PERSUASION AT WORK

Persuasion at Work

Persuasion at Work

Persuasion is a form of social influence that is based on communication. Persuasion occurs when one person intends to and is successful at using communication to affect another person. Persuasive communications can target another's attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. The focus of persuasion theory and research has been on attitudes: many techniques are actually derived from specific attitude change theories. Attitudes, a central concept in social psychology, are evaluative judgments about an object, person, or issue. Attitudes can be favorable or unfavorable, can vary in strength, and can but do not necessarily include affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses. Current research demonstrates that under certain circumstances, attitudes are predictors of behavior.

Attitudes, though formed by beliefs, are not the same as beliefs. Attitudes are based on judgments; beliefs, be they factual or stereotypical, are information based. Some attitudes are easily changed, while others are more enduring. Attitudes, which are central to human life, help make the social world more predictable, help determine one's behavior, help process information, and even help to define who we are. Knowing what function an attitude serves in any given situation is a key factor in designing persuasive appeals. Attitude change is more likely to occur when the persuasive appeal targets the function served by the existing attitude. The mechanisms behind attitude formation and attitude change are thought to be the same.

Two competing dual-processing theories, the elaboration-likelihood model and the heuristic-systematic model, postulate differing mechanisms for attitude change. One mechanism is based on effortless processing of information, and the other is based on effortful processing of information.

The effortless processing or “peripheral processing” is a form of persuasion widely used by the media. Peripheral processing is based on associations between the positions being advanced and the objects or people to which a person is attracted. ...