Social Influence

In front of her condominium, Julie is met by Erika, a neighbor. Erika has hear that a
waste management company plans to open a new landfill only a mile from their
complex. Trying to mobilize opposition, Erika argues that the landfill would pose
dangers to health and lower property values. She asks Julie to attend a meeting with
her and to sign a petition against the landfill. Somewhat alarmed by this development,
Julie finds Erika’s view persuasive, and she agrees to sign.
One evening, the owner of a 24hour convenience store is confronted by a man
wearing a ski mask and brandishing a pistol. The man threatens, “Hand over your
money or I’ll blow you away!” Facing a choice between two undesirable alternatives-
losing his money or his life- the victim opens the cash register and hands over its
contents.
These stories illustrate various forms of social influence. Social influence occurs when one
person (the source) engages in some behavior (such as persuading, threatening, promising, or
issuing orders) that causes another person (the target) to behave differently from how they
would otherwise behave.
Social influences lead to a variety of outcomes. In some cases, the influencing source may
produce attitude change-a change in the target’s beliefs and attitudes about some issue,
person, or situation. In other cases, the source may not really care about changing the target’s
attitudes but only about securing compliance. Compliance occurs when the target’s behavior
conforms to the source’s requests or demands.
Not all influence attempts are effective. Many produce little or no change in the target’s attitudes
and behavior. Although orders issued by direct authority frequently obtain compliance, at other
times, their targets may respond with defiance or open revolt.

Forms of Social Influence

Influence attempts can either be open or covertly manipulative. There are many forms of open
influence.
1. The use of persuasive communication to change the target’s attitude or beliefs
2. The use of threats or promises to gain compliance
3. The use of orders based on legitimate authority to gain compliance
When attempting to persuade, the source uses information to change the target’s attitudes and
beliefs about some issue, person, or situation. Certain types of information are more useful than
others in bringing about persuasion. Having the right type of information is important in effective
persuasion.
Influence attempted by means of threats or promises is based on punishments and rewards
rather than on information. If a threat is to produce compliance, the target must believe that the
source can impose punishment. If the influence is based on promises, it involves the control of
rewards rather than punishment. If the target believes that the source has no real control over
the punishments or rewards involved, the threat or promise is unlikely to succeed.
Influence through the use of orders from an authority or officeholder is based on the target
accepting the authority’s legitimacy. Influence of this type is based on the target accepting the
authority’s legitimacy. Influence of this type is especially common within formal groups or
organizations. When attempting influence by invoking legitimate authority, the source makes
demands on the target that are vested in their role within the group. Such an attempt will
succeed only if the target believes the source actually holds a position of authority and has the
right to issue orders of the kind involved in the influence attempt. The chain of command in the
military helps explain why a platoon would willingly walk toward danger.

1. Persuasion
Day in and day out we are bombarded with messages intended to persuade us. Persuasion
may be defined as changing the beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors of a target through the use of
information or argument.

Communication-Persuasion Paradigm
“Who says what to whom with what effect?” This question is one way organizing modern
research on persuasion. In this question, the “who” refers to the source of a persuasive
message, the “whom” refers to the target, and the “what” refers to the content of the message.
The phrase “with what effect” refers to the various responses of the target to the message.
These elements (source, message, target, response) are fundamental components of the
communication-persuasion paradigm.

Source – message – target – effect

The Source
The identity of the source provides the target with information above and beyond the content of
the message itself. Because some sources are more credible than others, the target may pay
attention to the source’s identity when deciding whether to believe the message. Communicator
credibility denotes the extent to which the target perceives the communicator as a believable
source of information.
Factors that influence communicator credibility:
1. Expertise – a message from a source with a high level of relevant expertise will bring
about a greater attitude change than a similar message from a source with a lower level
of expertise.
2. Trustworthiness – a target not only pays attention to a source’s expertise but also to their
motives. If the message appears highly self-serving and beneficial to the source, the
recipient may distrust the source and discount the message.
3. Attractiveness and Likability – The physical attractiveness of the source can also affect
the persuasiveness of a message. Advertisers select attractive individuals as
spokespersons for their products in television and magazine advertisements because we
 pay more attention to messages from attractive sources. Likability tends to increase
persuasive influence because we want to maintain and enhance relationships with those
we like.

The Message
Persuasive messages differ dramatically in their content. Some contain arguments that are
highly factual and rational, whereas others contain emotional appeals that motivate action by
arousing fear or greed. Messages differ in detail and complexity (simple versus complex
arguments), the strength of their presentation (strong versus weak arguments), and their
balance (one-sided vs. two sided arguments). These properties affect how a person will
scrutinize, interpret, and elaborate a message.
1. Message Discrepancy – is one advocating a position that is different from what the
target believes. Discrepancy is a matter of degree; some messages are highly
discrepant. To cause a change in beliefs and attitudes, a message must be at least
somewhat discrepant from the target’s current position. A message that is moderately
discrepant will be more effective in changing a target’s beliefs and attitudes.
2. Fear Arousal – Most messages intended to persuade incorporate either rational appeals
or emotional appeals. Rational appeals are factual in nature; they present specific,
verifiable evidence to support claims. Emotional appeals try to arouse basic derives and
to stimulate a need where none was present. The most common emotional appeals are
those involving fear. Fear-arousing messages are especially useful when a source is
trying to motivate the target to take some specific action. Studies have shown that
arousing high levels of fear produces more change in attitude.
3. One-sided versus two-sided message – one-sided message emphasizes only those
facts that explicitly support the position advocated by the source. A two-sided message
presents not only the position advocated by the source but also opposing viewpoints.

The Target
Characteristics of the target also play a role in persuasion.
1. Intelligence – Individuals who are more intelligent tend to be more resistant to influence.
Intelligent targets generally know more about any given issue than less intelligent target.
2. Involvement with the Issue – When highly involved with an issue, a target will want to
scrutinize the message closely and think carefully about its content. An uninvolved target
is less motivated to think carefully about the message.
3. Personality – Some people have a high need for cognition, meaning they enjoy puzzling
through problems and thinking about issues. Those who enjoy these thinking tasks are
motivated to examine arguments more carefully and thoroughly than those who have a
low need for cognition.
4. Distraction – This can occur because the audience is distracted by a number of things.
Anything that prevents the target from giving full attention to the argument will impair the
target’s ability or motivation to evaluate an argument or appeal effectively, and therefore,
influence the persuasion attempt.
Phenomena:
• Foot in the door - the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to
comply later with a larger request
• Low ball - A person using the technique will present an attractive offer at first. The offer
will be attractive enough for the other party to it. Then, before finalizing the agreement,
the person will then change the offer. The resulting request will be less favorable than
the initial offer. Having committed to the agreement, the other person will often feel
obliged to extend their compliance to the second request.
• Door in the face - wherein after someone first turns down a large request (the door-in-
the-face), the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request.