Persuasive Communication. Attitude. Lecture 2 Persuasion and Attitude. Oct 8, Def. of Persuasion Revisited. Def. of Attitude. Nature of Attitude

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1 Persuasive Communication Lecture 2 Persuasion and Oct 8, 2018 <1>What is attitude? (Definition) <2> Measure (Observation) <3> & Persuasion (Function) Accessibility -Behavior Relationship etc. etc. Def. of Persuasion Revisited w Human communication designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values, or attitudes (Simons, 1976, p.21) Def. of w Evaluative response (Roskos-Esoldsen, et. al., 2002) w A relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an object or situation predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner (Rokeach, 1968, p.112) w = Belief + Evaluation (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) w Learned () w Organization of beliefs (belief w Relatively enduring ( ) w Predisposition to response () w Organization of beliefs about an object (e.g., person, event, product, policy, institution, etc.) Descriptive beliefs (objective statement, T/F) Prescriptive beliefs (subjective feelings, evaluative judgment) 1

2 w Relatively enduring Different from mood, from a temporary emotional state Indeed, attitudes are susceptible to change w Predisposition to response - may directly or indirectly influence behaviors - will not necessarily guarantee specific conducts Inferred Inferred Cognitive Object ( Evaluative Object ( Affective Behavioral and Persuasion ( w as Schema ( ) w Behavior Relationship () w Bias: serves as a lens that biases how the message is perceived (positively or negatively). w Selective Attention ( ): can serve as information that this is an important message. 2

3 <2> Measurement (Observation) w Direct Technique w Quasi-direct Technique w Indirect Technique <2> Measurement (Observation) w Direct Technique Semantic Differential Scales (SD ) Single-Item Measure w Quasi-direct Technique Thurstone Scale () w Indirect Technique Physiological Indices Information Tests Lost-Letter Technique Direct Technique (1) Semantic Differential Scale w Use a number of (typically) 7-points bipolar scales that are end anchored by evaluative adjective pairs (good/bad, desirable/undesirable) w Straightforwardly assign numerical values to the scale points w Semantic Space of Experience ( ) Semantic Differential Scale The product X is: Bad Good Undesirable Desirable Harmful Beneficial This persuasion course is: Bad Good Boring Interesting Useless Useful (2) Single-Item Measure Single-Item Measure w A single questionnaire item that asks for the relevant judgment. w Benefit: Good in Public Opinion Polling Can be undertaken orally Typically straightforward and easily comprehended Can be asked in a short time w Drawback: Potentially weak reliability Q. To what extent do you consider yourself to be favorable or unfavorable toward the Chinese government? Extremely Extremely Unfavorable Q. Do you love me? Favorable Very much Very much Yes No 3

4 w Advantage: Direct Technique Simple & Straightforward, easy to administer, easy to construct Semantic differential scales can be used for rating all sorts of different attitude objects w Disadvantage: Yield an estimate only of the respondent s attitude Other info (esp. beliefs) need to be assessed by other procedures Quasi direct Techniques w The respondent s attitude is inferred from: judgments of statements that are rather obviously attitude-relevant the patterns of responses to a number of different statements Quasi direct Techniques: w The test respondents are asked to indicate the extent of their agreement with a number of different items, commonly on a 5-point scale. w Overall attitude is estimated by the total across the items. Target: toward this course Q. This course is interesting (Positive) Q. This course has too many assignments (Negative) Q. The instructor of this course is not friendly (Negative) Q. This course is interesting (Positive) Q. This course has too many assignments (Negative) Q. The instructor of this course is not friendly (Negative) Quasi-Direct Technique w Advantage: Provide more info (attitude-relevant information such as specific beliefs) than do direct attitude measurement techniques Ranking technique / pie w Disadvantage: High cost (have to be constructed anew for each different attitude object, etc.) 4

5 Purpose: Task: Example To persuade the enrolled students at KNDU to have positive attitude toward the university. To measure the status quo Target Population: enrolled KNDU students Target of observation/measurement: attitude toward KNDU Measurements w Direct Technique Semantic Differential Scales Single-Item Measure w Quasi-direct Technique Semantic Differential Scale Single-Item Measure 5