Psychology Assignment: Analyzing Persuasion's Key Influencing Factors

This essay delves into the multifaceted concept of persuasion, examining the critical roles of the communicator, the message itself, the channel through which the message is delivered, and the characteristics of the audience. The essay begins with an overview of persuasion, defining it and exploring various influences, including credibility, attractiveness, and the use of positive and negative emotional appeals within the message. It then analyzes the impact of different communication channels, such as face-to-face interactions and media, on persuasion effectiveness. Finally, the essay considers the audience's role, exploring how factors like age and generational differences affect receptivity to persuasive messages. The content is supported by various research articles. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the key elements that shape persuasive outcomes, offering insights into how these factors interact to influence attitudes and behaviors.

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“CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE ROLE OF THESE FOUR FACTORS THAT CAN
INFLUENCE PERSUASION: (1) THE COMMUNICATOR, (2) THE MESSAGE, (3) HOW
THE MESSAGE IS COMMUNICATED AND (4) THE AUDIENCE. ”
INTRODUCTION
This study focusses on the subject of persuasion and its factors of influences such as,
communicator, message (what is message???) , and channel of communication of those messages
and finally the audience have been discussed in brief as per the requirements. The literature review
of persuasion it has been found a thorough concept on persuasion as well. ( this does not make
sense at all)
Use this instead: This literature review focuses on the subject of persuasion. Persuasion has
numerous amounts of influences. For example; communication , message??? and the channel of
communication.
You need to define what message and communication is ??
LITERATURE REVIEW ON PERSUASION
What is persuasion? You need to first define it then start the introduction
The Persuasion is mainly trying to influence in which way the individual thinks or behave.
(Not a good start….)
But it is also equally correct that being persuasive doesn’t mean to same thing like being right.
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On the other hand Persuasion is the act or process that presents the arguments which will move,
motivate or change the audience (Myers & Twenge, 2016)
Aristotle taught rhetoric, related to public speaking. In both the cases it is involved the faculty who
can observe the available meanings of persuasion. Again, as a matter of fact. Former president
Obama, who may be appealed the sense of duty as national values. as per to lend the car keys, it is
needed to persuade the parents, but the individual may ask one of the parents instead of both
keeping in mind the one who will readily approachable as well as provide the same idea as the
individual is thinking for him/her. This is a good point but you need research articles as evidence, or
you could say why he is persuasive
The Persuasion thus is implicit as well as explicit while the both positive and negative effects will
act together (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2014).
Moreover, Persuasion is one of the most significant goals (what do you mean by goals?) in
case of language as well as communication (give an example of language and communication)
(Infante, Rancer, & Womack, 1997). Nonetheless, persuasion can be applied universally. For
example; playing the essential role in case of politics, psychotherapy, religion, education and also in
day-to-day social interaction.
Among a various number of people there is an attempt for influencing the other individuals and also
their have targeted influence. They also try to learn something new which is about the work
processes of persuasion in the means of trial and errors (McCroskey, 1968). Contrarily, intuitive
knowledge of persuasion that is able to advise the availability from the popular books for the
subject, scholars which are in same disciplines that is psychology, political science,
communications, advertising or marketing has the systematic study of persuasion in case of many
years (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014).
Thus, persuasion is an attempt to get something fixed or changed. Likewise, from the perspective of
Wiener (YEAR?), who generally believes that a person is not able to persuade the mass audience
where the person is influenced by its social surroundings (Wiener, 1994). On the other hand,
Redding who fits the description of persuader cannot get the others to accept the new idea or
proposal until they individually perceives it as a good idea (Redding, 1984). In addition, with,
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O’Keefe he has added humour in the persuasive message which could have the effect on the
perceptions of some communicators (O’Keefe, 1990).
It is also easier to get individuals to conduct something which the individual is willing to do
something that the individual is not willing to do (Cartwright, 1949). Also, according to Swindle,
persuading the other person to do something that the person individually wants to do is not easy
shown (Swindle, 1983).
INFLUENCE OF PERSUASION
THE COMMUNICATOR
a) Credibility: The communications have gained credibility for appearing as trustworthy
experts. If the source is credible there are favourable opinions on what can be generated
with response to a message. There is the impact of non-credible person also
correspondingly increase within the time where the individual may remember the
message than the reason of discounting it. Again, the source credibility which consists of
two components, such as the influential information. Also the knowledgeability and also
the objectivity are two components in case of communicator’s credibility and that
frequently exert the influence in case of the persuasive situations (Smith, Kawakami, &
Cooper., 2016). Moreover, the credibility will be transmitted to the perceivers in several
ways. The communicator can perceive as the trustworthy as there is the argument against
the self-interest or in case of honest judgement where the communicating facts will
considered to be valid. Furthermore, there are some evidences that also expertise that
may not exert the strong influence in case of attitude change unless it has been perceived
with the trustworthiness for some change in degree (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953).
b) Attractiveness as opposed to liking: On the other hand, the physical attraction and
unattractiveness among male and female communicators can deliver the persuasive
message to the target undergraduates ( STUDY??) . In case of data gathered from the
communicator in the process of earlier laboratory session, which indicates the physical
attractive and unattractive communicators are differed with respect to the several
communication skills along with the relevant attributes for communicator
persuasiveness. Also, it has been found that the attractive individuals will be more
persuasive than the unattractive person as because they possess the characteristics which
are disposed for more effective communicators (Chaiken, 1079).
THE MESSAGE
The message is another influencer of persuasion and its importance lies what
the individual says about. Persuasive messages sometimes appeal with the logic or with the
emotions. Also, the negative persuasive arguments are illustrated the bad things and thus
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they are not followed with the course of action. In case of the people wants to follow the
course of action when there is positive sense of messages.
Positive emotional messages: In case of the positive anti-smoking campaign is displayed in
the school where they are looking healthy as well as happy and having lots of positive
friends. (which school? Give an example)
Thus the positive recycling message that needs to be talked about has saved some natural
resources by recycling. To what extent the positive messages are applicable to the business
finances and also how the recycling positive message cycle has saved the habitats to
endanger the species. Also positive appeals have emphasized the good as well as the
listener’s desire for the good and also the happy emotions (Midden & Ham, 2016).
On the other hand, the positive rational messages have used some facts, details and also
statistics. But without emphasizing to the negative effects due to generations of negative
acting, they also emphasise on the positive effects related with positive action. As per the
example, the positive persuasive messages regarding the drinking of water during the
pregnancy and thus it emphasize on the health status of baby in the womb. So, with more
amount of drinking water it has been found that the baby will be healthier. In case of
positive business messages, the situation of business may vary with the action of positive
message. As in case of any employee evaluation, the message from the manager may follow
some positive appreciation where he/she can expect more active participation in team
meeting (Murdock, 2017).
Similarly, the negative persuasive message is generally threatening the negative
consequences as a counterpart. In the same example of evaluation of employee which is due
to the unsatisfactory job performance that threatens the disciplinary action. Other type of
negative persuasion, it has threatened to turn on the collection agency also the sales appeal
(Price, Dillard, & Nabi., 2006).
THE CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION
As psychology clearly establishes, that there is the nevertheless option to have the
faith in case of power of written words. With the intention that the people will get out of the
campus event, the notices are posted so the drivers while slow down the car, those would be
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eye-catching communication with positive sense of persuasive. For the purpose that people
would get persuaded, two well-intentioned efforts are considered. The week long campaign
has urged the students in keeping Scripps their campus as much as beautiful. Thus they
follow up their message like “let’s clean up the trash” by the psychologist Raymond
Paloutzian (1979) (Infante, Rancer, & Womack, 1997). To examine the behaviour of the
passer by, he put the hoardings above a trash and started examine over 180 passer-by where
only 2 out of 180 have used the trash bin after viewing the hoardings. What do the findings
show?
Although, it is obvious that the face to face influence in general is greater than the
media influence, the media’s power cannot be underestimated. According to Elihu Katz
(1957), it has been observed that there is many media’s effects are operated within the two-
steps flow of communication with a purpose to rank the file regarding the media to the
opinion leaders. In this two-steps flow model, media has been influenced the penetration the
culture with a subtle ways (Myers & Twenge, 2016). Even there is very little direct effect of
media on the attitudes of people, but they have the indirect effect in people’s life. There are
small children who use to grow by watching the television and are influenced by the
television directly. Thus, there can be an oversimplification of all kinds of medium. The
studies carried out, has compared with different kind of media those have direct effect on the
people’s life and on attitudes. The result finds that more the life likes the medium, more the
power persuasive the messages. Therefore, the order of persuasiveness has seemed to be
lived, written, videotaped or audiotaped. In case of complexity to be added, the messages are
comprehended and recalled when they are written. In this scenario, comprehension is
considered as the one of the first step in persuasion process (Murdock, 2017). This
section is too long
THE AUDIENCE
It has been noted that, people who are interested in the case of different political
factors as well as social attitudes. The social psychologist has given two explanations
regarding this difference. One is the life cycle explanation. In this case, it has been noted
that with growing in age, the attitude of the people is change and it becomes more
conservative. The other one is the generational explanation. The attitudes of those people
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remain unchanged as the growing old and they have persisted with the same attitudes as they
had in their young age. Today’s generation is different from that older one and this is the
main reason of the generation gap (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014).
Evidently, there are most supports from the generational explanation. In several
surveys, it has been viewed that the attitudes are unchanged in case of older people than the
younger one.
Again, it is also a common culture that the older adults are found flexible as they are more
liberal sexual as well as racial attitudes than they are in thirties or forties. Very few of them
have changed the cultural norms. Furthermore, in a research by Jon Krosnick and Penny
Visser (1998) has suggested that the older adults may again more susceptible at their attitude
change at the end of their life cycle, and the reason behind it is their weakness in body and
also their attitudes (Myers & Twenge, 2016).
In addition with, the teens at their early twenties are very important as these are the
formative years for those teens. At this age, if the attitudes form within them, it will last up
to their middle age. So, it is a clear advice to the young groups to choose the social
influences where they need to be very careful to imbibe the media they choose or the roles
they adopt (Midden & Ham, 2016).
Again, another area of persuasion in this case is the thoughtfulness of the decision makers in
the country. Simulating thinking has made the strong messages for those who are persuasive
and also the weak messages follow the less persuasive (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953).
CONCLUSION
As discussed above, it has been clear that persuasion is the culture of the society where
without it there may be some issues will occur in every culture and society. There is the brief study
of each categories of influencer of persuasion, and it has been demonstrated the only main idea of
existence of persuasion in the society in this study. The whole idea of elaborating the causes, like
audience, messages, the way of communication of those messages, also the communicator have
been discussed as per their strong and weakness in application within human culture. You should
evaluate your work and studies and summarise the main findings
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REFERENCES
Cartwright, D. (1949). Some principles of mass persuasion: selected findings of research on the sale
of United States war bonds. Human Relations, 383.
Chaiken, S. (1079). Communicator physical attractiveness and persuasion. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology,, 1387-1397.
Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2014). Social Psychology (7th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Learning
Ltd.
Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion; psychological
studies of opinion change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Infante, D. A., Rancer, A. S., & Womack, D. F. (1997). Building communication theory. Prospect
Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2014). Social Psychology. London: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
McCroskey, J. C. (1968). An introduction to rhetorical communication. . Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Midden, C., & Ham, J. (2016, 2017 03). The persuasive effects of positive and negative social
feedback from an embodied agent on energy conservation behavior. Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?
doi=10.1.1.189.5061&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Murdock, R. (2017, 04 25). Positive and Negative Persuasive Messages. Retrieved from
https://sciencing.com/: https://sciencing.com/positive-negative-persuasive-messages-
8498613.html
Myers, D. G., & Twenge, J. M. (2016). Social Psychology (12th edition). . New York:: Tata Mc
Graw Hill.
O’Keefe, D. J. (1990). Persuasion theory and research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. .
Price, J., Dillard, J., & Nabi., R. L. (2006). The Persuasive Influence of Emotion in Cancer
Prevention and Detection Messages. Journal of Communication, S123–S139.
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Redding, W. C. (1984). The corporate manager’s guide to better communication. Glenview, IL:
Scott: Foresman & Co.
Smith, E. R., Kawakami, K., & Cooper., L. (2016). In a field setting, each of 68 physically
attractive or unattractive. 6th: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Swindle, R. E. (1983). The concise business correspondence style guide. . Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Wiener, V. (1994). Power communications. New York: University Press. .
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