Persuasion Strategies And Attitudes
Social psychology has been studying for many years which persuasion strategies can be used to change and promote a certain attitude in people.
These studies aim not only to help set up eye-catching advertising campaigns, but also to leverage persuasion strategies to facilitate the shift towards healthy and appropriate attitudes.
The Eagle and Chaikin scholars define the concept of attitude as “ the psychological tendency that implies the evaluation of favorability or non-favorability towards an object “.
The concept of attitude is generally represented on a continuum, where the aspects of valence (positive or negative character of the attribution of the aptitude object) and intensity (the degree of this valence) stand out.
In general, the attitude can be positive or negative, however it is also possible that it is neutral or indifferent. For Rosenberg and Hovland, attitude has three components:
- Affective: the feelings of pleasure-displeasure
- Cognitive: beliefs, opinions and ideas;
- Cognitive-behavioral: behavioral intentions or tendencies of action.
Persuasion strategies defined by social psychology
Social psychology has proposed various persuasion techniques or strategies to change attitudes. Specifically, we can distinguish the following:
- Strategies that involve direct experience with the object, which in itself would generate attraction towards oneself.
- Incentive-induced strategies, such as the theory of cognitive dissonance, with its induced complacency paradigm. Another example of this type would be a different attitude towards a pro-attitudinal behavior, when we introduce extrinsic rewards and this results in a reduction of our internal motivation.
- Socially mediated strategies, which we will discuss in the next paragraph. Knowing these persuasion techniques to change the attitude is particularly important especially to be aware of how the media, advertising, etc. work. The professionals of these fields, in fact, develop strategies with the intention of convincing us to adopt a conduct that a priori we would not have adopted.
Changing attitudes through socially mediated persuasion strategies
When we analyze persuasion strategies aimed at a different attitude, there are some key variables that influence this process: the attraction and credibility of the source, that the message is rational-emotional, that the information is presented in the form of examples or that the recipient’s self-efficiency is promoted.
However, there are some techniques specifically designed to affect people’s conduct. The most important are the following:
1. Strategies based on friendship or interest
- To ingratiate yourself with others
This technique is based on pleasing others, so that they are willing to fulfill our requests. For example, select a good-looking guy or girl for a nightclub public relations job, or be very polite and courteous if we’re a restaurant manager and want to attract customers.
When one person sees another as attractive – due to the halo effect – he will think that what that person proposes to him will be equally attractive.
- Self-promotion
It is the tendency to improve our personal appearance, by giving out positive verbal cues (smiles, looking in the eyes, etc.) and associating ourselves with facts or people that the target audience likes .
An example is to invite a fashion writer to present his book in our bookstore, for people to come and listen to it and, consequently, to come and buy books in our bookstore.
- Promotion
Focus attention on others. It essentially consists of flattering and agreeing with the target audience , treating them with gifts, etc.
2. Persuasion strategies based on compromise / consistency
- Stand at the door
- Deception or Low-balling
An excellent offer is offered to the target individual, but when he accepts, an unforeseen event occurs for which a modification of the conditions of the agreement is mandatory.
Eventually, the offering party gets more benefits than the receiving party. Still, the buyer still accepts the agreement, although the initial conditions have been changed.
For example, they offer us a computer that includes a computer manual, a wireless mouse, and text editing software. Suddenly we are told that the software is no longer included, but the rest are. Since we had already decided to buy the package, we accept the new conditions and buy the computer anyway.
- Bait and switch
We announce a product at an attractive price, but when we are about to buy it we are told that it is finished or that it is not a good product.
The predisposition to buy, which we had when we entered, increases the chances of a sale, even if of a different product than the one that brought us into the shop.
An example would be a toy advertised in a catalog at a very low price, rushing to buy it for our child and, when we arrive, being told that it is finished or that they have a similar one, but that it is not the original.
3. Persuasion strategies based on reciprocity
- He brings her to his face
It consists in starting the negotiation with an extreme request, which will obviously be refused, and then offering a second less pretentious request, which is the one you really want to get.
For example, ask for a salary increase that doubles the current one and, when the boss refuses, lower the request to a much more plausible one. There is a strong probability that the other person, by reciprocity, will tend to accept it.
- And that’s not all …
An initial proposal is made, but before the interlocutor says yes or no, an additional incentive is added that makes the proposal even more attractive. For example, when they call from a telephone company and offer a new contract and also give us a landline phone.
- Pat on the shoulder
A relationship is established with the interlocutor, so that he feels obliged to accept our conditions.
4. Strategies based on scarcity
- Aim high to get something
Suggest that an item is scarce or difficult to obtain to make it more attractive and increase its likelihood of acceptance. It is a very common attitude in romantic relationships: the more one makes himself desired, the more attractive he seems in the eyes of the other.
- Limited time
A limited time is established , after which the product will no longer be available. It is the classic example of black friday or seasonal sales.
5. Other persuasion strategies
- Stimulate curiosity
Capturing the attention of the target audience so as not to fall into automatic rejection.
- Put you in a good mood
Attempting the person to whom you want to send a message, with the intention of making them feel good and thus decreasing the likelihood of rejection of the message itself.
- Complain
To exert pressure to change the attitude of others by showing discontent, dissatisfaction, or resentment. It has been shown that women who complain less and are more precise are more sensitive to complaints from their close friends.
Conclusion
We are continually bombarded with persuasion strategies in our social environment. Changing the attitude of the population is a goal to be accomplished, both for the media, as well as for politics and advertising, which tries to sell us products that we often do not need or that we did not want to buy.
Knowing all these techniques to change our attitudes allows us to be more conscious and be careful not to fall into the trap. Sometimes the manipulation is not only aimed at making us buy something, but also at obtaining our personal data for free.
In this sense, it is not superfluous to learn to distinguish when we are giving in to temptation or when we are choosing freely. It will allow us to feel more aware and responsible for our decisions and not so influential.
