STRUCTURE
- Introduction – What is persuasion (35 words)
- Body – How can attitudes be changed using messages (100 words)
- Conclusion – Mention a short conclusion (15 words)
ANSWER
Persuasion
- Is the art of influencing others’ attitude, beliefs and thereby change or strengthen their behavior.
- May be defined as changing the beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors of a target through the use of information or argument.
- Is widespread in social interaction and assumes many different forms.
Attitude change occurs anytime an attitude is modified. Thus, change occurs when a person goes from being positive to negative, from slightly positive to very positive, or from having no attitude to having one.
Persuasive messages can involve emotional appeals or rational opinions. When time is limited, short emotional appeals may be more effective than rational arguments. There is also evidence that more intelligent audiences are persuaded better by two-sided messages, probably because they more readily recognize that there are two sides to the issue.
The various theories that can be used include:
Learning Theory of Attitude Change: Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning can be used to bring about attitude change.
(1) Classical conditioning – create positive emotional reactions to an object, person, or event by associating positive feelings with the target object.
EXAMPLE: The advertisements you’ve seen on billboards and television typically feature classical conditioning. Most companies use various models to make their ads more relatable.
(2) Operant conditioning – strengthen desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones.
EXAMPLE: Debates and public speaking activities are often organized in schools to improve the communication skills of students.
(3) Observational learning – let people observe the behavior of others so that they change their attitude.
EXAMPLE: A young boy accompanying his baker father to his bakery quite often is very likely to develop recognition of flavors and tastes much faster as opposed to his fellow schoolmates/neighbors.
Elaboration Likelihood Theory of Attitude Change (The theory of persuasion): This theory of persuasion suggests that people can alter their attitudes in two ways.
1)First, they can be motivated to listen and think about the message, thus leading to an attitude shift.
EXAMPLE: Motivational messages
They might be influenced by the characteristics of the speaker, leading to a temporary or surface shift in attitude. Messages that are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent changes in attitudes.
EXAMPLE: Messages from speakers like SUDHA MURTHY
