11Motivational

Appeals

Learning ObjectivesAfter reading the chapter, you should be able

to:1. Understand the role of motivational appeals

in persuasion2. Identify particular emotions and how

persuaders use them3. Describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and

how they apply to persuasion4. Define values and ways persuaders use

values to persuade audience members

Key TermsMotivational appealEmotionsValueInstrumental valuesTerminal values

Motivational AppealsPersuaders know our feelings influence

decisions and create message to maximize this appeal

Pathos – Aristotle’s name for this type of persuasive strategy

Motivational appeals – the variety of affective concepts, including psychological needs and values as well as emotion, that is studied today

The Power of Motivational AppealsWe often think that when feelings are

involved in decision making, we make faulty decisions

The most effective and valid persuasion uses credibility, logic, and motivational appeals1. Motivational appeals motivate us to act on the

persuader’s message2. Feelings help us make moral decisions

The Power of Motivational AppealsCraig Waddell (1990) – when we use reason

alone we may draw faulty conclusionsEmotions allow individuals to make qualitative

judgments about moral decisionsAt times feelings have adverse effect on

decision making – e.g., prejudice, racism, dogmatism

EmotionOne school of thought says emotions are

comprised of two elements1. Physiological arousal – a rush or high

experienced when facing something exciting or dangerous or pleasurable

2. Cognitive state – how physiological arousal is perceived or described

Defining EmotionEmotions – belief systems or schemas that

guide how we understand our feelings and how we organize our responses to those feelings

Averil (1980) argues we also learn to respond to emotions based on our interactions with others in our culture – parents, siblings, television charactersSyndrome – emotions are a set of learned

response behaviors, not an essence or single underlying force

Social role – socially prescribed responses to a given situation, learned from others

Defining EmotionGerard Hauser (2002) – emotions involve our

self-esteem because we learn what our culture thinks are the appropriate emotional responses and behaviors in given situations

Emotions affect how we see our world and give it meaning

Smith and Hyde (1991) – emotions help us see, interpret and become involved with the world in meaningful ways

Defining EmotionFear – most studied emotion

A fear appeal involves three dimensions1. Describes a threat2. Indicates that audience members are likely

to experience the threat3. Indicates that one way to avoid the threat is

by adopting the message of the persuader

Defining EmotionFear – research is confusing and contradictory

Fear may inhibit persuasion, but additional fear appeals are likely to make the message more persuasive

Fear appeals exert a stronger influence on low-anxiety audience members than on high-anxiety audience members

Fear has a stronger persuasive appeal on older audiences than on younger audiences

Defining EmotionFear – Mongeau (1998) reaffirms support for

four critical components of a fear appeal1. Severity of threat2. Probability of occurrence3. Efficacy of coping response4. Ability to enact solution

Aristotle’s Emotional AppealsEmotion

Definition Appeal

Anger Desire for retaliation because of a slight directed, without justification, against oneself or others

“We cannot let terrorists inflict their will upon innocent victims around the world.”

Calmness

A settling down and quieting of anger

“Now is not the time to harbor feelings of anger against each other; now is the time to come together as a united party to win the general election.”

Fear A sort of agitation derived from the imagination of a future destructive or painful evil

“Purchasing a cellular telephone is good insurance against being stranded in you car in a winter snowstorm.”

Aristotle’s Emotional AppealsEmotion

Definition Appeal

Shame A class of evils that brings person into disrespect

“Your children deserve the best. Don’t settle for anything less than the nutrition of Gerber foods.”

Pity A pain that happens to one who does not deserve it

“Help the less fortunate in our city by donating to the local food bank.”

Envy Distress at apparent success on the part of one’s peers

“Nothing says style and success like a Lincoln Navigator.”

NeedsAbraham Maslow’s (1943) theory of needs:

we cannot achieve higher-level needs until we have achieved lower-level needsPhysiological needs – food, drink, sleep, and sexSafety needs – protection from wild animals,

temperature extremes, and criminalsLove needs – love, affection, and belongingnessEsteem needs – stable, firmly based, high

evaluation of ourselves, from ourselves and others

Self-actualization – realize our potential

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

NeedsIf lower-level needs are not met, higher-level

needs become nonexistent or are pushed into the background

Love – not only seek to receive love and attention, but also to show it to others

Esteem – receiving esteem from others provides sense of self-confidence, worth, strength, capability, and adequacy

Persuaders try to disrupt our sense of self-esteemAdvertisers promote self-actualization through

consumption of consumer goods

ValuesValue – a criterion or standard of preference

that guides our actions, develops attitudes toward objects, and allows moral judgment of ourselves and others (Robin Williams, 1979)

Values are learnedValues developed through experiences with

others

ValuesCultural values

Maintained through hegemony and patriarchyTransformed by variety of forces

Economic Demographic Through communication of persuaders

Individual valuesParents, siblings, and peers along with

institutions influence our valuesMedia creates ideas about what is

important/not important

ValuesRokeach (1968) identifies two types of

individual values1. Instrumental values – means by which we live2. Terminal values – goals for our lives

Prioritization of values into hierarchies accounts for individuals’ different value orientations

Persuaders use value appeals to achieve identification

Values also serve to anchor our perceptions, filtering persuasion through an individual’s value hierarchy

Rokeach’s Individual Values

Terminal Values Instrumental Values

A comfortable life

Inner harmony Ambitious Imaginative

An exciting life Mature love Broad-minded Independent

A sense of accomplishment

National security

Capable Intellectual

A world at peace

Pleasure Cheerful Logical

A world of beauty

Salvation Clean Loving

Equality Self-respect Courageous Obedient

Family security Social recognition

Forgiving Polite

Freedom True friendship Helpful Responsible

Happiness Wisdom Honest Self-controlled

The Nature of Motivational AppealsMotivational appeals are designed to elicit

feeling in an audience that will result in some kind of socially constructed response from the audience

Motivational appeals are linked to the experience of time; appeal to future or past emotion

Time plays a crucial role in developing the audience’s emotional state

Persuaders use personal relationships to call upon the audience’s emotions

Emotions are linked to relationship building

Narrative FormNarratives evoke images of time and placeNarratives bring emotion closer to the

audience in time and spaceNarratives evoke greater emotional response

from the audience

HumorHumor brings about emotions such as

happiness, contentment, and pridePersuaders can use humor to develop higher-

level needs in Maslow’s hierarchyPuns – play on wordsSatire – disparaging comment made in order

to bring about changes in person or topicFarce – employs exaggerated characters and

situations

Visual CommunicationResemblance to reality makes visual

communication capable of creating physiological arousal in an audience

Facial expressions communicate a great deal of emotion

MediaMedia influence not only physiological

component of emotions, but how we socially construct emotions as well

Image size affects viewer’s state of arousal – more life-sized images are perceived as more of a threat to the viewer

Moving pictures increase the arousal level of audience members

Moving images amplify audience member’s positive or negative feelings toward the image compared with a still image

The Social Construction of AffectAge five – children correctly identify facial

expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, and fear

Older children can distinguish similar emotional syndrome, i.e., happiness and pride

Children learn stereotyped attitudes about others, aggressive behaviors and cooperation from watching television

Adults continue to develop socially constructed beliefs about emotions, needs, and values