How does the audience influence persuasion?

How does the audience influence persuasion?

Who is receiving the message is also important. How old are they? Differences in social and political attitudes depend on age. People who are older tend to be more conservative. Why is this? One theory suggests a "Life-cycle" explanation -- as people get older they tend to become more conservative.

The second explanation is called the "Generational" theory -- older people are more conservative because they come from a different time. Interestingly, the baby boomers who are nearing retirement age, come from one of the most liberal times: the 1960s, but statistically they are now the most conservative. Thus it is not clear which of these explanations is best, but there is some suggestion that both have some merit.

Another question we have to ask is what is the audience thinking? We know that "forewarned is forearmed." If we go into a situation knowing the speaker is going to try to persuade us, we can have ready counter arguments. However, distraction disarms counter-arguing (the ability to argue against an incoming message). Thus many advertisers try to distract us with flash and no substance in order to stop us from counter-arguing.

We also need to understand whether or not the audience is involved in the topic. The more involved the audiences are, the more likely they are to use central processing of the arguments. If the audience is less involved we can rely on more peripheral cues. The best arguments of course, use both good peripheral cues and strong arguments.