Definitions of Persuasion

Assorted Definitions of Persuasion

Over the Past Three Decades

"A conscious attempt by one individual or group to change the attitudes, beliefs, or behavior of another individual or group of individuals through the transmission of some message"

Bettinghaus, E.P., & Cody, M.J. (1994). Persuasive communication, 6^th ed. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, p. 6.

“Persuasion is the coproduction of meaning that results when an individual or group of individuals uses language strategies and/or visual images to make audiences identify with that individual or group.”

Borchers, T.A. (2002). Persuasion in the media age. Boston, MA. McGraw-Hill, p. 15.

“Persuasion is the name we give to the type of communication that brings about change in people.”

Bostrum, R.N. (1983). Persuasion. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, p. 8.

“We define persuasion as a conscious symbolic act intended to form, modify, or strengthen the beliefs, opinions, values, attitudes, and/or behaviors of another or ourselves.”

Burgoon, M., Hunsaker, F.G., & Dawson, E.J. (1994). Human Communication, 3^rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, p. 177.

"Persuasion is intended communication that affects how others think, feel, and/or act toward some object, person, group or idea."

Cegala, D.J. (1987). Persuasive communication: Theory and practice, 3^rd ed. Edina, MN: Burgess International, p. 13.

"Persuasion involves one or more persons who are engaged in the activity of creating, reinforcing, modifying, or extinguishing beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, and/or behaviors within the constraints of a given communication context."

Gass, R.H., & Seiter J.S. (2003). Persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining, 2^nd ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, p. 34.

“Persuasion takes place when a motivator is able to either change or confirm an existing attitude in the minds of listeners.”

Hazel, H. (1998). The power of persuasion, 2^nd ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt, p. 2.

"Persuasion is a transactional process among two or more persons whereby the management of symbolic meaning reconstructs reality, resulting in a voluntary change in beliefs, attitudes, and/or behaviors."

Johnston, D.D. (1994). The art and science of persuasion. Madison, WI: William C. Brown, p. 7.

"Persuasion is the co-creation of a state of identification or alignment between a source and a receiver that results from the use of symbols."

Larson, C.U. (2001). Persuasion: Reception and responsibility, 9^th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, p. 10.

"Persuasion is a complex, continuing, interactive process in which a sender and receiver are linked by symbols, verbal and nonverbal, through which the persuader attempts to influence the persuadee to adopt a change in a given attitude or behavior because the persuadee has had his perceptions enlarged or changed."

O'Donnell, V., & Kable, J. (1982). Persuasion: An interactive-dependency approach. New York: Random House, p. 9.

"A successful intentional effort at influencing another's mental state through communication in a circumstance in which the persuadee has some measure of freedom."

O'Keefe, D.J. (2002). Persuasion: Theory and research, 2^nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, p. 5.

"Persuasion is an activity or process in which a communicator attempts to induce a change in the belief, attitude, or behavior of another person or group of persons through the transmission of a message in a context in which the persuadee has some degree of free choice."

Perloff, R.M. (1993). The dynamics of persuasion. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, p. 15.

“We use the term persuasion to refer to any instance in which an active attempt is made to change a person’s mind.”

Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1981). Attitudes and persuasion: Classic and contemporary perspectives. Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown, p. 4.

"We define [persuasion] as the shaping, changing or reinforcing of receivers' responses, including attitudes, emotions, intentions, and behaviors."

Pfau, M., & Perot, R. (1993). Persuasive communication campaigns. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, p. 6.

"Persuasion is, in all cases, the activity of demonstrating and attempting to change the behavior of at least one person through symbolic interaction. It is conscious and occurs (a) when a threat to at least one person's goals is observed and (b) when the source and degree of this threat are sufficiently important to warrant the expenditure of effort involved in persuasion."

Reardon, K.K. (1981). Persuasion: Theory and context. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, p. 25

"The phrase 'being persuaded' applies to situations where behavior has been modified by symbolic transactions (messages) which are sometimes, but not always, linked with coercive force (indirectly coercive) and which appeal to the reason and emotions of the person(s) being persuaded."

Roloff, M.E., & Miller, G.R. (1980). Persuasion: New directions in theory and research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, p. 15

"Persuasion is human communication designed to influence the autonomous judgments and actions of others."

Simons, H.W. (2001). Persuasion in society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, p. 7.

“any message that is intended to shape, reinforce, or change the responses of another, or others." (based on Miller's 1980 definition)

Stiff, J.B., & Mongeau, P.A. (2003). Persuasive communication. New York: Guilford Press, p. 4.