Eye movement inductions influence health behaviour: the working memory account of persuasion

Abstract

Objective: Because the working memory (WM) has a limited capacity, the cognitive reactions towards persuasive information in the WM might be disturbed by taxing it by other means, in this study, by inducing voluntary eye movements (EMi). This is expected to influence persuasion.

Methods: Participants (N?=?127) listened to an auditory persuasive message on fruit and vegetable consumption, that was either framed positively or negatively. Half of them was asked to keep following a regularly moving dot on their screen with their eyes. At pretest, cognitive self-affirmation inclination (CSAI) was assessed as individual difference to test possible moderation effects.

Results: The EMi significantly lowered the quality of the mental images that participants reported to have of the persuasive outcomes. With regard to self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption after two weeks, EMi significantly lowered consumption when CSAI was high but it significantly increased consumption when CSAI was low.

Conclusions: The results verify our earlier findings that induced EM can influence persuasion. Although it remains unclear whether the effects of EMi were caused by disturbing mental images of persuasive outcomes or self-regulative reactions to these images, or both, the WM account may provide new theoretical as well as practical angles on persuasion.     

An experimental test of the relationship between voice intonation and persuasion in the domain of health

Objective: In the process of behaviour change, intonation of speech is an important aspect that may influence persuasion when auditory messages are used. In two experiments, we tested to what extent different levels of intonation are related to persuasion and whether for some recipients the threat posed by the message information might become too strong to face.

Design: In Study 1, 130 respondents listened to a health message with either a low, moderate or high level of intonation. In Study 2 (N?=?143), the same manipulations of intonation were applied but half of the respondents were affirmed before they listened to the persuasive message. Intention to increase fruit and vegetable intake was used as a dependent variable.

Results: Both studies showed that high intonation led to a significant drop in intention among respondents who perceived their own health as good. After self-affirmation, persuasion was increased.

Conclusion: A high level of intonation seems to induce self-regulatory defences in people who do not see the necessity to change their health behaviour, whereas people with poor perceived health might perceive potential to change. The use of a normal level of intonation in auditory health messages is recommended.     

Attitudes toward health-messages: The link between perceived attention and subjective strength

IntroductionMany efforts are invested in promoting healthy attitudes and behaviors; nonetheless there is no clear, definitive evidence of sustained effectiveness of those efforts in all cases.ObjectiveThe present study examined the role of perceived attention in changing attitudes toward vegetable consumption as well as the perceived stability and resistance of those changes (attitude strength).MethodParticipants were randomly assigned to read a strong or weak health communication arguing in favor of vegetable consumption. After reading the message, participants reported attitudes toward this health issue, the perceived attention, and the perceived strength associated with their evaluations.ResultsParticipants who reported high (vs. low) perceived attention showed a greater effect of argument quality on persuasion. Furthermore, such participants also reported stronger attitudes compared to those who reported low perceived attention.ConclusionThis study showed that attitudes toward vegetable consumption can be changed after reading a persuasive message, and that the extent of perceived attention moderated the extent to which those changes were perceived as stable and resistant (stronger attitudes).     

To trust or not to trust: How self‐construal affects consumer responses to interpersonal influence

Although people generally prefer persuasive messages that align with their self‐construal, the present research explores a seemingly paradoxical situation wherein mismatched message that does not align with people's self‐construal is positively received. Given sufficient cognitive capacity to trigger persuasion knowledge—the knowledge of persuasion tactics that are encountered in the marketplace, the use of an individually focused persuasion attempt on consumers with an interdependent self‐construal results in greater levels of trust in the sales agent. In contrast, consumers with an independent self‐construal respond similarly to different types of persuasion attempts. Persuasion knowledge is a mechanism for variations in trust. The findings replicate those of prior work, and the robustness of the effects is confirmed via small‐scale meta‐analysis.     

The Psychology of Tailoring‐Ingredients in Computer‐Tailored Persuasion

Persuasive information can be tailored to individual characteristics using computer technology. Computer technology offers three ways to persuade people: adaptation, personalization, and feedback. Adaptation refers to the match between the type or the formulation of the persuasive arguments or recommendations and an individual's psychological state. Personalization refers to the incorporation of one or more recognizable individual characteristics (e.g., one's first name) in a persuasive text. Feedback refers to providing the individual with information about him or her that relates to important individual goals. These visible elements in a persuasive message are the tailoring‐ingredients of computer‐tailored persuasion. The present article focuses on explaining how these tailoring‐ingredients influence persuasion, using existing social psychological insights in human functioning and persuasion. The persuasive effects of the tailoring‐ingredients can be explained partly by different psychological processes.     

The role of self-control in resistance to persuasion

Four studies investigated a self-control theory of resistance to persuasion. This theory asserts that resistance to persuasion requires and consumes self-control resources. Study 1 showed that resistance to a persuasive message reduced the ability to engage in a subsequent self-control task. Studies 2 and 3 showed that self-control depletion leads to increased persuasion. Study 4 showed that self-control depletion increased persuasion, particularly under effortful resistance (i.e., strong arguments). Together, these findings suggest that self-control plays a vital role in the process of resistance to persuasion. People must have self-control resources to fend off persuasive appeals; without them, they become susceptible to influence.     

Source Personality and Persuasiveness: Big Five Predispositions to Being Persuasive and the Role of Message Involvement

In the present studies we incorporate a Person × Situation perspective into the study of the persuasion source. Specifically, we aimed to identify the personality characteristics of the persuasive individual and test the moderating role of target and source involvement. In three studies we found support for hypothesized relationships between source persuasiveness and Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience, and evidence for a moderating effect of involvement. In a preliminary study (N = 66, M_age = 22.7, 64% female), we demonstrated expected differences in the personality ratings assigned to a hypothetical persuasive versus nonpersuasive individual. In Study 1 (N = 95, M_age = 24.1, 62% female), through sets of two‐person debates, we showed that source Extraversion and Openness to Experience were positively, and Neuroticism negatively, associated with source persuasiveness. In Study 2 (N = 148, M_age = 24.3, 61% female), we manipulated the level of involvement and mostly replicated the results from Study 1, but, corresponding with our predictions, only when involvement was low. Our findings demonstrate the relevance of an interactionist approach to the study of persuasion, highlighting the role of personality in the study of the persuasion source.     

Temporal delay,type of forewarning,and resistance to influence

Previous researchers have manipulated forewarning by providing premessage information about the topic and position of the upcoming communication, or the communicator's persuasive intent. Subjects in the present experiment were force-warned either 10 min prior to the communication, or just before the message began of the speaker's topic and position, persuasive intent, or topic only. As hypothesized, forewarning of the communicator's persuasive intent inhibited persuasion regardless of the length of the delay period, but forewarning of the topic and position required a delay in order to confer resistance to subsequent persuasion, suggesting that although both manipulations have been called “forewarning they may lead to reduced persuasion through different mechanisms. Foreknowledge of the source's topic, but not his position also increased resistance to persuasion when followed by a delay period. The results were discussed in terms of both cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may underly the persuasion inhibiting effects of forewarning.     

Persuasive Argumentation Versus Manipulation

This article deals with the relationship between argumentation and persuasion. It defends the idea that these two concepts are not as opposed as all too often said. If it is important to recognize their differences (there are argumentative discourses without persuasion and persuasive discourses without argumentation), there is nevertheless an overlap, in which characteristics are taken from both. We propose to call this overlap “persuasive argumentation”. In order to bridge argumentation and persuasion, we will first distinguish the latter from manipulation. In the second part of this article, we will analyze four cases of persuasive argumentation: the enthymeme, a few rhetorical figures, narration and visual argumentation.     

The effect of self-affirmation in nonthreatening persuasion domains: timing affects the process

Most research on self-affirmation and persuasion has argued that self-affirmation buffers the self against the threat posed by a persuasive message; thus, it increases the likelihood that participants will respond to the message favorably. Little research, in contrast, has looked at the effects of self-affirmation on persuasive messages that are not threatening to the self. This research examines mechanisms that can operate under these conditions. Consistent with the idea that self-affirmation affects confidence, the article shows that self-affirmation can decrease information processing when induced prior to message reception (Experiment 1) and can increase the use of self-generated thoughts in response to a persuasive message when induced after message reception (Experiment 2). In addition, Experiment 3 manipulates the timing of self-affirmation to replicate both effects and Experiment 4 provides direct evidence for the impact of self-affirmation on confidence.     

Dispelling the illusion of invulnerability: the motivations and mechanisms of resistance to persuasion

Three studies examined the impact of a treatment designed to instill resistance to deceptive persuasive messages. Study 1 demonstrated that after the resistance treatment, ads using illegitimate authority-based appeals became less persuasive, and ads using legitimate appeals became more persuasive. In Study 2, this resistance generalized to novel exemplars, persevered over time, and appeared outside of the laboratory context. In Study 3, a procedure that dispelled participants' illusions of invulnerability to deceptive persuasion maximized resistance to such persuasion. Overall, the present studies demonstrate that attempts to confer resistance to appeals will likely be successful to the extent that they install 2 conceptual features: perceived undue manipulative intent of the source of the appeal and perceived personal vulnerability to such manipulation.     

Biassed processing of persuasive information: on the functional equivalence of cues and message arguments

Research on persuasion has shown that inferences based on heuristic or peripheral cues can bias the subsequent processing of persuasive messages. Two studies (total N = 296) examined the additional possibilities that a message argument can serve as a biassing factor and cue‐related information can serve as the target of processing bias. It was demonstrated that a message argument can bias (a) the processing of subsequent other message arguments (Study 1) and (b) the processing of subsequent cue information (Study 2). Results are discussed within dual‐process models and the recently developed unimodel of persuasion. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resisting persuasion by the skin of one's teeth: the hidden success of resisted persuasive messages

Recent research has suggested that when people resist persuasion they can perceive this resistance and, under specifiable conditions, become more certain of their initial attitudes (e.g., Z. L. Tormala & R. E. Petty, 2002). Within the same metacognitive framework, the present research provides evidence for the opposite phenomenon--that is, when people resist persuasion, they sometimes become less certain of their initial attitudes. Four experiments demonstrate that when people perceive that they have done a poor job resisting persuasion (e.g., they believe they generated weak arguments against a persuasive message), they lose attitude certainty, show reduced attitude-behavioral intention correspondence, and become more vulnerable to subsequent persuasive attacks. These findings suggest that resisted persuasive attacks can sometimes have a hidden yet important success by reducing the strength of the target attitude.     

Anxiety,Sophistication, and Resistance to Persuasion: Evidence from a Quasi‐Experimental Survey on Global Climate Change

Our contribution deals with the emotional and cognitive foundations of resistance to persuasive information. We rely on an original quasi‐experimental protocol that simulates the flow of information and the respondents' reactions to persuasive arguments on global climate change. Respondents in a representative sample (N = 604) were asked if they supported reduction of economic activity to reduce climate warming and were then provided, based on their support or disapproval for this first argument, with counterattitudinal arguments to test their resistance to persuasion. This article highlights that sophistication strengthens resistance to persuasion, whereas anxiety has a double effect: directly, it decreases resistance; indirectly, it interacts with political sophistication and makes sophisticates less likely to resist persuasion when facing arguments inconsistent with their previous beliefs. Nonanxious citizens, in turn, are more likely to resist persuasion when their political sophistication increases. We also provide evidence that the joint effect of anxiety and sophistication is moderated by the ideological identification of respondents.     

Binding communication and problematic request: Application in the field of road safety

IntroductionMost studies using the binding communication paradigm aim at obtaining requests whose nature remains essentially pro-social.ObjectiveThe objective of this research is to evaluate the importance of the target of the binding communication strategy (self-centred vs. focused on others) and its greater effectiveness compared to persuasive communication with respect to a counter-attitudinal issue — reducing the speed of riders of powered two-wheelers (PTW).MethodOne hundred and sixteen two-wheeler drivers are randomly placed in four experimental conditions: binding self-centred communication, binding communication focused on others, persuasive communication, and control condition.ResultsBinding self-centred communication allows for a greater increase in the behavioural intent of a problematic request compared to binding communication focused on others or persuasive communication.ConclusionThe research prospects proposed as a conclusion call for a broader reflection on the design and evaluation of prevention campaigns using the paradigm of binding communication.     

Transportation and Need for Affect in Narrative Persuasion: A Mediated Moderation Model

Two experiments investigated the idea that individual differences in need for affect are critical for narrative persuasion. Need for affect, that is, the disposition to approach emotions, was assumed to facilitate the experience of being transported into the mental world of the narrative. An intense experience of transportation, in turn, should enhance the persuasive impact of narrative information on readers' beliefs. A mediated moderation analysis was used to test these assumptions. In both experiments (N = 314), need for affect (approach) and transportation moderated the persuasive effects of a fictional narrative compared to a belief-irrelevant control story (Experiment 1) and the persuasive effects of a story with high emotional content compared to a story with low emotional content (Experiment 2). The moderator effects of need for affect were shown to be mediated by the moderator effects of transportation. In sum, the magnitude of a person's need for affect determines whether and to what extent the person experiences transportation into the story world and is persuaded by the information presented in the narrative.     

Implicit Theories of Persuasion

This research explores whether individuals have implicit theories of persuasion. The first study sought to understand how persuasive strategies are cognitively represented. Using multidimensional scaling, two dimensions were identified. The first dimension distinguishes the types of tactics used to bring about attitude change. The second dimension differentiated the social acceptability of the persuasive strategies. The second stage of this research explored the nature of people's implicit theories of persuasion. Experiment 1 demonstrated that implicit theories of persuasion are sensitive to the operation of multiple goals in a situation. Experiment 2 found that implicit theories of persuasion reflect the audience's familiarity with the topic. In Experiment 3, implicit theories were demonstrated to be sensitive to the topic-relevant knowledge of the communicator.     

Group psychotherapy as taught by the polsters and the gouldings

Psychotherapy has been viewed by many as a subtle form of interpersonal persuasion. However, persuasion, or the lack of it, in a psychotherapy relationship is not always clearly definable. Most agree that persuasion is influenced by a number of important factors, of which the personal characteristics of the therapist are generally recognized as the most significant. Experience, credibility, training, dedication, values and enthusiasm are attributes usually agreed upon as being important contributors to the therapist's power to persuade. Understandably, psychotherapy conceptualized in this manner raises significant issues of values, ethics and responsibility in treatment. While not all agree or recognize persuasive influences existing in psychotherapy, it is suggested that persuasion is a salient feature of psychotherapy, whether or not it is identified as such. It is important to remember that in all psychotherapy, trouble is apt to follow the ignorant applications of important forces. Further, it is suggested that these persuasive influences cross doctrinal differences and can be augmented by applying them with a group psychotherapy setting. In the hands of a skilled and ethical psychotherapist, these persuasive influences can be enhanced and the group can become a powerful tool in the therapeutic process. These issues are explored in this paper in relation to two different group psychotherapy training experiences with Bob and Mary Goulding and Erv and Miriam Polster.     

Aristotle and Personal Selling

Abstract

The authors discuss the relevance of Aristotle's writings, particularly in the Rhetoric, to modern-day personal selling. Aristotle endorses a sophisticated approach to selling—advocating a customer orientation and segmented markets. He proposes a three-pronged selling process that includes appeals to reason and the emotions of the purchaser while concurrently convincing the purchaser of the seller's integrity. Aristotle argues that the art of selling is subject to systematic formal treatment and demonstrates the possibilities of formal analysis in persuasion. He further assimilates logical argument with practical persuasion in a way that provides a sound basis for selling strategy.