BREIFING NOTE FOR THE DIRECTOR OF CONSUMERS AND HOUSEHOLDS AT DECC
SUBJECT: Insufficient persuasion techniques, aimed to persuade UK energy consumers to reduce their energy consumption
ISSUE
The current issue is that the DECC’s current attempts to persuade UK energy consumers to change their attitudes and behaviours have been insufficient. This is due to the process by which the DECC has presented their information about the issue of consumerism. In order to make these messages more persuasive, the DECC needs to invest into more approachable and useful methods of communication, such as presenting their ideas concisely in a TV advertisement.
BACKGROUND
So far publications from the DECC have shown how …show more content…
For example, using central (more factual) cues will cause people to use a central route of processing. However, this is more of a case in more intellectual people.
• The principle of Ingratiation is also used to help the persuasiveness of a message. This is achieved by getting the persuasive target to like you (which can be achieved through things such as flattery.)
• The Reciprocity principle is another way for messages to be more persuasive. This involves a sort of favour being done to the target population, so that they can reciprocate that through what the message asks for; e.g.: we will reduce council tax if you lower your energy consumption.
• Research on persuasion has also found that factual advertising and evaluative advertising are important areas to focus on when forming a persuasive message. In this context it would make more sense to use factual advertising, as most people would have formed their primary attitudes towards energy consumption from prior factual …show more content…
This involves using both negative and positive arguments towards a product, e.g.: “Reducing energy consumption is really good for the planet, but can be a strain on your day- to – day life.” This is also known as reverse discrimination, and is much preferred by audiences than equal opportunities.
• A “Foot- in- the- Door” technique can also be used in this context to help a message be more persuasive. This involves making a small, realistic request, and once you have gained approval from the audience, you can increase this so that it matches the target outcome.
• The majority of these techniques refer to Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger). This believes that when people’s attitudes and behaviours are inconsistent, they experience a negative physiological arousal. Thus, in order to reduce this dissonance, people try to adjust their behaviours so that they can correspond to their attitudes. This is especially relevant in this scenario, as the DECC want people to change their attitudes towards energy consumption, and this will hopefully cause a change in their behaviour.
• However, the DECC need to be aware that issues such as forewarning, selective avoidance, and biased assimilation/ hostile media bias could cause a “boomerang effect” causing the persuasiveness of the message to
SUBJECT: Insufficient persuasion techniques, aimed to persuade UK energy consumers to reduce their energy consumption
ISSUE
The current issue is that the DECC’s current attempts to persuade UK energy consumers to change their attitudes and behaviours have been insufficient. This is due to the process by which the DECC has presented their information about the issue of consumerism. In order to make these messages more persuasive, the DECC needs to invest into more approachable and useful methods of communication, such as presenting their ideas concisely in a TV advertisement.
BACKGROUND
So far publications from the DECC have shown how …show more content…
For example, using central (more factual) cues will cause people to use a central route of processing. However, this is more of a case in more intellectual people.
• The principle of Ingratiation is also used to help the persuasiveness of a message. This is achieved by getting the persuasive target to like you (which can be achieved through things such as flattery.)
• The Reciprocity principle is another way for messages to be more persuasive. This involves a sort of favour being done to the target population, so that they can reciprocate that through what the message asks for; e.g.: we will reduce council tax if you lower your energy consumption.
• Research on persuasion has also found that factual advertising and evaluative advertising are important areas to focus on when forming a persuasive message. In this context it would make more sense to use factual advertising, as most people would have formed their primary attitudes towards energy consumption from prior factual …show more content…
This involves using both negative and positive arguments towards a product, e.g.: “Reducing energy consumption is really good for the planet, but can be a strain on your day- to – day life.” This is also known as reverse discrimination, and is much preferred by audiences than equal opportunities.
• A “Foot- in- the- Door” technique can also be used in this context to help a message be more persuasive. This involves making a small, realistic request, and once you have gained approval from the audience, you can increase this so that it matches the target outcome.
• The majority of these techniques refer to Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger). This believes that when people’s attitudes and behaviours are inconsistent, they experience a negative physiological arousal. Thus, in order to reduce this dissonance, people try to adjust their behaviours so that they can correspond to their attitudes. This is especially relevant in this scenario, as the DECC want people to change their attitudes towards energy consumption, and this will hopefully cause a change in their behaviour.
• However, the DECC need to be aware that issues such as forewarning, selective avoidance, and biased assimilation/ hostile media bias could cause a “boomerang effect” causing the persuasiveness of the message to