Persuasion Knowledge

Persuasion Knowledge

Persuasion knowledge is what people know about how persuasion works, and how they use it to cope with a pitch. Once a message is recognised as persuasion, people apply their defences to it, which is why a tactic that is noticed often stops working.

What it is

The idea was set out as the persuasion knowledge model by Marian Friestad and Peter Wright in 1994. People learn over time how advertisers, salespeople and others try to influence them, and draw on that knowledge when they meet a new attempt.

Evidence from disclosure research fits the model. A 2020 meta-analysis of 61 papers led by Martin Eisend found that labelling content as sponsored increased recognition of advertising, persuasion knowledge and resistance, and reduced brand attitudes. Mindy Weinstein's The Power of Scarcity devotes its best chapter to the model, arguing that customers who recognise a scarcity tactic discount the brand using it.

In effect

A tactic works best on people who do not see it as a tactic. Product placements that stand out, scarcity claims that are obviously manufactured and dark patterns that feel aggressive all risk triggering the defences they were meant to slip past.

What it does not say

It does not say people are immune to persuasion they recognise. Recognition reduces the effect; it does not remove it.

It does not say all disclosure hurts brands equally. Effects in the meta-analysis varied across studies.

Sources

  1. Friestad, M., & Wright, P. (1994). "The persuasion knowledge model: how people cope with persuasion attempts." Journal of Consumer Research, 21(1), 1-31.
  2. Eisend, M., and colleagues (2020). Journal of Advertising, 49(3), 344-366. doi:10.1080/00913367.2020.1765909.