The Importance Of Persuasion In Communication

Persuasion plays a crucial part in communication processes, as it has the ability to change people’s beliefs, attitude, and morals (Simons, 1976). As stated earlier, persuading people does not involve the act of coercing, but rather to make people become convinced with the product, value, or services. To persuade, we also need to utilize a structural communication process which includes a sender and encoded content of message, communication channel, receiver to decode the messages, and feedback. This process does not necessarily to be utilized in persuasion only, but it works for all kinds of communication. In the past, persuasive speeches worked the best, but it needs audience to be physically in one place to allow them to be persuaded, but today, electronic media mediums such as television, radio, Internet, and good old newspapers are the ultimate game changer when they are utilized as channels to spread persuasion in variety of forms. Until now, these modes of communication have accomplished excellently in their roles in persuading not only a person or two, but ubiquitous

Businesses and politics, for example, have proved that persuasion work faultlessly. But how does persuasion work for different purposes and why are they equally important in communication? Petty and Cacioppo (1986) also developed another route that uses the superficial means to persuade: the Peripheral Route. Cialdini (1994) has identified seven types of peripheral cues, which are authority, commitment, contrast, liking, reciprocity, scarcity, and social proof. Any one or few of these cues are implemented in persuader’s persuasion. The downside of using the peripheral route is because it has a short-lasting affect in persuasion. In an overview for a societal level of persuasion, it is now used to