In analyzing the persuasion as an
innovative study of communication and social pressure, it is important that the
concepts of persuasion, private communication, and social pressure be analyzed
in detail with a view to establishing the relationship between persuasion and
the other elements.
Persuasion is a central phenomenon
in the daily activities of most individuals. It simply means the influencing an
individual or individuals to act or think in a certain manner (Larson, 2010).
The central component of persuasion is the use of words or strategic
communication with the aim of appealing to people’s emotions or minds into
adopting the advocated set of attitudes or beliefs. The persuasion process is
therefore considered to be complete when it results in the change of mind or
actions of the persons being persuaded in conformity with the wishes of the
persuader (Larson, 2010). The uses of persuasion are observed on a daily basis
as observed when firms advertise to influence customers to consume their
products and as individuals seek consent from others to undertake certain
activities. The main objective of any persuasion exercise is to get individuals
or parties to conform to a given set of practices in order to satisfy the
persuader’s desires.
Persuasion has been fronted by
scholars as the best option when considered among other alternatives such as
coercion, use of force and apathy (Johannesen, 2010). Apathy refers to a
laid-back approach where individuals ignore their wants hoping that the desires
will be noticed by others and acted upon in line with their wishes (Larsen,
2010). This approach is highly unproductive as it leaves individuals at the
mercy of others where their needs are met only at the pleasure of other people.
Individuals could also opt to use force to get others to meet their desires.
This approach is potentially harmful and is bound to run into problems with the
legal and ethical expectations of the society. It can also lead to half-hearted
attempts at meeting the desires, negative sentiments against the persuader, and
can even provoke retaliation which may result in great harm and loss to the
persuader. As Perloff (2003) concurs, the best approach for obtaining
conformity and cooperation of others in meeting individuals’ needs is through
persuasion. Once persuaded, individuals take action on their own accord and
they would tend to show full commitment to these adopted ways hence ensuring
desired results. This signals the success of a persuasion process.
Persuasion involves a sequence of
logical steps that potentially lead to the attainment of the desires of the
individual or persuader. The first step involves the identification and
refining of the objectives and desires. The process of refining these desires
involves rationalization to ensure that they are achievable and that they
require the cooperation of others in order to be satisfied. The second stage
involves the identification of the individuals that can help meet these
objectives. They must be in possession of the means necessary to achieve the
set goals and must as well be individuals or parties that can be reached
through the various means of communication that are considered effective
(McGuire, 2000). The third and perhaps the most crucial step is the formulation
of the message intended at influencing the target audience to meet the
persuader’s goals. This stage is the thrust of the persuasion process as it
caters for the substance relevant to appeal to the audience’s emotions and
interest as it seeks to get them to change their attitudes and act in a way
necessary to meet the persuader’s goals.
The formulation of the message
requires that sufficient knowledge of the audience is sought (McGuire, 2000).
This enables the persuader to understand their attitudes, beliefs and values
that may affect the ease with which they can be persuaded to act in a certain
manner. The knowledge also enables the persuader to be aware of the interests
of the audience and can thereby be able to use it to suit the persuasion goals.
The fourth stage involves the conveyance of the message. This means the mode of
communication that the persuader would choose to relay the message formulated
to the target audience. This may be through one-on-one communications,
meetings, letters, phone calls, and mass media, among others. The knowledge of
the target audience enables the persuader to determine which communication
modes are likely to invoke the desired change of attitude effectively (Larson,
2010). The choice of the mode also determines the cost and the level of
preparation required to ensure effective relaying of the messages.
Private communication has variously
been defined as electronic communication normally intended for the recipient to
the exclusion of other parties (McGuire, 2000). However, in the context of this
discussion, private communication must be redefined to mean communication
messages formulated and channeled to a specific target audience. Effective
communication bears all the elements of strategy ranging from analysis of
intention, identification of the audience, designing of content and complexity
of the message, and determination of the acceptable modes of communication
(McGuire, 2000). These messages would normally be communicated through means
that ensure maximum exposure to the target audience to the exclusion (or
minimal exposure) of others. The choice of the audience is specific to the
communication objectives and the message communicated as well as the channels
used in the communication have the target audience in mind.
The main aim of any communication
process is to generate meaning, promote understanding and influence attitudes
and behavior. Communication requires the existence of understanding between the
engaging parties in order to promote quick understanding and meaningful
communication. A good communicator must be able to understand the attitudes of
their audience and prepare accordingly to utilize supporting attitudes as well
as countering negative attitudes with the aim of ensuring attitudinal barriers
to the communication process are effectively dissolved (Albarracin, Wallace and
Glasman, 2004). The understanding also requires that the communicator
understands the special interests of their audience in the subject matter in order
to ensure effective delivery of successful communication process. Good
communication skills also require that the parties involved keep in mind the
objective of the communication process and thereby select messages that can
easily generate concurrence and support from the other parties.
The mode of communication chosen in
private communication also needs to reflect the preferences of the parties
communicating. For instance, where a party to the communication prefer meetings
to written mails, the person initiating the communication is most likely to
arrange for a meeting to facilitate the discussions. These aspects of
communication are in essence the components of persuasion and the study of
persuasion delves into the essentials of good and effective communication
skills between individuals and parties. The understanding of persuasion is
therefore closely linked to close understanding of the communication process. A
good persuader is also a good and skilled communicator. Persuasion reinvents
the art of communication by emphasizing on the importance of generating
understanding, changing attitudes, and generally moving the audience in the
desired direction. Unlike the concept of private communication, persuasion
assumes a highly dynamic approach to communication laying emphasis on intrinsic
human behavior and focusing on the essential processes necessary for
reinforcing or changing these human aspects to suit the desired persuasion
goals (Albarracin, Wallace and Glasman, 2004).
Where a group of individuals make a
choice on specific activities or actions, the uncertain group members tend to
move in conformity with the majority of the group members. This conformity
stems from social pressure. According to Larsen (2010), social pressure refers
to a perceived level of expectations on an individual based on what the members
of the society consider acceptable or not (societal norms). The most common
example of social pressure is peer pressure. Members of various social groups
tend to highly value their belonging to such groups in order to maintain the
social status and well being. The question of conformity or compliance also
comes into play when identifying the effects of social pressure. Compliance
implies that the group members change their private beliefs and attitudes to be
in line with the group norms (Orina, Wood and Simpson, 2002). It is possible
for group members to conform to the group norms while privately holding on to
their beliefs in certain issues. Individuals conform to group norms for two
main reasons. Firstly, they do so to avoid rejection or isolation, and
secondly, uncertainty on what to do in certain circumstances makes them look up
to their peers for guidance. These influences can be referred to as normative
and informational influences respectively.
To ensure the success of a
persuasion process, the persuader needs to understand the characteristics of
the target audience including their interests (Crano and Prislin, 2006). Where
the persuader opts to target a social group to drive his agenda, the
communication channels as well as the deep-seated beliefs of the group members
must be taken into account. The understanding of these group norms helps the
persuader to estimate the level of resistance to be expected against the ideas
that the persuader intends to introduce to the group. The knowledge of the
level of influence the group has on the decisions of individual members serves
as a motivation for persuasion (Orina, Wood and Simpson, 2002). This is due to
the fact that the social pressure ensures conformity and would be instrumental
in ensuring that the members embrace new norms in case the persuasion process
is successful. The knowledge of the fact that conformity does not always mean a
change of private belief among members serves as an encouragement to persuaders
who view the loophole as an indication that their ideas are likely to receive
support from such members within the groups. To ensure successful persuasion,
the persuader must also be aware of the preferred modes of communication and
the channels thereof that are expected to yield the greatest results
(Albarracin, 2002). Groups may either prefer informal discussions or formal
meetings and the persuader must be well aware of these preferences to remain
relevant.
The language of use in social
groups is another important component that the persuader must be well versed
with. The use of language and non verbal communication techniques must be noted
to ensure the target audience can identify with the persuader and hence hasten
attitude change. The level of literacy in the social groups also determines the
approach that a persuader must take when introducing their ideas (Orina, Wood
and Simpson, 2002). For instance, a highly educated group would prefer intense
arguments backed with verifiable facts in support of the new assertions before
they even begin to take such a persuader seriously. The concept of persuasion
as relates to the understanding of social groups and social pressure introduces
a creative model with which to analyze these groups hence giving an exhaustive
view of any targeted social group. The threshold for persuasion is so high that
it requires that the characteristics of the social groups and the individual
members’ values and beliefs be intensively and accurately analyzed.
As has been observed, the
understanding of persuasion in relation to private communication and social
pressure requires in-depth knowledge about the two components. In order to be
persuade an individual or a group, it is crucial to understand their beliefs,
interest, modes of communication, language and other aspects. The process of
influencing entrenched beliefs in a given direction often requires excellent
communication skills and an astute demonstration of understanding of the target
audience. The pursuance of the concept of persuasion is tantamount to
re-innovation of the studies relating to communication and social pressure as
it stretches beyond the basic characteristics of the elements and delves deeper
into the psychological and behavioral aspects of the audience. It promotes
creativity in the analysis as it challenges the persuader to not only analyze
the characteristics accurately, but also consider the nature and level of
influence that the identified characteristics would have on any attempt to
effect behavioral and psychological change in the target audience.
Albarracin,
D. (2002). Cognition in Persuasion: An analysis of information processing in
response to persuasive communications. In M.P Zanna (Ed). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 61-130
Albarracin,
D., Wallace, H. M., & Glasman, L. R. (2004). Survival and Change of
attitudes and other social judgments: A model of activation and comparison. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 36,
252-315
Crano,W.,
& Prislin, R. (2006). Attitudes and Persuasion. Retrieved March 30, 2011
from: http://www.psychology.sdsu.edu/new-web/facultystaff/Prislin_pdfs/annurev.psych.57.102904.pdf
Johannesen,
R.L. (2010).Perspectives on Ethics in
Persuasion. Retrieved March 30, 2011 from: http://www.wadsworthmedia.com/marketing/sample_chapters/0534619029_ch02.pdf
Larson,
C. (2010). Persuasion: Reception and
Responsibility. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=v29XIzDKGDoC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=what+is+persuasion+and+private+communication&source=bl&ots=dJiqTGb3o3&sig=TXhuUnJjCce4QtgPsDIWEMYBLaw&hl=en&ei=8KOTTaqxJI_tObWTwcEH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20persuasion%20and%20private%20communication&f=true
McGuire,
W.J. (2000). Standing on the shoulders of ancients: Consumer research,
persuasion, and rhetorical language. Journal
of Consumer Research. , 27, 109-114
Orina,
M.M., Wood, W., & Simpson, J.A. (2002). Strategies of influence in close
relationships. Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 38, 459-472
Perloff,
R. M. (2003). The Dynamics of Persuasion.
Communication and Attitudes in the 21st Century. (2nd
Ed.). Mahwh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
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