Internet Marketing through logic and reason for persuasion
The
Jeffersonian democratic tradition, with its foundations stretching back
as far as Milton, elevates reason to be "good" in that logic drives
decision, while persuasion is "bad" because it is driven by emotion.
It is the resistance that requires Logical Persuasion.
We will cover the complete list of strategies on this page. Selling
and marketing is in fact the art of logical persuasion. In this page we
also outline the recent theories and research findings in the field of
psychology and logical persuasion. The bulk of research does not focus
on how to persuade. Rather, the focus is on how to remove resistance
with logic and reason.
Logical
persuasion is often discussed under a focus on problems of real social
import (e.g., tobacco uptake and use, alcohol abuse, use of illegal and
often dangerous substances, engaging in high-risk behaviors of various
and sundry kinds). Increasingly, the study of logical persuasion is
taking an applied turn toward attempting to change attitudes and
behaviors in real time and among large segments of the population.
Millions of dollars from special taxes and court settlements have been
spent to target young people who are most susceptible to tobacco uptake
and use.
Internet message producers create "content," which is always
intended to be persuasive, to the degree that they embed meaning in
symbols. Television and the Internet are especially persuasive to the
degree that they can compel the message receiver's psychological
apparatus into processing mediated information as if it were the result
of direct sensory experience.
Resistance
to persuasion is not simply the inverse of persuasion. That is,
resistance is not necessarily the same thing as not being persuaded. We
define resistance to persuasion as a motivated state in which the goal
is to withstand the effect of persuasive communication weather it is
logical or emotional. Resistance hounds persuasion the way friction
frustrates motion. Hence, some efforts should be focused on removing
the resistance with logic and reasons. Here in this page we will
discuss recent studies and strategies to remove resistance.
Here is an interesting example why our research matters:
Much
of the current interest in mood and persuasion can be traced to a study
by Worth and Mackie (1987). That project is valuable not only for its
place in the history of this area but also because its design is so
typical of subsequent investigations. In Worth and Mackie's study,
positive mood participants won $1.00 in an allegedly random lottery,
while neutral mood participants were simply asked whether or not they
had participated in a lottery. All participants then read a message
about acid rain containing either strong or weak arguments that was
attributed to either an expert or nonexpert source. The results
indicated that, relative to the neutral mood participants, those in the positive mood condition recalled fewer arguments, were less sensitive to the argument strength manipulation, and were more sensitive to the source cue manipulation. Overall, the evidence suggested that positive mood dampened systematic processing. From these and other findings (Mackie & Worth, 1989), the researchers concluded that positive moods consume cognitive capacity, thereby constraining participants' ability to engage in systematic message processing.
The notion that positive mood participants might have suffered motivational deficits provides the cornerstone to an alternative explanation. The mood-as-information
hypothesis suggests that affective states may function as heuristics
conveying to individuals whether there is a need to process the message
carefully (Bless, Bohner, Schwarz, & Strack, 1990; for a revision
of this position, see Bless & Schwarz, 1999). A positive mood
signals that all is well, and by implication so is the advocacy of the
suasory appeal.
By
contrast, a negative mood gives notice that something is amiss. The
individual should, therefore, devote cognitive resources to an analysis
of the environment, including the persuasive message.
Our analysis shows how resistance can be reduced, and therefore logical
persuasion achieved. We will show strategies such as training people to
be appropriately resistant, postponing consequences to the future,
focusing resistance on realistic concerns, forewarning that a message
will be coming, simply acknowledging resistance, raising self-esteem
and a sense of efficacy, and consuming resistance. New insights, new
influence strategies, and new facets of persuasion has emerged from a
focus on resistance.
Here are some of the strategies that might apply to web sites and Internet Marketing:
1) First, we examine the pulse of society, the current beliefs and attitude. The current attitude, in the case of Health web sites, is Healthy Living and Healthy Eating. The website www.dinner-movie.com promotes healthy way of life, free of parasites and germs and then the link to HerbaLabs.org is very visible.
2) We usually designe websites with these three powerful components: affective, cognitive and behavioral. This tripartite model applies the concepts of "I like it", "I believe it", and "I will buy it".
3) We confirm the visitor autonomy, freedom by creating motivational pages that reasserts such freedom.
4) We give the visitor other choices and ways of treatments.
5) We make our health message indirect, legitimate, subtle and delicate.
6) We do not give a message to change, influential, and offensive that the visitors become defensive or argumentative.
Theory Detail: Brehm's theory of reactance was among the first to suggest that any message
aimed at changing one's current attitudes and behaviors might, in fact,
be perceived as a threat to freedom, whether in the best interest of
the intended persuadee or not. When people perceive that freedoms are
being threatened, psychological reactance is claimed to result. This
reactance can result in a variety of responses including simply
ignoring the persuasive attempt, derogating the source, and even
producing even more of the undesired behaviors as a means
of demonstrating choice or restoring attitudinal freedom. People do not
appreciate being told how they should behave, especially in areas where
they feel it is simply no one else's business. People at different
developmental stages value independence and freedom and tend to reject
many, if not most, authority-based appeals. Members of specific groups
can be resistant to any appeal that they consider to be even remotely
controlling. That people value freedom and their right to consider and
make choices, and that they react negatively to attitudinal and
behavioral constraints with some regularity, seems so obvious as to not
require further elaboration.
7) By providing the visitor unbiased information, we allow the visitor to know all the sides and/or even to disagree with us.
8) We have strong arguments that justify and compel actions.
9) We have done our best to increase the site credibility and trust building.
We have asked expert and Doctors to answer emails and visitor
questions. We provide the source of our herbs and the book that these
sources were published.
10) We provide consensus information.
11) We emphasize the scarcity of and the significance of the product or service we might offer.
12) We emphasize consistency, commitments, fighting what is not justice, and sticking with good principles.
13) We engage in a norm of Reciprocity and Consultancy.
Story by-
(Anne Warfield-)
Kathy Hamilton/simikathy.com
253 277 1238