Throughout the course, you have learned about various persuasive theories (elaborative likelihood model, cognitive dissonance, magic bullet, motivation, and needs, to name a few) and strategies (rule of reciprocity, scarcity sells, foot-in-the door, and fear appeals, to name a few). For your final project, you will demonstrate your understanding of these theories and strategies.
The final project requires you to collect and analyze different samples of persuasive messages that you’ve come across in your professional or personal life. Some examples include a store clerk’s sales pitch to buy a certain mattress, teenage daughter’s plea to go to a concert, pastor’s appeal to go on a missions’ trip, coworker’s advice on restructuring the report, print advertisement urging you to buy a specific car, television spot seeking support for a particular political candidate, and so on.
Your final project will be a five to six-page paper analyzing five different social influence attempts in terms of five different persuasive theories and/or strategies. For each of the five social influence attempts, provide a description of the persuasive attempt, and then analyze the attempt in terms of a concept, theory, or strategy discussed in class/textbooks. Be sure to first define the concept (or theory or persuasive strategy) and then analyze the example in terms of the concept (or theory or persuasive strategy). In defining the concept, be sure to cite the source in correct APA format. The final section of your paper will be a discussion on how to apply persuasion effectively and ethically/”Christianly” in your personal or professional lives. This section should begin with identifying Biblical and ethical principles of persuasion and how these principles can guide you in evaluating and crafting persuasive messages.
Guidelines:
Your paper should be five to six-pages and written using APA formatting.
The paper will have a minimum of eight paragraphs: introduction (describing persuasive message collection); five paragraphs of persuasive message identification and analysis (one or two paragraphs for each message); personal reflections on how to apply Biblical and ethical principles effectively and professionally in your personal and/or professional life; and a conclusion. Be sure to include a title page and reference page in correct APA formatting.
The Gass and Seiter (2018) and/or Cialdini text should be referenced in your paper, especially as you define/explain the different theories and strategies.
