Page 39 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

32 The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

meta-analysis suggested that as an audience’s intelligence increases, the
audience becomes more difficult to persuade (Rhodes & Wood, 1992).
The argument for this relationship has been linked to the idea that intel-
ligence provides individuals with the ability to both evaluate the persua-
siveness of an appeal and to counter-argue the information presented.
Similarly, research by Briñol, Rucker, Tormala and Petty (2004) suggested
that some individuals are naturally more resistant to persuasion than oth-
ers. Specifically, they found that individuals’ own beliefs about whether
they tended to resist or succumb to persuasion predicted their actual re-
sistance or yielding to persuasion.
With regard to state factors of the recipient, a large body of research has
suggested that the temporary mood or emotional state of a recipient can
affect how a recipient responds to persuasion. For example, early research
found that placing individuals in a negative state because of an unpleasant
odor in the room decreased persuasion (Razran, 1940). The initial argu-
ments for this relationship were based on a learning theory framework.
Specifically, researchers suggested that when an object was paired with a
negative experience, simple associative processes led people to view the
object as negative (see Zanna, Kiesler & Pilkonis, 1970). But if the object
was paired with positive experiences such as music (e.g., Gorn, 1982) or
food (Dabbs & Janis, 1965), attitudes became more favorable. As was the
case with source and message variables, subsequent research revealed that
the valence of the recipient’s experience is not the only factor that matters
for persuasion, and recipient factors can influence attitudes by multiple
processes in different situations.

Source, Message, and Recipient Factors: Summary

This section provides a very brief and selective review of some common
source, message, and recipient factors in persuasion, noting that each could
play an important role in influencing attitudes. In doing so, this effort pro-
vides a first fundamental question for social marketers to ask: What are the
source, message, and recipient factors at play in their particular context?
For example, imagine a social marketing effort that is aimed at funding a
new research center to improve the lives of children with Down syndrome.
A natural starting point would be to take stock of who would deliver the
message, what the message would say, and who the target recipient is. By
addressing these considerations, social marketers can make judicious deci-
sions as to how they might design their communications. Specifically, one
would want to design a persuasion effort that uses these variables in ways
that would yield the most favorable and strongest attitudes.