Please read the following guildine , you have to write 1000-1200 words This is a social psychology homework, you are required to write a reflective paper on how you can apply the psychological concept

• ELM model o What are elements of persuasion?

• Who says? The communicator • What is said? The message content • How is it said? The channel of communication • To whom is it said? The audience o How to resist persuasion? 2 3 4 PERSUASION o Effort to change others’ attitudes through the use of various kinds of messages o A symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or behaviors regarding an issue through the transmission of a message in an atmosphere of free choice. (Perloff, 2010) o The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. (Myers, 2005) 5 o Systematic processing (central route to persuasion)  Involves considerable cognitive elaboration  Careful consideration of message content and the ideas  Requires effort and absorbs much of our information - processing capacity o Heuristic processing (peripheral route to persuasion)  Examine the message quickly  The use of mental shortcuts  Incidental cues , e.g. the attractiveness of the speaker  Requires less effort  Allows us to react to persuasive messages automatically 6 C O G N I T I V E P R O C E S S O F P E R S UA S I O N – E L A B O R AT I ON L I K E L I HO O D M O D E L ( E L M ) 7 8 9 C O G N I T I V E P R O C E S S O F P E R S UA S I O N – E L A B O R AT I ON L I K E L I HO O D M O D E L ( E L M ) 10 o ELM by Petty, R.E. & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986) o Elaboration – the extent to which the individual thinks about or mentally modifies arguments contained in the communication o Likelihood – the probability that an event will occur o Aims to tell WHEN people should be likely to elaborate, or not, on persuasive messages o People can be simple as an information - processor or detailed, deep thinkers C O G N I T I V E P R O C E S S O F P E R S UA SI ON – E L A B O R AT I ON L I K E L I HO O D M O D E L ( E L M ) 11 o Systematic processing occurs when people… o Have enough capacity or ability to process carefully o Enough time o adequate knowledge o High motivation o High personal relevance or importance o Heuristic processing occurs when people… o Have limited capacity or ability to process carefully o Limited time o Limited knowledge o Low motivation o Low relevance or importance Alba & Marmorstein (1987) - Effect of audience’s capability and cognitive resources on decision making process ➢ Camera A better (than Camera B) on 3 KEY features ➢ Camera B better (than Camera A) on 8 TRIVIAL features 12 C O G N I T I V E P R O C E S S O F P E R S UA SI ON – E L A B O R AT I ON L I K E L I HO O D M O D E L ( E L M ) Time allowed to consider the arguments % choosing A 2 seconds per feature 5 seconds per feature Unlimited 13 The inevitability of peripheral processing in the information age 14 C O G N I T I V E P R O C E S S O F P E R S UA SI ON – E L A B O R AT I ON L I K E L I HO O D M O D E L ( E L M ) ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION o Who says? The communicator o What is said? The message content o How is it said? The channel of communication o To whom is it said? The audience 15 THE COMMUNICATOR: CREDIBILITY 16 o A credible communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy o How to become an expert or credible communicator?

• In - group members • Knowledge on the topic • Trustworthiness 1. Looking at the other person straight in the eye (Hemsley & Doob, 1978) 2. Audience believes that the communicator is not trying to persuade (Hatfield & Festinger, 1962) 3. Argue against self interest (Eagly, Wood & Chaiken, 1978) T HE COMMU NICATOR: AT T RACT IVENESS o Likability – more likely to be persuaded by a communicator we like than one we dislike 1. Make you feel good and transferred to the message 2. Convey that s/he has interest at heart o Similarity – Sharing the values between the source and the receiver ➢ e.g. Smoking cessation 17 o Physical attractiveness • Attractiveness influence attitudes ▪ Chaiken (1979) ▪ Recruited individuals who were high & low in physical appeal and asked them to advocate stop serving meal at breakfast and lunch ▪ Students received message from the attractive speakers were more inclined to the message • Possible reasons:

▪ People pay more attention to an attractive speaker ▪ Attractiveness is associated with the message ▪ People like and identify with attractive communicators ▪ Attractive individuals may be better public speakers 18 T HE COMMU NICATOR: AT T RACT IVENESS 19 20 THE MESSAGE CONTENT o Reason VS Emotion • Well - educated or analytical audience: rational appeals (Cacioppo et al., 1983, 1996) • The effect of good feelings : more persuasive when there is an association between the messages and good feelings ▪ Janis (1965) found that students were more convinced by the persuasive messages if they were allowed to enjoy peanuts and Pepsi when reading the message • Mood - congruent effects : people tend to perceive everything positive when they are in good mood ▪ Make faster, more impulsive decisions and rely more on peripheral cues 21 THE MESSAGE CONTENT o The effect of arousing fear – messages that evoke negative emotions in the recipient o Fear appeals – a persuasive communication that tries to scare people into changing attitudes by conjuring up negative consequences that will occur if they do not comply with the message recommendations ✓ Moderate levels of fear works best ✓ Paired with specific means for behavioral change o 認清損友 遠離毒品 o 禁毒處（濫用藥物） o Quit smoking 22 23 THE MESSAGE CONTENT • Discrepancy • Cognitive dissonance – internal conflict between the attitudes and the behaviors that prompts people to change their attitude/ opinions • 咪做大嘥鬼 惜食為 香港 • One - sided vs two - sided appeals • The message looks fairer and more disarming if it recognizes the opposition’s arguments • ‘No aluminum cans please!’ vs ‘It may be inconvenient, but it is important!!!!!!’ • Which do you think is more persuasive? 24 THE MESSAGE CONTENT o Primacy vs Recency • Primacy effect – information presented first usually has the most influence • Recency effect – information presented last sometimes has the most influence, but less common than the primacy effect • Miller & Campbell (1959) ▪ Gave university students a condensed transcripts from an actual trial ▪ The investigators gave the testimony and arguments in one block and the defense in another ▪ The students read both blocks and returned one week after declaring their opinions ▪ Results: Most of them sided with the information they read first 25 THE CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION o How the message is delivered matters o Persuasive speaker must deliver a message that can get attention, understandable, convincing, memorable and compelling • We are influenced by our contact with other people (personal influence), e.g. friends, classmates but not textbooks and lecturers! • Two - step flow of communication – the process by which media influence occurs through opinion leaders (experts), who in turn influence others 26 THE AUDIENCE o Age • Generational explanation – the attitudes the elderly adopted when they were young persists and this makes a big difference from those being adopted by young people nowadays o The cognition of the audiences • Forewarned is forearmed – prepare the counterarguments if the audience is forewarned • Distraction – distracting the attention can inhibit counterarguing • Uninvolved audiences use peripheral cues 27 RESIST ING PERSUASION ATTEMPTS 28 o Protecting personal freedom - Reactance • Negative reactions to threats to one’s personal freedom (i.e. hard - sell attempts often fail) • Reactance increases resistance to persuasion and can even produce negative attitude change or opposition to what was intended 29 RESIST ING PERSUASION ATTEMPTS 30 o Defend our attitudes – developing counter arguments • Providing counterarguments helps people to resist persuasion • Attitude inoculation : Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, people will have refutations available ▪ Having thought about the counterarguments beforehand, people are relatively immune to the effects of later persuasive communication RESIST ING PERSUASION ATTEMPTS o Prior knowledge of persuasive intent - Forewarning • Advance knowledge that one is about to become the target of an attempt at persuasio n • More time to formulate counterargument s 31 RESIST ING PERSUASION ATTEMPTS 32 o Selective avoidance of persuasive attempts • Direct our attention away from information that challenges our existing attitudes • Selective exposure - actively attending to information consistent with our attitudes ▪ E .g. mute the commercials, cognitively ‘tune - out’ when confronted with information that is opposite to our attitudes 33 RESIST ING PERSUASION ATTEMPTS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN RESISTANCE TO PERSUASION People are more resistant to persuasion when they are… o motivated to engage in counter - arguing o attempt to strengthen their own beliefs o NOT ego - depleted (i.e. CAN engage in self - regulation ) • Self - regulation – limited capacity to engage our willpower and control our own thinking and emotions • Ego - depletion – our self - regulation has been reduced because of prior expenditures of limited resources (e.g. tired) 34 o Am I aware of persuasive attempts from others/the external environment? o Which route of processing do I use to make decisions (in face of different kinds of persuasive attempts)? o Which kind of attitudes are more/less resistant to persuasion? Why? 35 RE FLECTIONS