Chapter 7: Persuasion
7 – Persuasion: So Easily Fooled
Introduction
If you have ever watched a commercial, infomercial, or read a magazine ad encouraging you to purchase a particular item, chances are, some form of persuasion was at work. What about when you buy a car or other large item? Did the salesperson use forms of persuasion to influence the sale? In this chapter, we will review the two main routes of persuasion: the central and the peripheral route. We will also discuss how heuristics and other mental short-cuts may influence persuasion.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the factors related to the central and the peripheral routes of persuasion
- Identify how heuristics and other mental short-cuts influence persuasion
- Identify how persuasion artists may use these techniques to influence our decisions
- Recognize the difference between the central and peripheral routes to persuasion.
- Understand the concepts of trigger features, fixed action patterns, heuristics, and mindless thinking, and how these processes are essential to our survival but, at the same time, leave us vulnerable to exploitation.
- Understand some common “tricks” persuasion artists may use to take advantage of us.
- Use this knowledge to make you less susceptible to unwanted persuasion.
This module introduces several major principles in the process of persuasion. It offers an overview of the different paths to persuasion. It then describes how mindless processing makes us vulnerable to undesirable persuasion and some of the “tricks” that may be used against us.
Two Paths to Persuasion
Persuasion theorists distinguish between the central and peripheral routes to persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The central route employs direct, relevant, logical messages. This method rests on the assumption that the audience is motivated, will think carefully about what is presented, and will react on the basis of your arguments. The central route is intended to produce enduring agreement. For example, you might decide to vote for a particular political candidate after hearing her speak and finding her logic and proposed policies to be convincing.
The peripheral route, on the other hand, relies on superficial cues that have little to do with logic. The peripheral approach is the salesman’s way of thinking. It requires a target who isn’t thinking carefully about what you are saying. It requires low effort from the target and often exploits rule-of-thumb heuristics that trigger mindless reactions (see below). It may be intended to persuade you to do something you do not want to do and might later be sorry you did. Advertisements, for example, may show celebrities, cute animals, beautiful scenery, or provocative sexual images that have nothing to do with the product. The peripheral approach is also common in the darkest of persuasion programs, such as those of dictators and cult leaders. Returning to the example of voting, you can experience the peripheral route in action when you see a p