When it comes to rational appeals in persuasion, there are a few important things to remember. According to our reading, “rational appeals are an effective persuasive technique” because they can get people to “consider message content” in ways that might not otherwise occur (Stiff & Mongeau, 2016, p. 171, 182). However, rational appeals aren’t effective under all circumstances (Stiff & Mongeau, 2016, p. 173). This is the case for two reasons. First, a rational appeal must be backed up by statistical evidence. Second, rational appeals are highly dependent upon “message receivers’ thoughts,” beliefs, and involvement regarding a message topic. It’s also important to note that if a person has “firmly held convictions,” they might be “unwilling to consider [any] evidence” that contradicts their beliefs (Stiff & Mongeau, 2016, p. 166-172, 181).
Additionally, there are a few different types of rational appeals that can persuade people. Some of these include Social Proof (determining the right choice based on what others do), Monkey See (doing something just because someone else does it), and Scarcity (the idea that something is more valuable because it is in limited supply) (Cialdini, 2009, p. 99, 117-122, 199-226). As communication practitioners learn to understand and use these various tools of rational persuasion, they can put themselves in a much stronger position to communicate with, persuade, and influence others.
For the rest of this post, I’d like to discuss how I would apply one persuasion principle to create a communication initiative that increases the number of community members who visit the Lafayette Parks. Specifically, I will address how the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department in Lafayette, Indiana can use the principle of Social Proof on its website to attract more visitors to its various events (Lafayette Parks and Recreation, 2020-b, et al.). This will be done as a way of further illustrating how rational appeals operate.
If I was going to use social proof to create a communication initiative for the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department, I would try to keep one major thing in mind as I attempted to increase the number of people visiting Indiana’s state parks. It is that “people are [often] more persuaded by the actions of others than by any proof [that an organization] can offer.” This is especially the case when multiple people are participating in an action and when “[they] are observing the behavior[s] of [others who are] just like [them]” (Cialdini, 2009, p. 100, 118, 139).
With this in mind, there are two major ways that I would apply social proof to the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department’s website as a way to attract more people to Lafayette’s state parks. The first of these is that I would include a section of testimonials from average people on the main sub-page for each park (Cialdini, 2009, p. 134; Lafayette Parks and Recreation, 2020-b, et al.). The second of these is that I would include a photo section on the sub-page of each park with multiple photos of various park attendees.
For example, on the sub-page for the zoo parks, I would include testimonials where parents talked about how much they loved going to the zoo with their families and how much their kids enjoyed seeing the animals (Cialdini, 2009, p. 134; Lafayette Parks and Recreation, 2020-a, et al.). These testimonials would be supplemented by a section of multiple photographs that illustrated many average people enjoying their time at the zoo (the website already has some photographs like this, but I think it needs more). These strategies would work to persuade more people to come to the zoo (and other state parks) by creating the impression that state parks are the best way for people to enjoy their time with those who they love.
References:
Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: Science and Practice (Fifth ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Lafayette Parks and Recreation. (2020-a). Columbian Park Zoo: Lafayette, IN – Official Website. Retrieved November 08, 2020, from http://www.lafayette.in.gov/520/Columbian-Park-Zoo.
Lafayette Parks and Recreation. (2020-b). Parks & Recreation: Lafayette, IN – Official Website. Retrieved November 08, 2020, from http://www.lafayette.in.gov/parks.
Stiff, J. B., & Mongeau, P. A. (2016). Persuasive Communication (Third ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
