knowing the right buttons to push
Age, Gender, Culture, Ethnicity
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
Children are easy marks.
 “young children — younger
than 8 years — are cognitively
and psychologically
defenseless against
advertising. They do not
understand the notion of
intent to sell and frequently
accept advertising claims at
face value” (American
Academy of Pediatrics, cited by
Strasberger, 2006)

Persuaders target children.
 The average child in the U.S.
sees 40,000 commercials per
year.
 Junk food and obesity
 Alcohol and tobacco
advertising
 Sexual messages on TV
 Internet predators
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Age alone does not make
people more gullible.

 Politeness reduces some
seniors’ willingness to hang
up or say no.
 Cognitive impairments
make some seniors more
vulnerable.
 Loneliness, isolation may
make some seniors more
vulnerable.
Common scams targeting
seniors

 Telemarketing scams
 Lottery and sweepstakes
scams
 Fraudulent prizes
 Bank examiner cons
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Gender stereotypes
affect persuasion more
than actual gender
differences.
 Reinforcement
Expectancy Theory

 Female MDs are
expected to be more
communal, nurturing.
 Male MDs are expected
to be more assertive,
leader-like.
Individual differences
matter more than gender
differences.

 Women are as different
from one another as from
men.
Goals, plans, and
resources affect
persuasion more than
gender.
 Cross-Sex Effect

 Women are more easily
persuaded by males, and
vice versa.
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Gender
differences in
persuasion tend to
be overlapping,
rather than
“either-or.”

All these
females would
be more
assertive
Than all these
males
Females
Males
For any given communication trait, such as
assertiveness, the curves for females and males
tend to be normal and overlapping.
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Individualistic cultures
value personal autonomy.

 Direct, assertive persuasion
strategies
Collectivistic cultures
emphasize fitting in.

 Indirect, cooperative
persuasion strategies
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Less intelligent people are
generally easier to persuade
But…
 Less intelligent people may
have more difficulty
comprehending the message.
 Intelligence is not synonymous
with knowledge or education on a
topic.

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Self-Esteem, Anxiety, Self-Monitoring, Ego-Involvement,
Dogmatism & Authoritarianism, Cognitive Complexity &
Need for Cognition, Argumentativeness and Verbal
Aggressiveness
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The Trade-off between
low and high esteem

 Low esteem: more likely to
yield, but less likely to
follow through.
 High esteem: less likely to
yield, but more likely to
follow through.
People with moderate
esteem may be the most
persuadable.

Images courtesy of
www.aperfectworld.org
http://aperfectworld.org/emotions.htm
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high anxiety may
increase perceived
vulnerability,
but…
 high anxiety may also
trigger avoidance or panic.

Image courtesy of
www.aperfectworld.org
http://aperfectworld.org/emotions
.htm
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
High self-monitors are:
 More adaptable, sensitive
to social cues
 More responsive to imageoriented ads

Low self-monitors are:
 More independent, less
conforming
 More responsive to
product features and
functions
Image courtesy of
www.aperfectworld.org
http://aperfectworld.org/emoti
ons.htm
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Ego involved people
tend to have:
Assimilation: a message is
perceived as being closer to
 Smaller latitudes of
one’s own position.
acceptance
 Contrast: a message is
 Wider latitudes of rejection
perceived as being farther
 More ego involved
from one’s own position.
people tend to have
narrower views.


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Naomi is mildly
Naomi’s attitude
large latitude of
ego-involved on the
acceptance
issue of abortion.

Loretta is highly
ego-involved on the
issue of abortion.

small latitude of
rejection
Loretta’s attitude
small latitude of
acceptance
large latitude
of rejection
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According to the ELM, a person with high
issue involvement:

 will rely on central processing
 will be more responsive to good arguments and
evidence.

A person with low issue involvement:
 will favor peripheral processing.
 will look for mental shortcuts, heuristic cues
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Authoritarian personalities are
close-minded and conservative.
 Dogmatism is a broader construct.

 Dogmatic people may be
conservative or liberal.
 Dogmatic people engage in rigid,
doctrinaire thinking.
 Dogmatic people are more
persuadable by authority figures.
“Dogmatism—not religious
fundamentalism, terrorism, or
fanaticism in general—is the
greatest threat to social,
political, and scientific
progress” (Johnson, 2009)
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
“High” dogs:

 Prefer clear-cut rules and
order.
 Like status hierarchies.
 Respect authority figures
 View the world in black or
white.
“Only if
someone I
respect
says so…”
Image courtesy of
www.aperfectworld.org
http://aperfectworld.org/emotions.htm
“Low” dogs:
 Prefer fewer rules, more
flexibility.
 Place less emphasis on
status and hierarchy.
 Are less obedient to
authority.
 View the world in shades
of gray.
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Need for cognition is the
desire to think about,
reflect on things.
 Cognitive complexity
involves the number of
constructs people use
when thinking.

Cognitively complex (as
opposed to cognitively
simple) people:

 are better at perspective
taking
 are more likely to use
central processing
 can tolerate more
inconsistency
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
Verbal aggressiveness:
 Is a destructive trait.
 Involves attacking
another’s self concept.

High aggressives:
 Engage in name calling,
put downs, threats.

Argumentativeness:
 Is a constructive trait.

High argumentatives:
 Focus on the issue, not
on personalities.
 Edit their arguments
before making them.
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Audience adaptation is
key to successful
persuasion
 The message must be
tailored to the listener’s
frame of references


Effective persuasion is:
 Audience-centered
 Market-driven
 Listener-oriented
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