Social Influence, Public Communication and Advertising
Lecture 1 – Regulatory focus & Resistance
What is social influence?
Shaping and presenting products, ideas, or movements in a way that motivates people to
engage and say ‘yes’ – for profit, non-profit and political goals
Regulatory focus
: distinguishes between promotion focus – oriented towards achieving positive outcomes –
and preventing focus – which is oriented towards safety and avoiding negative outcomes -
E.g., how can I get the most out of this course? or how can I avoid failing this class
or?
Everyone has one focus that is more prominent than the other
Scholer et al (2019) –– see article 01
Differences arise from chronic or temporal orientation
Chronic orientations are orthogonal
o Individuals can simultaneously have strong prevention and promotion
systems
Temporal orientations are dependent
o At any given time, one orientation is going to dominate
Chronic orientations are measured with questionnaire, e.g.:
o “I often think about the person I would ideally like to be with in the future”
o I frequently think about how I can prevent failures in my life”
So how do we develop these chronic orientations (more or less of one of the focus)?
depends on how we are raised
Authoritative (very communicative, together) more likely to develop promotion focus
Authoritarian (very strict, punishment) more likely to develop preventing focus
1
,Next to the promotion and prevention system, you also have an approach and avoidance
style
these are also orthogonal – independent of each other
both promotion or prevention focused are also approach and avoidance focused
o only they both different in what they approach and what they avoid
brain regions that are activated when people are asked what their ideal is (desire, duty)
and what they ought (things you must do)
ideal > related to intuition and reward sensitivity (promotion style)
ought > related to self-awareness and adaptation (prevention style)
Motivation orientation differs systematically with
age – younger people more promotion focused
gender – women tend to be more prevention focused
culture – collectivistic cultures more prevention focused
upbringing – (e.g., Scholer et al.) – see article 01
type of decision – context determine what system is activated (everyone has both)
But…
Avoid generalizations > people’s orientations vary widely from situation to situation –
avoid stereotyping
People in a promotion focus
…. have different preferences
interested in promotion-oriented products (e.g., holidays more than alarm systems)
attend to promotion-oriented attributes (e.g., more luxury than security of products)
g
… are motivated by different factors
inspired by positive role models
motivated by praise for excellent work
2
, … process information in an eager way
prioritize speedy decisions
focus on the big picture instead of the details
focus on obtaining the best option
are more creative
… have different self-views
more politically liberal
independent (view themselves independent, “I am vegan”)
higher self-esteem
People in a prevention focus
… have different preferences
interested in prevention-oriented products
attend to prevention-oriented attributes
… are motivated by different factors
inspired by positive AND negative role models
motivated by criticism about their work
… process information in a vigilant way
prioritize accuracy to speed
focus on the details
focus on eliminating the worst option
favor repetition, are less creative
… have different self-views
more conservative
interdependent (view themselves in relation, “I am a niece”)
lower self-esteem
think about in which state your audience is (prevention or promotion) to know which
language to use
Regulatory fit
: A person’s motivational orientation leads them to prefer products and messages that help
sustain her orientation (promotion-promotion and prevention-prevention)
It makes them ‘feel right’ during message reception
It increases their strength of engagement with the message
It’s not only about the message, but also about the way it is presented
3
Lecture 1 – Regulatory focus & Resistance
What is social influence?
Shaping and presenting products, ideas, or movements in a way that motivates people to
engage and say ‘yes’ – for profit, non-profit and political goals
Regulatory focus
: distinguishes between promotion focus – oriented towards achieving positive outcomes –
and preventing focus – which is oriented towards safety and avoiding negative outcomes -
E.g., how can I get the most out of this course? or how can I avoid failing this class
or?
Everyone has one focus that is more prominent than the other
Scholer et al (2019) –– see article 01
Differences arise from chronic or temporal orientation
Chronic orientations are orthogonal
o Individuals can simultaneously have strong prevention and promotion
systems
Temporal orientations are dependent
o At any given time, one orientation is going to dominate
Chronic orientations are measured with questionnaire, e.g.:
o “I often think about the person I would ideally like to be with in the future”
o I frequently think about how I can prevent failures in my life”
So how do we develop these chronic orientations (more or less of one of the focus)?
depends on how we are raised
Authoritative (very communicative, together) more likely to develop promotion focus
Authoritarian (very strict, punishment) more likely to develop preventing focus
1
,Next to the promotion and prevention system, you also have an approach and avoidance
style
these are also orthogonal – independent of each other
both promotion or prevention focused are also approach and avoidance focused
o only they both different in what they approach and what they avoid
brain regions that are activated when people are asked what their ideal is (desire, duty)
and what they ought (things you must do)
ideal > related to intuition and reward sensitivity (promotion style)
ought > related to self-awareness and adaptation (prevention style)
Motivation orientation differs systematically with
age – younger people more promotion focused
gender – women tend to be more prevention focused
culture – collectivistic cultures more prevention focused
upbringing – (e.g., Scholer et al.) – see article 01
type of decision – context determine what system is activated (everyone has both)
But…
Avoid generalizations > people’s orientations vary widely from situation to situation –
avoid stereotyping
People in a promotion focus
…. have different preferences
interested in promotion-oriented products (e.g., holidays more than alarm systems)
attend to promotion-oriented attributes (e.g., more luxury than security of products)
g
… are motivated by different factors
inspired by positive role models
motivated by praise for excellent work
2
, … process information in an eager way
prioritize speedy decisions
focus on the big picture instead of the details
focus on obtaining the best option
are more creative
… have different self-views
more politically liberal
independent (view themselves independent, “I am vegan”)
higher self-esteem
People in a prevention focus
… have different preferences
interested in prevention-oriented products
attend to prevention-oriented attributes
… are motivated by different factors
inspired by positive AND negative role models
motivated by criticism about their work
… process information in a vigilant way
prioritize accuracy to speed
focus on the details
focus on eliminating the worst option
favor repetition, are less creative
… have different self-views
more conservative
interdependent (view themselves in relation, “I am a niece”)
lower self-esteem
think about in which state your audience is (prevention or promotion) to know which
language to use
Regulatory fit
: A person’s motivational orientation leads them to prefer products and messages that help
sustain her orientation (promotion-promotion and prevention-prevention)
It makes them ‘feel right’ during message reception
It increases their strength of engagement with the message
It’s not only about the message, but also about the way it is presented
3
