Com 314:Mass Com Theory Syllabus and Home Page

Com 314: Mass Communication Theory

Updated: 20 November, 2002

The focus on this chapter is toward the premeditated use of media to influence actions of individuals. Note how your authors justify this focus, rather than on attitudes, values, etc.

Examples:

voting
buying
donating, etc.

The principle of persuasion is that if some SUBJECTIVE factors change, a change in behavior will follow....that's the focus here. (Somewhat rigid standard...may be bigger than this.... especially over long term).

The focus on behavior allows for comparability between developing theories. The independent variables will be different, but dependent variable will be the same (change in behavior)

We really don't know WHY

programs work...
advertising succeeds, etc.

THREE different theoretical strategies try to offer answers:

PSYCHODYNAMIC STRATEGY

Based on S-0-R
Stimulus is received
The characteristics of the organism shape the response made

--inherited biological features
--other factors set in biology or learning
(emotional states, conditions)
--acquired or learned factors which make-up cognitive structure

(Emotions can't be used reliably, though emotional appeals are the most effective apparently in advertising....we just can't document it well)

Cognitive factors are seen to be the most influential in this perspective.

Example: Cognitive Dissonance, developed by Leon Festinger in 1957. See you text for full explanation. [We have already discussed this in another unit.]

needs: state of deprivation
drive: a condition of arousal or energy to satisfy a need
role of uneasiness or instability....(need to be at peace or stable)

attitude: There is the assumption that if you know the attitude, you can predict behavior. (not necessarily supported by research)

THEREFORE, learning is the chief approach to persuasion in Psychodynamic approach....If women know they all can't be expected to look like Barbies, maybe they'll have a better attitude about themselves...

Must TEACH appropriate info and then can modify behavior...
NEW learning is provided by persuader
Alters NEEDS, FEARS, ATTITUDES, etc.
Results in desired behavior.
Attitudes are prime target
Fear is strong tool (as are other emotional appeals)

See diagram in your text.

Persuasive media message ----
Alters of activate a cognitive factor ---
Altered cognitive factor triggers or shapes overt behavior.

Doesn't seem to work consistently and no one knows why! It is a strategy that's institutionalized as part of common sense knowledge even though evidence isn';t conclusive.

(I think I know why we can't prove it . People operate with dual sets of knowledge. One may be conscious and the other may not be. The second one may involve all that stuff we've picked up through repetition in thousands of hours of television and other media when we never thought about what we were watching. So we think we have one set of values and don't recognize that we may also have another. If we don't know we have it, we don't really take the time to reconcile the two and we certainly don't deal with the fact that we may have two incompatible values systems operating within us at the same time.

There may also..lots of emotional baggage going on....TOOLs are emotional -- hard to isolate and measure.)

Psycho-Dynamic Approach = LEARN --FEEL--DO

SOCIO-CULTURAL APPROACH:

We all do things we don't want to do in culture because of cultural pressure:

Why do women wear high heels?
girdles?
Why do men shave everyday?
Bushido Code in World War II-- -- more extreme:

Kamikaze Pilots were NOT crazy : so much shame involved in losing the war, it was better to die than endure it...provided honor in negative situation

THIS is not LEARN-FEEL-DO, but rather

Socio-Cultural Approach: LEARN-- CONFORM -- or BE PUNISHED!

Every group to which we belong has strong control over us...

family
peer
government

"in some groups we may dislike every minute of the experience, but if we want to remain members, we must adhere to the norms of the group, play the role that is assigned to us, submit to the ranking system, and agree to the system of social control. These are the EXTERNAL FACTORS that shape our conduct..." (p. 283)

(Me in graduate school when highly pressured.....)

MODIFYING SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS TO INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR:

effective persuasive strategy in the approach is when persuasive message
DEFINES or REFINES the social rules for the individual...
changes or alters expectations of the culture or
requirements for cultural action

(IF we show heavier women in the magazines and on TV, changes cultural expectations......This is the argument made concerning symbolic annihilation....)

This has been used for many decades in advertising:

Depict social expectations of the group within which the action is to take place, providing a cultural definition of what conduct is appropriate:
May even use it in conjunction with interpersonal pressures to conform (stop smoking, buckle up, etc.)

United Way campaign is example used in book.

KEY: the message must provide the appearance of consensus of the local group.

STRATEGY: (on p. 285)

Persuasive message
Defines or redefines

cultural requirements
group norms,
roles,
ranks, and
sanctions

Forms or alters definitions of socially approved behavior of the group and its members
Achieves change in direction of overt behavior.

Tupperware Party; Church revival...all are examples of this.. There is a social/cultural obligation to do something -- wouldn't be polite not too....

3. MEANING CONSTRUCTION APPROACH:

That KNOWLEDGE SHAPES ACTION is the premise of most behavioral science:

We get those pictures in our heads... Media "Cultivate" our beliefs about what it means to be in the culture and what different things in the culture MEAN

What does owning a Lincoln Town Car Mean?
What does it mean to be THIN?
What does it mean to live in a house with holes in the carpet?
What does it mean to be covered on TV News or be in the lead story?
What did it mean when Huntsville stations didn't cover U.N.A. adequately in the play-off games in the years we went to the national championship?

Discuss examples: The one in the book discusses placing a car in a picturesque setting with a woman galloping on a powerful horse....positioning, framing, emotional appeals?

Where's the Beef?
Friendly Skies
The Real Thing
"Spreading Love All Over Texas!"

Meaning construction approach: Persuasive Media Message = change meaning >>>>change direction of action

The persuasive message provides for change of meanings. The meanings give us the motivation which directs our action.

This one seems to work some of the time, but not reliably?

Cultivation Theory can apply here. If the theory is right, and heavy viewers believe that the television world is real and then make decisions based on that perception of reality, their behavior is changed toward the "TV norm." Why? Because their perception of what is real or important has been changed .... Heavy viewers have more in common with each other than they do with non-heavy viewers regardless of racial or ethnic background. So the meaning of material things, what is "cool," what is appropriate may be changed......Of course this leads right into social expectation theory, but you get the idea. Alter the expectations (the meanings) and you may very well alter the behavior.

Sources for these notes are your two textbooks. See the course syllabus for specific citation.

Dr. Janet McMullen

jmcmulle@unanov.una.edu