MARKETING AND PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION
LECTURE 1 -
Persuasive communication
(Persuasive = “Persuasief”= overtuigend)
= A sender’s attempt to change a receiver’s beliefs, attitudes, and behavior
= a symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or
behavior regarding an issue through the transmission of a message, in an atmosphere of free choice
(Perlo ,)
• Symbolic proces
• Intentional in uence
• (Beliefs), attitudes and behavior
• Sender, receiver, message, object, context
• Receiver has free choice
Persuasive communication is
• broader than marketing communication
• foundation of most marketing communication
Marketing communication
Persuasive communication, but also:
• Attention / awareness (memory e ects)
• Consumer choice behavior (e.g., biases)
• Branding
• Targeting strategy
• Media in uence (e.g., online vs o ine)
• Etc.
Persuasion: Application areas
• Corporate sphere, e.g..
• Marcom, but also
• Sales / negotiations
• Motivating / leadership
• Online campaigns / in uencers
• Public sphere, e.g.,
• Health com
• Politics, societal debates
• Individual sphere, e.g.,
• Relations
• Education / family life
Persuasive communication: scienti c Approach
• Why do we need it???
• People often do not understand their own beliefs, attitudes and
behavioral motives…
• let alone those of others..!
↳ We need objective evidence to understand why people change
their behavior
• How do we get this evidence?
First ad: hair product
• Contrast background (dry, wild) versus lion mane (soft, styled)
• Even a lion’s mane can be tamed
Second ad: Lego
• Controversial: gun, alcoholic, drugs
• What is the audience? Lego is for kids but this ad is directed at
another audience
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, Question: Are good-looking people seen as more or less intelligent as less good-looking
people?
How do we nd this out?
• Just ask? (e.g. in a street survey)?
• “Do you think that good-looking people are generally smarter than unattractive people, or do you think it
is the other way around?” (= “self report”).
• Will people be honest?
• Disadvantages
• Probably no relation attractiveness intelligence:
• People do not admit that they think there is a relationship (political correctness / social
desirability)
• People are not aware that they perceive a relationship
• Experiment in controlled environment
• Computer generated faces (attractive versus non attractive)
• Bene ts:
• We can manipulate the independent variable
• E.g., good vs. less good-looking
• We can measure its e ects on the dependent variable(s)
• E.g., perceived intelligence
Answer
• Good looking people are seen as more intelligent, nicer, more outgoing
• E ect: more positive responses, credible, reliable
• E ect: more persuasive !
• E ect: better (paid) jobs, nicer partners
↳ Halo e ect = good qualities linked to good looking people
News or persuasion?
• News may in uence attitudes, but there usually is no “persuasive intent”.
• If there is persuasive intent➝ persuasion.
Pagina 2 van 13
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LECTURE 1 -
Persuasive communication
(Persuasive = “Persuasief”= overtuigend)
= A sender’s attempt to change a receiver’s beliefs, attitudes, and behavior
= a symbolic process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or
behavior regarding an issue through the transmission of a message, in an atmosphere of free choice
(Perlo ,)
• Symbolic proces
• Intentional in uence
• (Beliefs), attitudes and behavior
• Sender, receiver, message, object, context
• Receiver has free choice
Persuasive communication is
• broader than marketing communication
• foundation of most marketing communication
Marketing communication
Persuasive communication, but also:
• Attention / awareness (memory e ects)
• Consumer choice behavior (e.g., biases)
• Branding
• Targeting strategy
• Media in uence (e.g., online vs o ine)
• Etc.
Persuasion: Application areas
• Corporate sphere, e.g..
• Marcom, but also
• Sales / negotiations
• Motivating / leadership
• Online campaigns / in uencers
• Public sphere, e.g.,
• Health com
• Politics, societal debates
• Individual sphere, e.g.,
• Relations
• Education / family life
Persuasive communication: scienti c Approach
• Why do we need it???
• People often do not understand their own beliefs, attitudes and
behavioral motives…
• let alone those of others..!
↳ We need objective evidence to understand why people change
their behavior
• How do we get this evidence?
First ad: hair product
• Contrast background (dry, wild) versus lion mane (soft, styled)
• Even a lion’s mane can be tamed
Second ad: Lego
• Controversial: gun, alcoholic, drugs
• What is the audience? Lego is for kids but this ad is directed at
another audience
Pagina 1 van 13
ff fl fl fl ffl
ff fi
, Question: Are good-looking people seen as more or less intelligent as less good-looking
people?
How do we nd this out?
• Just ask? (e.g. in a street survey)?
• “Do you think that good-looking people are generally smarter than unattractive people, or do you think it
is the other way around?” (= “self report”).
• Will people be honest?
• Disadvantages
• Probably no relation attractiveness intelligence:
• People do not admit that they think there is a relationship (political correctness / social
desirability)
• People are not aware that they perceive a relationship
• Experiment in controlled environment
• Computer generated faces (attractive versus non attractive)
• Bene ts:
• We can manipulate the independent variable
• E.g., good vs. less good-looking
• We can measure its e ects on the dependent variable(s)
• E.g., perceived intelligence
Answer
• Good looking people are seen as more intelligent, nicer, more outgoing
• E ect: more positive responses, credible, reliable
• E ect: more persuasive !
• E ect: better (paid) jobs, nicer partners
↳ Halo e ect = good qualities linked to good looking people
News or persuasion?
• News may in uence attitudes, but there usually is no “persuasive intent”.
• If there is persuasive intent➝ persuasion.
Pagina 2 van 13
ff fi ff
fifl ff
