TECHNIQUES OF PERSUASIONTools of the Trade

I. ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

A. Communication: Sender conveys message to intended receiver

1. Sender = author, speaker, communicator, etc. Always ask: Who is the true sender?

2. Types of message: Information, Argument, and/or Persuasion. Always ask: What are the messages in this communication?

3. Intended receiver may not be actual receiver, may be separated by space and time, may not even exist. Always ask: Who is the intended audience for this message?

I. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

A. Communication: Sender conveys message to intended receiver

1. Sender = author, speaker, communicator, etc. Always ask: Who is the true sender?

2. Types of message: Information, Argument, and/or Persuasion. Always ask: What are the messages in this communication?

3. Intended receiver may not be actual receiver, may be separated by space and time, may not even exist. Always ask: Who is the intended audience for this message?

I. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

A. Communication: Sender conveys message to intended receiver

1. Sender = author, speaker, communicator, etc. Always ask: Who is the true sender?

2. Types of message: Information, Argument, and/or Persuasion. Always ask: What are the messages in this communication?

3. Intended receiver = target, audience, recipient, etc. Need not be actual receiver; may be separated by space and time; may not even exist. Always ask: Who is the intended audience for this message?

4. IMPLICATION: CRITICALLY ANALYZE COMMUNICATION

Think about how words, images, and sounds are used (message), by whom (sender) and for what purpose (intended and actual receivers)

This applies to all communication – including “just the facts.”

FROM YEMEN (OCTOBER 15, 2011)

A woman holding her wounded son in her arms, inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

FROM EGYPT (FEBRUARY 7, 2011)

Young Egyptians posted videos online that they had recorded earlier in Tahrir Square in Cairo. The group collected testimonies of the protesters and published them on social networking sites

FROM EGYPT (FEBRUARY 7, 2011)

COMPARE THE MESSAGES

Jim Johnson (2012) asks what each photograph says about the role of women in the Arab Spring. What is the answer?

Women

B. TYPES OF MESSAGES

1. Information: Factsa. All information is persuasion, if only

an attempt to persuade the receiver that the information is truthful.

b. The context of information largely determines its received meaning:

INFORMATION: JUST THE FACTS?

See handout

B. TYPES OF MESSAGES

1. Information: Factsa. All information is persuasion, if only

an attempt to persuade the receiver that the information is truthful.

b. The context of information largely determines its received meaning (but not necessarily its truth value). This is not (just) a matter of accuracy, but depends on who is using it for what purpose.

INFORMATION: CONTEXT MATTERS

Jet fuel burns at 1400 degrees. Steel melts at 2750 degrees.

2. ARGUMENTS

a. Toulmin model of argumentation -- views proper arguments as having up to six parts, but only three are necessary for a complete argument:

i. Claim: The conclusion you wish to prove, or which you wish your audience to accept

ii. Evidence/Data/Grounds: Facts that you will use to prove your claim

iii. Warrant (often implied): A logical principle which implies that if your data is true, then so is your claim.

ARGUMENT EXAMPLE (ROBINSON, 2012)

“[The] single easiest, fastest thing your company can do to boost its output and profits…is to get everybody off the 55-hour-a-week treadmill, and back onto a 40-hour footing… By [1937], there were a solid five decades of industrial research that proved, beyond a doubt, that if you wanted to keep your workers bright, healthy, productive, safe and efficient over a sustained stretch of time, you kept them to no more than 40 hours a week and eight hours a day. [Evan Robinson writes], ‘Throughout the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, these studies were apparently conducted by the hundreds’ … On average, you get no more widgets [from industrial workers out of a 10-hour day than you do out of an eight-hour day. Likewise, the overall output for the work week will be exactly the same at the end of six days as it would be after five days.”

CLAIM: THE 40-HOUR WORK WEEK IS PROFITABLE“[The] single easiest, fastest thing your company can do to boost its output and profits…is to get everybody off the 55-hour-a-week treadmill, and back onto a 40-hour footing… By [1937], there were a solid five decades of industrial research that proved, beyond a doubt, that if you wanted to keep your workers bright, healthy, productive, safe and efficient over a sustained stretch of time, you kept them to no more than 40 hours a week and eight hours a day. [Evan Robinson writes], ‘Throughout the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, these studies were apparently conducted by the hundreds’ … On average, you get no more widgets [from industrial workers] out of a 10-hour day than you do out of an eight-hour day. Likewise, the overall output for the work week will be exactly the same at the end of six days as it would be after five days.”

EVIDENCE: PEAK WIDGET PRODUCTION AT 40 HOURS

“[The] single easiest, fastest thing your company can do to boost its output and profits…is to get everybody off the 55-hour-a-week treadmill, and back onto a 40-hour footing… By [1937], there were a solid five decades of industrial research that proved, beyond a doubt, that if you wanted to keep your workers bright, healthy, productive, safe and efficient over a sustained stretch of time, you kept them to no more than 40 hours a week and eight hours a day. [Evan Robinson writes], ‘Throughout the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, these studies were apparently conducted by the hundreds’ … On average, you get no more widgets [from industrial workers] out of a 10-hour day than you do out of an eight-hour day. Likewise, the overall output for the work week will be exactly the same at the end of six days as it would be after five days.”

[that]

WARRANTS (FIRST IMPLIED ONE)HIGHER OUTPUT, FEWER HOURS = ↑ PROFIT

“[The] single easiest, fastest thing your company can do to boost its output and profits…is to get everybody off the 55-hour-a-week treadmill, and back onto a 40-hour footing… By [1937], there were a solid five decades of industrial research that proved, beyond a doubt, that if you wanted to keep your workers bright, healthy, productive, safe and efficient over a sustained stretch of time, you kept them to no more than 40 hours a week and eight hours a day. [Evan Robinson writes], ‘Throughout the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, these studies were apparently conducted by the hundreds’ … On average, you get no more widgets [from industrial workers] out of a 10-hour day than you do out of an eight-hour day. Likewise, the overall output for the work week will be exactly the same at the end of six days as it would be after five days.”

[that]

WARRANTS (SECOND IMPLIED ONE)PEAK EFFICIENCY FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION = PEAK EFFICIENCY FOR YOUR COMPANY“[The] single easiest, fastest thing your company can do to boost its output and profits…is to get everybody off the 55-hour-a-week treadmill, and back onto a 40-hour footing… By [1937], there were a solid five decades of industrial research that proved, beyond a doubt, that if you wanted to keep your workers bright, healthy, productive, safe and efficient over a sustained stretch of time, you kept them to no more than 40 hours a week and eight hours a day. [Evan Robinson writes], ‘Throughout the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, these studies were apparently conducted by the hundreds’ … On average, you get no more widgets [from industrial workers] out of a 10-hour day than you do out of an eight-hour day. Likewise, the overall output for the work week will be exactly the same at the end of six days as it would be after five days.”

[that]

REBUTTING ARGUMENTS

An argument can be invalid becausei. No warrant can connect the evidence to the

claim (i.e. the argument is a non sequitur)ii. Its evidence is not true (e.g. the studies

were incorrect; industrial production peaks when employees work more than 40 hours/week) question of fact, not logic

iii. A necessary warrant is unproven (e.g. that optimal hours for industrial production are also optimal hours for the provision of services or production of information)

b.

3. PERSUASION

Aristotle identified three central elements or types of persuasive appeals:

a. Logos: The actual words and symbols used (appeal to reason) Information or Argument about the issue

b. Ethos: The credibility of the speaker (appeal to trust/respect)

c. Pathos: The ability of the audience to identify with the speaker (appeal to emotion)

Everyday efforts to persuade are mainly ethos and pathos, while arguments in academic journals are mainly logos.

LOGOS: ANOTHER EXAMPLE

Does 2 + 2 = 4? Can you prove it? Proofs (logos) do exist, so we can believe it is true.

BUT classic proof (Peano, 1889) requires nine unproven assumptions (axioms) – This rebuttal is also logos.1. x = x.2. If x = y, then y = x.3. If x = y and y = z, then x = z.4. If x = a for some a, then a is a natural number.5. 0 is a natural number.6. There is a function succ (the successor function) such that

succ(x) is a natural number.7. The function succ is injective.8. If A is a set such that and for all we have , then all

natural numbers are contained in A.

IS LOGOS ENOUGH?

Watch Michael Dukakis ignore pathos in 1988

Competitive academic policy debate focuses on logos – discarding the ability to speak with untrained audiences altogether!

3. PERSUASION

Aristotle identified three central elements or types of persuasive appeals:

a. Logos: The actual words and symbols used (appeal to reason) Information or Argument about the issue

b. Ethos: The credibility of the speaker (appeal to trust/respect)

c. Pathos: The ability of the audience to identify with the speaker (appeal to emotion)

Everyday efforts to persuade are mainly ethos and pathos, while arguments in academic journals are mainly logos.

ETHOS: EXAMPLE 1

Ethos is about the speaker – his or her credibility and trustworthiness

Bill Frist uses his experience as a physician in a debate over a law to prevent feeding tubes from being withdrawn from Terry Schiavo.

Since he also cites data, the argument mixes logos and ethos.

ETHOS: EXAMPLE 2“My Dear Fellow Clergymen… I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in.“…. I…am here because I was invited here… But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

3. PERSUASION

Aristotle identified three central elements or types of persuasive appeals:

a. Logos: The actual words and symbols used (appeal to reason) Information or Argument about the issue

b. Ethos: The credibility of the speaker (appeal to trust/respect)

c. Pathos: The ability of the audience to identify with the speaker (appeal to emotion)

Everyday efforts to persuade are mainly ethos and pathos, while arguments in academic journals are mainly logos.

PATHOS: EXAMPLE 1

Adlai Stevenson grills the Soviet representative to the UN during the Cuban Missile Crisis

Virtually no logos or ethos here, just use of humor (perhaps) and anger

PATHOS: EXAMPLE 2

John Boehner speaks in favor of funding the Iraq War without imposing a withdrawal timetable in 2007

Note that only one sentence mentions consequences – “regret.” Appeal is to patriotism and sympathy/empathy with the speaker.

WHICH IS “BEST?”

Logic and evidence are usually privileged in academic circles Logos important

Outside one’s own expertise, one cannot evaluate the facts. Nobody gets to be an expert on everything or to personally verify every statement Ethos important

Emotion is not logical, but if we don’t care, we don’t change Pathos importantAll are important for persuasion, whether honest and ethical persuasion or

d.

DOES PERSUASION WORK?

Persuasion is possible – Many studies show that framing the same question in different words causes respondents to answer it differently. Evidence also exists for most other techniques of persuasion (and propaganda).

e.

EXAMPLES

U.S. high school seniors who believe that there is a “great risk” to regular marijuana use doubled from 35% in 1978 to 73% in 1993. Reported marijuana use also dropped from 37% to 16%

Smoking rate declined from 50% to 25% in 30 years.

Government campaign to encourage use of seatbelts flopped. 7 cable TV messages broadcast 943 times a day during

prime time to 6400 households. Studies showed that the campaign had no effect

What separates successful campaigns from failed ones?

II. A THEORY OF PERSUASION: THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL (ELM)

A. Assumptions1. People want to have “correct” attitudes and

beliefs, but cannot give every issue the attention it deserves (limited time, many issues).

2. People must compromise by paying more attention to some things than others

B. This leaves two routes to persuasion – the central route of information provision (requires time and focus) and the peripheral route of incidental cues like the attractiveness of the speaker, graphics, music, etc.

C. THE CENTRAL ROUTE

1. The central route involves relating the information to what the receiver already knows and assessing the information’s likely effect on the receiver -- the theory calls this “elaboration.”

2. When do people elaborate?a. When they have motivation: immediate, personal

impactb. When they have the ability: critical thinking skills

3. Predictions: a. People more likely to elaborate when stakes are high –

large purchases, major life decisions, etc. Persuasion must target central route by providing lots of evidence.

b. Attitudes resulting from central route persuasion will be relatively stable predictors of future behavior

D. THE PERIPHERAL ROUTE1. Used when evidence is weak (central route will fail)

and/or elaboration likelihood is low (no elaboration is expected)

2. Note that the peripheral route isn’t “subconscious” – it’s just something to which we don’t pay much attention

3. Peripheral cues have many sources: communicator, context (music, food, cause message to be perceived as positive), message (fear can work if you provide the solution), personal appeals, forewarning (used to reinforce support), and distraction (used to undermine opposition)

4. Predictions:a. Attitudes can be changed by peripheral cues, BUTb. Such changes tend to be short-lived and unstable

EXAMPLES OF PERIPHERAL CUES Jury study on witness credibility -- Speech style

influences persuasion. Question: Approximately how long did you stay

before the ambulance arrived? (Confident) Twenty minutes. Long enough to help get

Mrs. Davis straightened out. (Hesitating) Oh, it seems like it was about uh, twenty

minutes. Just long enough to help my friend Mrs. Davis, you know get straightened out.

Straightforward witnesses rated as more competent and credible even when saying the same thing.

Study in which doctors sent letters to their patients who smoked. 8% of patients who received positively framed messages (if

you quit now you will live longer) attempted to quit. 30% of patients who received negatively framed messages

(if you continue to smoke you will die sooner) attempted to quit.

III. SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS

A. The message itself: Repeated appeals to self-interest of receiver “work” best

B. Speaker credibility (ethos) and perceived views: 1. We prefer to hear from people with our tastes

on matters of taste, but we prefer to hear from “independent” observers on matters of fact.

2. A celebrity or attractive model is most effective when the audience has low involvement, the theme is simple, and broadcast channels are used. An exciting spokesperson can attract attention to a message that may otherwise be ignored.

C. AFFECT (PATHOS)

Positive generally works better than negative (surprising to many communication scholars). Strong emotional appeals and fear arousal are most effective when the audience has minimal concern about or interest in the topic.

C. MEDIUM

1. Radio and TV messages tend to be more persuasive than print, but if the message is complex, better comprehension is achieved through the print media.

2. EFFECTS IN DOCUMENTARY FILM

a. Camera angles enhance perspective, such as low angles that give the subject power.

b. Mise-en-scene (set and setting inside camera frame) creates cultural and ideological context. Is the film shot at the Capitol, a suburb, a poor neighborhood?

c. Sound effects animate products or even ideas, giving them emotion.

d. Lighting is used to draw your eye to certain details.

e. Editing is used to pace and generate excitement. Notice how military and video game ads have very fast cuts, usually a scene change every second

Signifier (shot) Definition Signified (meaning)

•Close-up

•Media shot

•Long shot

•Full shot

Face only

Most of body

Place and subjects

Full body of person

Intimacy

Personal relationship

Context, scope, public distance

Social relationship

HOW CAMERA ANGLES MODIFY THE MESSAGE

2. EFFECTS IN DOCUMENTARY FILM

a. Camera angles enhance perspective, such as low angles that give the subject power.

b. Mise-en-scene (set and setting inside camera frame) creates cultural and ideological context. Is the film shot at the Capitol, a suburb, a poor neighborhood?

c. Sound effects animate products or even ideas, giving them emotion.

d. Lighting is used to draw your eye to certain details.

e. Editing is used to pace and generate excitement. Notice how military and video game ads have very fast cuts, usually a scene change every second

Signifier (film/video) Definition Signified (meaning)

•Pan down

•Pan Up

•Zoom in

•Fade in

•Fade Out

•Cut

•Wipe

•Camera looks down•Camera looks up•Camera moves in•Image appears on blank screen•Image screen goes blank•Switch from one image to another•Image wiped off screen

•Power, Authority

•Smallness, weakness•Observation, focus•Beginning

•Ending

•Simultaneity, excitement•Imposed conclusion.

HOW EDITING EFFECTS MODIFY THE MESSAGE

IV. CONCLUSIONS: CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT FILM

A. The critical standpoint.1. Stepping outside oneself: Chapter 9

describes writing about “the point of view adopted” by the filmmaker “and its implications for you.”

2. Reminder: Always think about how words, images, and sounds are used (message), by whom (sender) and for what purpose (intended and actual receivers)

B. ANALYZING THE MESSAGE

1. Is it in the form of an argument?a. If not, what is its intended effect?b. If so, is the argument valid? Look for

i. Falsifiable statements of fact (evidence) that are indeed falsified (prove it with an argument based on evidence of your own)

ii. Logical fallacies (missing or faulty warrants that are critical to the argument). See handout (and future notes).

2. WHAT PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES ARE USED?

a. Rhetoric – logos, ethos, and pathos. See the scientific findings on speaker characteristics and affect.

b. Remember the ELM: Be aware that peripheral cues (including camera angles, mise-en-scene, music, etc) may send different or additional messages than the direct, obvious message (possibly simple entertainment) delivered via the central route

C. IS IT PROPAGANDA?

How might one draw a distinction between “legitimate” attempts to inform or even persuade and “illegitimate” propaganda?

Topic of next set of notes…