Roloff, M.E. (2020). Process models of persuasion [Word document]. Retrieved from
Northwestern University MSC 513 class email.
The cognitive response model in change management says that an individuals' active participation in a persuasive process is through thinking, because there is an inherent process of connecting what is known to what is new. Since what is known is not necessarily related to the persuasive process, individuals can use preexisting knowledge to either agree or disagree with the persuader. The number of proarguments (for change), counterarguments (against change), neutral thoughts (neither for nor against change), and irrelevant thoughts (unrelated to change) all contribute to the outcome of target of persuasion; the ratio of positive to negative thoughts determines whether or not an argument is accepted. The onus bias means that the persistence of attitude change is dependent on the target of persuasion's ability to recall their own thoughts, not the argument itself. Additionally, whether or not you know an argument will be presented (forewarning), the amount of things to that draw away attention from the message (distraction), alignment of a message to an individual's own experience (self-referencing), and just the right amount of repeated argument (repetition) contribute to the success of persuasion.
This theory of change management illustrated the challenges approaches to change face based on individual experiences. As one who has experienced several significant organizational changes, this helped to explain my own experience as well as prepare me to better address change of which I am a part later.
LO2: demonstrate the ability to assess complex organizational environments and achieve communication goals.
LO4: apply communication-centered scholarship to strengthen communication effectiveness.
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