Analysis of "This is PR..." (part 12)

Theoretical Underpinnings of PR (part 4)

by:

Charles Lamson

Emotions and Persuasion

Social legislation, income tax, Medicare, civil rights laws and other public policy initiatives all reflect changes in opinion that were sensed and acted upon by politicians. Generally, such public opinion is an emotional response to information or events. Social psychologist Hadley Cantril contends that some "laws" govern this emotional response, although critics say that no law can account for something with as many variables as public opinion. Cantril's laws do suggest five basic ideas that seem common to all studies of opinion expression: (1) Events are most likely to effect opinion; (2) demands for action are a usual response; (3) self-interest must figure heavily if people are to become involved; (4) leadership is sought, and not always objectively and critically; (5) reliability is difficult to assess (This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations 9th Ed. by Doug Newsom, Judt VanSlyke Turk and Dean Kruckeberg, 125-126).

Another five elements have been isolated by psychology professor Robert Cialdini, who identifies these as being elements of self-persuasion, the strongest and most effective type of persuasion strategy discussed thus far. Cialdini explains the elements as follows:

1. Consistency: After committing themselves to a position even in some trivial way people are more likely to perform behaviors consistent with that position. When people decide to comply with a request they check to see if they have already done something that is consistent with the request. For example, in one American Cancer Society charity drive it was found that homeowners who had previously gone on record as supporting the Cancer Society (by accepting and wearing a small lapel pin for a day) were nearly twice as likely as others to give a monetary donation a week later when the charity drive began. However, not all small initial commitments are active, public and not coerced.
2. Reciprocity: One question people ask themselves before agreeing to another's request is, "Do I owe this person something?" If the answer is yes, they are more apt to comply often when they would otherwise have declined and even when what they agree to do is more significant than what they received earlier. For this reason, charities mail unsolicited token gifts.
3. Social validation: People are more influenced to perform an action or hold a belief when they see that others are doing so.An important piece of evidence people inspect in deciding what is appropriate conduct for themselves in a situation is how others are acting. For this reason, advertisers love to include the words "fastest growing" or 'largest selling" in their product descriptions. They do not have to say directly that the product is good; they only need to say that others think so, which seems to be proof enough.
4. Authority: People are more willing to follow the suggestions of someone they consider a legitimate authority in terms of knowledge and trustworthiness. Demonstrating knowledge can usually be accomplished by showing evidence of superior experience, training, skill or information. Establishing trustworthiness is trickier. One device in pitching a story to an editor is to back off from this week's story to, but promise real newsworthiness with the following week's item - for example, "I know this item isn't exactly what you want but wait until you see what we have for you next week."
5. Scarcity: People try to seize items and opportunities that are scarce or dwindling in availability. This accounts for the success of the "deadline," "limited number" and "can't come back later" sales tactics. Research indicates that people want a scarce item more than ever when they are in competition with others for it or when they believe they have an exclusive.(Newsom, VanSlyke Turk, Kruckeberg, pgs. 126-127).

In Sum

End