Note:  These chapter notes and study questions should not be viewed as substitutes for coming to class and joining in the lecture and discussion.  Rather, they should be viewed as a starting point for lecture and discussion.  These notes will be heavily supplemented with discussion, examples and debate in class.  To do well in class, you should read the text and make some notes on the reading, read these on-line notes and study questions, come to class, make your own notes and be ready to discuss what you have read and studied intelligently. --Dr. John M. King

Wilcox Ch. 10 Notes
Public Opinion and Persuasion
2/29/2000, 3/2/2000

What is Public Opinion?

Public opinion is split in many directions an any given issue.
Only a relatively small number of people take part in public opinion formation at any given time.

The public is passive generally.
Public opposition to issues may really be the view of a small, but significant, number of concerned people.

Definition
Public opinion is the sum of individual opinions on an issue affecting those individuals.
Self-interest in the topic is the key.

Opinion Leaders
formal opinion leaders- elected officials, chief executive officers, heads of other groups-likely to be interviewed by reporters
informal opinion leaders- role models who have some clout with peers

Two-step flow has been largely discredited now.  Current theories put much more emphasis on direct influence between the media and the media consumer.

The Media's Role
Agenda-setting theory- McCombs and Shaw
The media, by paying attention to some issues and not others and by prominent placement of such issues set the public's agenda and cue the public what to think about.  For example, if all the major media outlets suddenly started covering education reform with prominent display of stories about education, the theory predicts that education reform would rise as the most important issue among the public.

Media-dependency theory- Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur
Mass media influence is heightened when people do not have direct contact with other sources of information on a particular issue.  So, people without children in school, would be much more media dependent, than those with children in school.
The more dependent people are on the media for information, the easier it is to persuade them, the theory says.

Cultivation theory- Gerbner and Gross
The mass media cultivate false impressions of reality that are accepted as reality by heavy consumers of mass media, especially those who don't have much direct contact with other sources of information on an issue.  According to this theory, people who watch a lot of violent TV, have a worldview that is much more violent as well.  On the education reform issue, heavy viewers of TV news who may see many negative stories about the quality of the schools, may view the schools as being much worse than they really are.

Study Questions 1:  How could PR professionals use the ideas in these three media theories to bring about heightened awareness of the need for education reform?  How could the theories be used to help bring about change in educational reform?

Persuasion:  Pervasive in our Lives

Persuasion has been around virtually since mankind has been around.
Greeks formalized persuasion more than 2000 years ago.
ethos- source credibility
logos- logical argument
pathos- emotional appeal

PR has been called the engineering of consent to create a favorable and positive climate of opinion toward the individual, product, institution or idea which is represented.

Uses of Persuasion
1/ to change or neutralize hostile opinions- toughest to accomplish
People generalize from personal experience and from what peers tell them.

2/ to crystallize latent (underlying) opinions- easier to accomplish
Persuasion is easier if people have a generally good opinion on the subject, company, etc.

3/ to reinforce favorable opinions- easiest to accomplish
Messages that reinforce goodwill toward the company, organization, etc. are essential to do this.
 

Factors in Persuasive Communication
Audience Analysis
We must be aware of characteristics of the audience to be persuasive.
-Demographics (age, income, gender, education, ethnicity)
-Purchasing behavior, percentage of disposable income and leisure time activities
-Opinions and concerns
-Psychographics (lifestyles, attitudes and beliefs)

Once this type of data is known, messages can be tailored or channeled to individual groups or publics.

Source Credibility/ 3 factors on persuasion
The source is the spokesperson (Michael Jordan) or spokesentity (the Taco Bell dog) who appears in the message.
1/ expertise- source must be seen as an expert on the topic
2/ source must be perceived as sincere
3/ source must have charisma

I've added two more
4/ source familiarity- celebrities are often well-known sources, but they can backfire
5/ source similarity- sources who are similar to the target audience have more credibility

Appeal to Self-Interest
This is the old "What's in it for me?" question that we must answer.
Messages must appeal to the self-interest of the target audience.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
lowest level- basic needs- food, water, shelter, transportation
second level- security needs- job security, safety in homes
third level- belonging needs- association with others
fourth level- love needs- need to be wanted and loved, fulfilling self-esteem
fifth level- self-actualization needs- achieving maximum personal achievement

Often, we can tailor PR messages to meet these needs if we know what groups have which needs.

See PR Insights on page 220 in Wilcox for Appeals That Move People to Act.

Clarity of Message
The message must be understandable.

Timing and Context
The message must take into account current messages in the information environment to be effective.
Try to write messages that are newsworthy within the context of actual news events.
For example, if a gas shortage hits and your company has just developed a device to save 10 percent on gasoline consumption, send the releases out immediately.

Audience Participation
People who actively participate in problem-solving buy into the process and the solution much better.

Suggestions for Action
We must clearly show people how to perform the target behavior we are trying to persuade them to perform.

Content and Structure of Messages
1/ drama- humanizing an issue
2/ statistics- use facts and figures to support claims
3/ surveys and polls- show readers that survey data and polls support your claims
4/ examples- give examples to show readers how the issue affects real people
5/ testimonials- use testimonials from real people to add credibility
6/ endorsements- favorable statements from experts
7/ emotional appeals- heavy fear appeals often do not work, moderate fear appeals work better

Study Questions 2:  What are some of the factors that help determine whether a message is persuasive?

6 Forms of Propaganda
1/ plain folks- I'm one of you, plain folks, or good country people.
2/ testimonial- Expert, celebrity or average Josephine or Joe supports a product or idea.
3/ bandwagon- Everyone is doing it; you should too.
4/ card-stacking- presenting heavily one-sided arguments
5/ transfer- guilt or high credibility by association
6/ glittering generalities- associating a product or cause with universally accepted favorable abstractions

Persuasion and Manipulation
Variables that intervene in the effectiveness of persuasive messages

1/ lack of message penetration
-messages never get through to many people

2/ competing messages
-information overload

3/ self-selection
People self-select messages they want to hear.

4/ self-perception
People perceive the same information differently, through different social, cultural or intellectual filters.

The Ethics of Persuasion
PR professionals should remember that they are serving the interests of employers or clients and the public interest.

See the list of 11 ethical guidelines on page 231 in Wilcox.

Discussion.  Read the case problem on page 232 in Wilcox and discuss in class.

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