Persuasion: definition and elements of the art of convincing

Since the beginning of time, human beings have tried to achieve their goals in the most optimal way possible by creating long-term plans and strategies for it. However, as social beings that we are, on many occasions our objectives go through others acting or giving their opinion in a certain way.

Although in some cases the objectives of others coincide with their own, it is common to find that Normally, this is not the case, with incompatibility of objectives and conflicts that make it difficult to achieve our goals. goals. How to solve this problem? One of the methods that can be used to do this is to try to change the behavior, affection or opinion of others in a way that favors your own interests. That is, make use of persuasion.

• Related article: "The 3 keys to persuasion: How to convince others?"

What is persuasion?

We understand persuasion as the process by which messages are used that are endowed with supporting arguments, with the purpose of changing a person's attitude, causing him to do, believe or think things that he originally would not do, create or would think.

According to McGuire, this process of change depends mainly on the existence of the probability of receiving the message, that is to say, if the receiver of this has the capacity to attend and understand the message that he wants to give, and of acceptance by the receiver of it.

This acceptance will depend mainly on how the message is processed, as well as the level of involvement and familiarity we have with the subject of which we are trying to persuade. Thus, someone who gives high importance to the topic being discussed and who feels challenged by it will pay special attention to the content of the message, evaluating it critically, while someone who does not consider the topic relevant will be less likely to Even starting to analyze the content of the message may not be so analyzed, although it can be persuaded by external elements to the message itself.

For example, if someone tells us that this same text is going to be examined in a subject next week, those Students who have the subject in question will be highly motivated to believe it, while others will hardly change their attitude.

Persuasion is not based on slogans

Of course, it must be borne in mind that the persuasion process is not straightforward: that is, because one person tells another that he should exercise more or use X product with a convincing technique this does not mean that the latter will obey him. Some elements that make it difficult for a real change to take place are the fact of presenting weak arguments that the recipient can counteract, further reinforcing their initial point of view.

In addition, believing that they want to manipulate us through deception or simplistic proclamations makes the process of being more difficult. persuaded, causing a resistance and even an action contrary to what was intended to feel attacked our freedom personal. This phenomenon is called reactance.

Key elements of persuasion

To better understand the process by which one person or medium can influence another by making him change his mind, it is necessary to take into account which are the key elements of the process, These being the emitting source, the receiver, the message itself and the technique used to transmit it.

1. Transmitter

With regard to who transmits the information, the source trying to persuade, there are two characteristics that are taken into account when it comes to being or not being persuaded: its appeal and its credibility. It has been shown in multiple experiments that, in general, we consider those individuals who we perceive to be more reliable as more attractive (partly because of the halo effect, in which we assume that someone who has a good quality will surely have others). This is one of the reasons why men and women of great physical attractiveness, or well-valued celebrities, frequently appear in advertising in order to sell us a product.

However, the most influential feature of the source when it comes to persuading us is credibility, which is given by the level of competence of the source in the subject in question and the perceived sincerity.

Let's see it with a simple example. They tell us that in ten years, Halley's Comet will hit Earth. If it is a person who we meet on the street who tells us, we will probably not change our way to act, but if it is a NASA expert who says so, concern about it is more likely to increase. Another example we would find once again in the use of celebrities to advertise products in advertising pieces. In this case, most celebrities not only tend to be attractive, but are also associated with a good level of credibility based on their public image.

2. Receiver

As regards the recipient of the message, the main characteristics that affect when being influenced are the level of intelligence, self-esteem and the level of involvement with the subject.

It must be taken into account that the effect of intelligence level it should not be taken as a direct measure. It is not that whoever is more influential has less intelligence, but someone with greater intelligence will have more resources to question the arguments used in persuasion. By having a greater capacity when it comes to learning and using memorized information in real time, the way of dialogue smarter people are more fluid and consistent, something that is reflected in the results they obtain when it comes to convince.

Regarding the self-esteem, we generally find that the lower self-esteem, the less probability that we will consider our own arguments as valid, accepting those of others more easily.

3. Message

Another of the main elements when persuading someone is the message itself. Several studies indicate that the fact of using a more rational or more emotional message will depend on the type of response that you want to favor. It also affects whether the message incorporates elements that provoke fear or a feeling of threat: according to motivation theory protection of Rogers, we will tend to look for and to consider more certain the messages that allow us to minimize or avoid a hurt.

It has also been investigated the fact that persuasion occurs more often with a closed or open message, indicating that by it is generally better to leave a conclusion open to interpretation, albeit guided in the direction of the one you want persuade. This may be because in this way listeners are more satisfied when reaching these conclusions, something that they experience as if it had been a discovery made by themselves, without someone trying to impose an idea on them from outside.

Finally, it has been discussed whether it is convenient to indicate only the arguments that favor one's own position or the arguments of the opposite position should also be indicated. In this regard, it has been suggested that it is more persuasive to show both positions, since otherwise it is more perceptible than the The intention of the message is to create publicity or propaganda rather than provide data to rationally decide, and this ends up causing reactance.

A way to influence others

As we have seen, persuasion consists in part of detecting these "cracks" in defenses. psychological factors of a person that can be influenced and easier to convince them to take a decision. Of course, this process should not give the feeling that the person who is trying to convince loses or gives in to the person who convinces them, since the simple fact of experiencing an exchange of ideas perceiving it from this perspective generates resistance difficult to shoot down.

Consequently, persuasion does not act through rationality, but through heuristics and mental shortcuts in general. People who are persuaded hardly realize it, since in many cases they believe they are acting only from their rationality.

That is why these strategies are so widely used; they allow a person to choose a certain option without noticing the presence of a plan to persuade them.

Bibliographic references:

• Cialdini, R. (1983, 1984). Influence. The Psychology of Persuasion. Revised Edition. HarperCollins.
• McGuire, W.J. (1969). An information-processing model of advertising effectiveness. In H.L. Davis & A.J. Silk (Eds.), Behavioral and Management Sciences in Marketing. New York: Ronald.
• Rivas, M. & López, M. (2012). Social and organizational psychology. CEDE PIR Preparation Manual, 11. CEDE. Madrid.
• Rogers, R.W. (1985). Attitude change and information integration in fear appeals. Psychological Reports, 56, 179-182.