01:830:321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Cognitive Dissonance, Zappos
10 Jun 2017
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Document Summary
Appeals that arouse fear can be highly effective. People need to be told ways to cope. Culture plays a role in regard to persuasion. To be persuasive, message should appeal to the culturally shared values of the audience. We are motivated by a desire for cognitive consistency. Cognitive dissonance theory: inconsistent cognitions arouse psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce. Can lead to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behavior. Participants were asked to tell another student this (super boring) task was fun paid either or to do it. Participants in the condition experienced cognitive dissonance. Behaved in an attitude-discrepant manner without any justification. Contributions of festinger & carlsmith"s classic study: Contradicted the accepted belief that big rewards produce greater change. Ex: zappos offers you to quit the job after finishing your training week. Only 2-3% of trainees take this offer, everyone else stays.
