1. Effective strategic messaging relies on the right combination of credible evidence and emotional appeals. 2. Credibility comes from trustworthiness and expertise, while emotion makes people feel even if they don't think deeply about the information. 3. Both mass media and interpersonal channels have strengths and weaknesses for disseminating messages, and the best approach depends on the target audience and goals of the campaign.

1. Practical applications of theory
for strategic planning

2. Source characteristics: credibility
• Credibility: Trustworthiness + Expertise
• Good for short-term persuasion
• Not so good for long-term campaigns
– Nature of people’s memory
– More reliance on how well the evidence supports
viewpoint

3. Source characteristics: perceived similarity
• Perceived similarity: trust to those who are
alike
– Membership
– Attitudes
• Presidents go to work in a factory for a
day, wear casual clothes instead of suits

4. Source characteristics: attractiveness
• Attractiveness: physical or personality traits
• People want to imagine themselves as
attractive too – do as attractive person
• Cultural differences and tastes make audience
centered research essential

5. About messages
Effective message:
right combination of
evidence
and
emotion

6. Importance of evidence
• Accuracy
– Unintended inaccuracies – incompetence
– Intentional inaccuracies – unethical, illegal
• Acknowledging and refuting contradicting
viewpoints – influential message
• Two-sided messages 20% more persuasive

7. Importance of emotion
• Makes people feel even if they don’t think
about presented information
• Fear:
– more effective on older people
– more effective when feels manageable
• Anger: often used in political campaigns
– Can cultivate cynicism and distrust in audience

8. Importance of emotion
Positive emotions:
– Effective: people are unfamiliar, undecided or
confused
– Ineffective: people have negative attitude

9. Kinds of positive emotional appeals
1) Emotional benefit appeal
– Positive outcome to compliance with your message
2) Heuristics
– No logical reasoning, associate positive images or
feelings with an attitude, behavior, product
(attractive spokespeople, production features)
– Cannot change behavior – short effects
Combo of positive benefits
and positive heuristics – success

10. About channels: mass media
• Print, TV, radio – all are good for certain types of
information and people
• Reaching large audiences rapidly
• Good for gaining exposure and awareness
– can combine message w entertainment: easy attention
• Remoteness of the source and situation.
Vicarious experience to overcome fears
• Risks of misinterpretation, unintended effects,
less feedback, weak ability to motivate (ignoring)

11. About channels: interpersonal sources
• Make sure message comprehended correctly
• Can offer changes and compromises
• Great for targeting narrow audience segments
or people with strongly held attitudes
• Can help with skill development:
– Serve as role models of desired attitude/behavior
– Motivate
– Encourage in difficult situations

13. Which media channels are best
1) People seek information from the most accessible source
2) People give opinions more often than they seek opinions
3) People seek information more often than they seek
opinions
4) Interpersonal social contacts tend to be similar
5) Expertise, followed by trustworthiness, are the most
persuasive attributes of a source
6) The biggest effect of the mass media is more
communication

14. Media advocacy (guerilla media)
• Media advocacy (unlike social marketing)
strives more for shock value than for
establishing common ground with target
audience public

15. Assumptions of social marketing
campaigns
• Campaigns ultimately aim to change individual
attitudes and behaviors
• Individuals ultimately have control over and
are responsible for their own attitudes and
behaviors
• Therefore to change attitudes and behaviors
campaigns must convince and motivate
individuals

16. Assumptions of media advocacy
campaigns
• People’s attitudes and behaviors depend on environmental
opportunities and constraints
• Organizations and governmental institutions control critical
environmental factors
• Organizations and governmental institutions respond to the
public’s agendas
• The agenda for public opinion can be affected by the mass
media
• Therefore to change attitudes and behaviors public opinion
needs to force organizations and institutions to alter
environmental factors such as public policy

17. Making media advocacy work
Making news of AD rather than persuading by it
• Research – what messages may backfire
• Creative epidemiology – presenting statistics
– Localizing information
– Relativity techniques
• Issue framing - finding angle to get attention
• Gaining access to media outlets

18. Best media advocacy campaigns build a sense of
community and community-based power.
No strategy has same effect
in every situation
for every person