Exam-Style Question
Each Christmas the government funds a media campaign against drink
driving. A central element is a TV advert that tries to persuade viewers
that drinking, and driving isn’t worth it. The advert featured a police
officer describing her experiences of attending road traffic accidents.
She talked about the terrible things she had seen because of drink
driving. She said ‘I know people like to have a drink at Christmas, so
do I. But you don’t have to get in your car afterwards’
The advert was advertised nationally and one person that saw it was
Paul. He had been looking forward to the festive season and drinking large amounts of
alcohol as he usually did. His partner said as they watched the advert, ‘I sometimes worry
that could be you one day’ This made Paul wonder if he should give up drinking altogether.
Discuss how the Hovland Yale’s theory could help persuade Paul to stop drinking (9marks)
According to Hovland Yale theory there are 3 main factors that contribute to whether a
message persuades people to change their attitude or behaviour. These are the messenger,
(the communicator) the message (the communication) and the recipient. Recipients are
more likely to be persuaded to change their attitude and behaviour if the communicator
(the source) has credibility, i.e., expert knowledge and or personal experience. The
communicator in this scenario is the police officer who plays a central role in the
government media campaign to persuade viewers to stop drink driving at Christmas. The
police officer describes her experiences of attending road traffic accidents, and the terrible
things that she has witnessed because of drink driving. According to Harvard Yale theory
because she is police officer and has credibility and personal experience of road traffic
accident’s she is more likely to persuade Paul to stop drinking and driving at Christmas.
The second main factor of Hovland-Yale’s theory of persuasion is the message
(communication). There are two key factors in a message that are persuasive, the emotional
appeal (FEAR) and unbiased, two sided. The advertisement campaign is targeted to arouse
fear on the dangers of drink driving and accidents caused by drink driving. The police officer
is not only a credible communicator she also presents a two-sided argument ‘I know people
like to have a drink at Christmas, so do I. But you don’t have to get in your car afterwards’
One-sided persuasive arguments are perceived as biased and are therefore less persuasive.
Health messages that contain a fear related threat can change behaviour, if Paul believes he
can avoid the threat of an accident by giving up drinking altogether, he is more likely to
change his behaviour.
Although Hovland Yale’s theory states that people with low self-esteem are more easily
persuaded. McGuire argues that the relationship between persuasion and self-esteem is
curvilinear correlation. This means that it is easier to persuade people with both high and
low self-esteem but less easy to persuade people with moderate self-esteem; this would
suggest that Paul has either low or high self-esteem. However, one weakness of correlation
research is that it does not show causation. Although there is an association between fear
and positive behavioural change, correlational research does not show a cause-and-effect
Each Christmas the government funds a media campaign against drink
driving. A central element is a TV advert that tries to persuade viewers
that drinking, and driving isn’t worth it. The advert featured a police
officer describing her experiences of attending road traffic accidents.
She talked about the terrible things she had seen because of drink
driving. She said ‘I know people like to have a drink at Christmas, so
do I. But you don’t have to get in your car afterwards’
The advert was advertised nationally and one person that saw it was
Paul. He had been looking forward to the festive season and drinking large amounts of
alcohol as he usually did. His partner said as they watched the advert, ‘I sometimes worry
that could be you one day’ This made Paul wonder if he should give up drinking altogether.
Discuss how the Hovland Yale’s theory could help persuade Paul to stop drinking (9marks)
According to Hovland Yale theory there are 3 main factors that contribute to whether a
message persuades people to change their attitude or behaviour. These are the messenger,
(the communicator) the message (the communication) and the recipient. Recipients are
more likely to be persuaded to change their attitude and behaviour if the communicator
(the source) has credibility, i.e., expert knowledge and or personal experience. The
communicator in this scenario is the police officer who plays a central role in the
government media campaign to persuade viewers to stop drink driving at Christmas. The
police officer describes her experiences of attending road traffic accidents, and the terrible
things that she has witnessed because of drink driving. According to Harvard Yale theory
because she is police officer and has credibility and personal experience of road traffic
accident’s she is more likely to persuade Paul to stop drinking and driving at Christmas.
The second main factor of Hovland-Yale’s theory of persuasion is the message
(communication). There are two key factors in a message that are persuasive, the emotional
appeal (FEAR) and unbiased, two sided. The advertisement campaign is targeted to arouse
fear on the dangers of drink driving and accidents caused by drink driving. The police officer
is not only a credible communicator she also presents a two-sided argument ‘I know people
like to have a drink at Christmas, so do I. But you don’t have to get in your car afterwards’
One-sided persuasive arguments are perceived as biased and are therefore less persuasive.
Health messages that contain a fear related threat can change behaviour, if Paul believes he
can avoid the threat of an accident by giving up drinking altogether, he is more likely to
change his behaviour.
Although Hovland Yale’s theory states that people with low self-esteem are more easily
persuaded. McGuire argues that the relationship between persuasion and self-esteem is
curvilinear correlation. This means that it is easier to persuade people with both high and
low self-esteem but less easy to persuade people with moderate self-esteem; this would
suggest that Paul has either low or high self-esteem. However, one weakness of correlation
research is that it does not show causation. Although there is an association between fear
and positive behavioural change, correlational research does not show a cause-and-effect
