CONCEPT OF PERSUASION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

 

Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding oneself or another toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. Persuasion has probably always been a part of human life. It seems inevitable that peo­ple will try to influence other people, even their closest friends and family members. For centuries people must have operated on the basis of intuition and common sense in their attempts to persuade. Aristotle was one of the first to try to analyze and write about persua­sion, in his classic works on rhetoric. Years later, particularly when mass communication became more widespread, people began to study persuasion even more systematically. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis, with its identification of seven techniques of propa­ganda, was doing some of this early work. Part of the motive for this more careful study of persuasion was obviously fear—the war-inspired fear that propaganda could win the hearts and minds of people.

Persuasion is only one type of mass communication, but it is a type in which many people are interested. The advertiser using mass communication to sell soft drinks, headache remedies, or automobiles is engaged in persuasion. So is the nuclear power industry when it hires public relations experts to help it convince the public that nuclear power is safe. So are the political candidate who buys newspaper ads, the public health organization that prepares radio spots to encourage people to stop smoking, and the religious organization that puts evangelical messages on television. All of these people are attempting to use mass communication messages to produce some kind of change in other people. Persuasion is closely associated with the propaganda even the definitions may relate in certain aspects by various authors. Initially many authors define propaganda that definition has appeared very close in defining persuasion.

PERSUASION IN PUBLIC RELATION

Public Relations is all about influencing audiences. By providing a variety of information through a variety of channels, Public Relations induces change in the beliefs, attitudes, or behavior of specific groups of people.

There is a lengthy pathway, however, between engaging in Public Relations practices and persuading intended audiences to alter their behaviors in desired ways.

In order to fully understand how PR campaigns work, it‘s important to know and understand the six stages of persuasion.

Ø    Presentation

Ø    Attention

Ø    Comprehension

Ø    Acceptance

Ø    Retention

Ø    Action

PRESENTATION:        The intended audiences are presented with key messages through media placement (3 - 6 months into the campaign and ongoing).

ATTENTION:                 With repeated exposure, intended audiences will see and recognize the messages (approximately 6 - 9 months into the campaign).

COMPREHENSION: Intended audiences comprehend the value of the offering (9 months and onward).

ACCEPTANCE:             Audiences believe the messages (9 - 12 months).

RETENTION:                Audiences remember the messages and identify the messages with the company and its products or services. This is when the company becomes branded (12 months—to up to 2 years).

ACTION:                           Audiences change their behavior in the desired direction, i.e. they buy the product or service, approach the company for deals, attend the event, etc. (12 months to 2 years).

PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Role of persuasive communication in PR components or factors involved in the communication process is source, message, channel, receiver and destination. Source factors include the perceived sender of the communication. The “message” refers to what he says and includes style, content and organization, while “Channel” designates the medium (e.g. press, radio, television) through which the message is communicated. As regards the “receiver” factors, it refers to the persons (e.g. age, sex, etc.) to whom the communication is directed and the “destination” indicates the behavior (e.g. voting) the communication is designed to influence.

 

TECHNIQUES OF PERSUASION

ü    Audience Analysis

ü    Source Credibility

ü    Appeal of Self Interest

ü    Clarity of Massage

ü    Timings and Context

ü    Audience Participation

ü    Action Principle

ü    Contents and structure of Message

ü    Persuasive Speaking

ü    Roadblocks to Persuasion

ü    The Ethics of Persuasion:

Audience analysis:               For a successful persuasive communication the knowledge of audience – their social, economic, religious and political structures and values, is of paramount importance. The process of determining the attitudes of groups and then suggesting a specific mode of behaviour or appropriate communication medium is called “Channeling”. Evoking concern for quality of life, need for deflating price spiral and patriotism are some of the Channeling tactics that are commonly used in persuasion.

Source Credibility or Principle of Familiarity and Trust:          Persuasion is more complete and successful if the source of persuasive communication is credible and trustworthy. We buy ideas, beliefs, opinions or point of view of those persons whom we believe to be more knowledgeable or expert in the concerned fields, sincere to wards our interest and cause and who have impressive and charismatic qualities.

Appeal of Self-interest or Identification Principle:         The message must be stated in terms of the interest of the audience. If your massage does not address to the psychic or economic needs of your audience it would hardly attract their attention.

Clarity of Massage:              The message should be self-explanatory and clear. The audience should be able to comprehend what you want them to do, say or believe. If the message is meant for internalization and the audience is intelligent and rational, the drawing conclusion of the message is left to them. If there is any danger that the audience may draw a wrong conclusion then it should not be left to them.

Timings and Context:         Selection of appropriate conditions, climate and timings is of vital importance for the acceptance and adoption of a message. Many charity drives occur during Ramazan in the Islamic world.

Audience Participation or Involvement:  Persuasion is enhanced by the active involvement or participation of the audience. For better quality and more production the suggestions should also emanate from the audience are adopted more readily and employees are also more committed to prove the efficacy of those solutions.

Action Principle or Hints for Action:        Action – oriented ideas and suggestions hinting at practical guidelines have greater chances of acceptance than those devoid of action and merely relying on empty appeals.

Contents and structure of Message:          Content and structure of message can also enhance considerably the rate of their acceptance and in turn attitudinal change. Both rational and emotional appeals, comprised of statistics, budget figures, civic pride of the audience, gratitude to their Alma Mater, drama, examples, testimonials and mass media endorsement are used in devouring persuasive messages.

Persuasive Speaking:                       Delivering persuasive massage through spoken words require a great deal of proficiency and professionalism. God Almighty exhorts His Prophet (peace is upon him) in Quran while engaged in persuasive dialogues; he should lay stress first on the points which are undisputable and common between him and his audience.

Roadblocks to Persuasion: Persuasion in its real sense is not a science. None of the techniques and devices can claim to get sure-fire results of persuasion. It deals with complicated and unpredictable human nature. The failure to achieve the desired results of persuasion, some experts think, may be attributed to ineptness or falls assumptions.

The writers of the book “Public Relations – Strategies and Tactics” have mentioned four factors, which may create road blocks to a persuasive message.

ü  Lack of message penetration

ü  Competing messages

ü  Self-selection

ü  Self-perception

The Ethics of Persuasion:              Like other professionals, the public relations practioners should also avoid by certain norms and ethics of their profession. They should abide the use of false, irrelevant and illogical arguments, gimmicks or half truths to convince their audience. If they are not expert in the concerned field, they should not pose to be the one.

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