Persuasion

Persuasion

Persuasion can be defined as a symbolic process in which other people are tried to be convinced by communicators to change their behavior or attitudes about an issue by means of transmission of a message, in an environment of free choice (Perloff, 2003). Persuasion implicates an intentional effort to act upon another person. It must be the intention of the persuader to modify attitude or behavior of another individual, and must be conscious (at some level at least) that he is attempting to achieve this goal.

Characteristics of the Persuader

A persuader must possess some specific characteristics so as to persuade other individuals. The most influential feature required to accomplish persuasion is credibility. It is the first law of influence. Daniel O'Keefe has indicated in his book Persuasion: Theory and Research that credibility comprises the judgments made by a perceiver regarding the plausibility of a communicator (O'Keefe, 2002). Credibility primarily relies upon two elements: trust and expertise. Expertise and trust are the important aspects, while considering source credibility in persuasion. Physical attractiveness is also another key attribute of a persuader. According to Chaiken (1986), increased physical attractiveness commonly improves effectiveness of an individual as a social influence agent. However, it is important to note that in some situations, greater persuasive success is not experienced by physically attractive communicators. Thus, appearing physically attractive will not be favorable all the time with persuasion. Likability is also a component of effective influence. Those communicators are more effective persuaders who are liked as compared to those communicators who are disliked. Likability is determined by how friendly a communicator is regarded.

Characteristics of the Message

The attributes that are intrinsic in persuasive messages include evidence quality and the clarity of its conclusions. There are four vital strategies, for sending persuasion messages: balancing of appeals, framing of arguments, reinforcement of ...