The Yale Attitude Change Approach

Many ideas in persuasive marketing are based on studies conducted at Yale University. The model basically says that persuasion depends on “who says what to whom”.

In other words? You need a trustworthy speaker, a persuasive message, and a receptive audience.

There are some ways you can influence the “who” and the “to whom” – you could write from someone else’s perspective, or perhaps shift your marketing to a new target audience. But for most copywriting, the easiest factor to change is the “what”.

The Yale researchers looked at how different characteristics of a communication can influence the degree of attitude change. They studied elements like emotion vs logic, the intensity of fear appeal, one-sided vs two-sided messages.

Here’s how to use the findings in your writing:

• When using fear as a motivator, mild threat is more effective than serious threat. In practice, this could mean an environmental charity might want to focus on deforestation in one small area vs the whole Amazon. Or a university admissions team might want to warn that an applicant might not get their first choice of accommodation vs they’ll have nowhere to live.
• Including two sides to an argument is more effective than a one-sided argument. So if you’re selling a product, list the cons as well as the pros (you might even upsell). Or if you’re writing a whitepaper about a service you offer, include some information about what your competitors can do.
• People are more convinced by messages that don’t seem targeted at them. This means a hard sales approach based on spookily accurate insights about the audience might put people off. Try letting people come to their own conclusions. Or perhaps you could explain the benefits that others have gained.

The Yale Attitude Change Approach has influenced many studies since then – and informed a lot of ideas in marketing. Could you use them in your next piece of persuasive content?