not consistent with the habit
o Habitual behaviour seems less guided by attitudes and intentions than
behaviour that is conducted in a more deliberative and thoughtful fashion
o When a particular behaviour is repeated over and over again, the original
reasons and arguments why that behaviour was adopted in the first place
may vanish
- Downstream interventions: focus on changing or extinguishing the problematic
behaviour of people who already exhibit a significant risk factor
o Attempt to solve the problem through the decisions of the individuals who are
at risk
o Approach: exhort behaviour change through information campaigns
E.g. antismoking campaigns citing negative effects on health
and emphasizing social and personal responsibility
However, it is also crucial to tackle individual motivation, skills and
environmental influences
o Theory of Planned Behaviour: predicts that human behaviour is guided by
three kinds of considerations:
1. Beliefs about the likely consequences of the behaviour and the evaluations
of these consequences (behavioural beliefs)
2. Beliefs about the expectations of others and the motivation to comply
with these expectations (normative beliefs)
3. Beliefs about factors expected to help or hinder the performance of the
behaviour and the perceived importance of these factors (control beliefs)
o Salient beliefs: easy to recall from memory, fundamental determinants of
people’s attitudes and behavioural intention
o Positive vs negative outcomes: for particular behaviours and individuals, the
degree to which a behaviour is perceived to have more positive outcomes
may be the most important determinant of performance; for other individuals
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, or behaviours, the degree to which a behaviour is perceived to have less
negative outcomes may be the most important determinant of performance
o Instrumental vs emotional outcomes: instrumental outcomes involve material
costs and benefits to the self, whereas emotional outcomes are consequences
of an action for moods, well-being, and emotional states
E.g. speeding: Instrumental fines, jail time
Emotional shame, guilt, anger
Campaigns should focus on information that persuades individuals
that they can change and provides them with strategies that would
help them to change
o There is a substantial gap between intention and action
Although the motivation to change is a prerequisite to behaviour
change, it is far from sufficient
Two specific problems that confront strivings for behaviour goals are
failures to initiate action (failing to get started) or to shield an ongoing
goal pursuit form unwanted influences (getting derailed)
o Implementation intentions: specific “if-then” plans of action that specify,
where, when and how behaviour is to be executed in order to accomplish a
particular goal
E.g. order a salad for lunch tomorrow
Do not easily escape people’s attention, even when they are busy with
other tasks
o Automatic attitudes: attitudes arisen quickly and spontaneously without
thought or deliberation
o Tailored interventions: intervention programs can assess individuals’ deficits
in information, motivation, and skills and provide interventions that are
tailored (matched) to the individual
- Upstream interventions: focus on changing the environment in which the
problematic behaviour occurs and on promoting alternatives
o Target social norms and environmental supports for desired behaviour
E.g. portion sizes for packaged foods to reduce obesity, economic
incentives, better bus routes for promoting public transport
o Education of young people who have not yet built a habit for the target
behaviour can be influenced before the behaviour is set in place
o Upstream interventions can be difficult to accomplish, and often involve
substantial resources over longer periods of time, long-term planning, and
political support
o Combinations of legislation, enforcement, education, and structural change
play a crucial role
- Combinatorial interventions: occur when people undergo changes
o Downstream-plus-context-change: individuals are in a position that requires
finding new ways to behave
E.g. moving to another job, reorganization in a workplace
o They are more susceptible to new information that helps to guide their new
behaviours
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