GDP of the United States Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Computer Application free essay sample

The three inns we decided to use for our task are the Shangri La, Concorde and Tune Hotels and we picked these three as we suspected they would give us a wide scope of data and they would each have very various styles of sites as the star rating that they have broadly contrast. Depiction of Chosen Websites Including Their Features, Available Information and Comparisons of the Websites The Shangri La site has a very welcoming look to it. The hues utilized are plain and warm which gives it an exceptionally inviting feel which makes you need to book a room and remain there straight away. The image utilized for the landing page shows the unwinding and incredible friendliness that happens when you step into the lodging and with the entirety of the green nature out of sight it gives the inn an extremely normal and ecological vibe. Thisgave every one of us the feeling that booking a room will be extremely basic and charming, much the same as being at the lodging. The Concorde site doesn’t have a similar early introduction. We felt that when you initially go on to the site, it doesn’t cause you to feel like you need to remain there. It appears to be very ‘showy’ and highly contrasting and it doesn’t give us any fascination whatsoever to book there. It appears to be excessively focussed on the business way of life and doesn’t make us pulled in to remain at the lodging by any means. TuneHotels sites early introductions aren’t incredible. There isn’t anything that makes you need to remain there and it’s all exceptionally essential and exhausting. There is only data and it wouldn’t get an opportunity of making us book a room there. In view of on initial introductions out of these three lodging sites, we concluded that the Shangri La won by a mile. The device bar menu at the highest point of the page for the Shangri La is straightforward and doesn’t have such a large number of things which we feel is something worth being thankful for, in light of the fact that it has the principle subjects; the things that you would at first go onto the site for. Not at all like on the Concorde’s site, there are such a large number of choices on the top device bar and it causes the client to feel like they are being assaulted with data and you just don’t realize where to begin. The entirety of the alternatives on the device bar of the Concorde site would all be able to be found on the Shangri La’s also, yet the Shangri La’s is substantially more succinct and better oversaw as they have a top and base apparatus bar with various data on each. The Concorde site has a ton of choices and they are similar alternatives for the top and base apparatus bar, which we felt wasn’t helpful for the sites format. The Tune Hotel’s instrument bar menu is an or more for their site in light of the fact that it’s straightforward and simple to explore around. Despite the fact that the format of the Shangri La’s device bar menus are vastly improved, on the device bar of Concorde and Tune Hotel when you drift your mouse more than one of the themes, there is a drop-down menu which is great since it makes it extremely advantageous for the client as should be obvious the entirety of the submenu’s that are under every class. As opposed to with the Shangri La’s where you need to click and be coordinated to the following page to discover what other data is on that page. Having this capacity on the Tune Hotel and Concorde site makes the sites significantly more easy to understand than the Shangri La’s as far as searching for data, in light of the fact that it’s such a great amount of simpler to explore around as you probably are aware precisely what data is on which page. For the Concorde and the Tune Hotel site, on the landing page the two of them have booking structures, however on the Shangri La’s site they don’t have this capacity on the landing page, you can just access and peruse this once you go to it under the instrument bar work for ‘Rates Reservations’. This has the two positives and negatives for every one of the inns. For Concorde and Tune Hotel its generally excellent in light of the fact that when you enter the site it acquaints the client with the booking structure which may upgrade the clients choice to book that lodging as it will be simpler as they don’t need to go looking for a booking structure, which could bring about these two inns getting more web based booking than the Shangri La as the booking structure for that inn isn’t as helpfully accessible. In any case, the Concorde and Tune Hotel’s booking structure framework isn’t as stylishly satisfying as its little and packaged along with a heap of other data and the two of them aren’t agreeable to fill in your rules to remain, however on the Shangri La’s you don’t mind filling it in light of the fact that the feel are there to make it charming to fill in as it has its own different page. One component that the Concorde inns site has that the other two don’t have is that whichever page you’re on the site, you have a slideshow of a couple ictures identifying with the specific point you’ve tapped on. This gives the client a further understanding to a greater amount of the lodging itself instead of just having one picture for every page there are three or four. Having a slideshow on each page additionally gives the site all the more a superior UI as it makes the site all the more intriguing as there are moving things to intrigue the client, instead of like the other two sites where everything is fixed and can lose client center which may bring about them halting taking a gander at the site after a short measure of time. With the various photos on each page, through them it appears as though the Concorde inn is attempting to pass on the vibe and state of mind of all the various things, for example, the entirety of the bistros and cafés and show the entirety of the specialities which each spot in the lodging brings to the table and for each spot it appears as though they need to demonstrate the uniqueness to every one of them. Despite the fact that there is this awesome element on the site, it still by one way or another doesn’t make it look comparable to the Shangri La’s. With the entirety of the fabulousness from the entirety of the photos that are utilized in the Concorde’s site, this adds to it being ‘showy’ and brilliant and it gets over the point that it’s exceptionally amazing, yet sooner or later, it getsquite monotonous and exhausting, however with the Shangri La, having just one picture for every page by one way or another appears to work much better. We feel that for this situation; toning it down would be ideal. Be that as it may, for the Tune Hotel site very little is going on by any means, in actuality too little is going on, so it’s amazingly exhausting to be on this site sooner or later as there aren’t any easily overlooked details remembered, for example, pictures for the pages or any moving client intuitive highlights. There is an exhibition on the Tune Hotel site, yet the display is of a significant awful standard as there are just a couple of pictures which appears as though a half-work has been done on it and it doesn’t improve the site by having these couple of pictures on. It shows you how the rooms are really similar to and what increments they have in the lodging like Subway, so it’s not totally futile. The web specialist simply needs to invest more energy into it. For the data on the Tune Hotel site, it appears they don’t need their clients and potential clients to know such a great amount about the real inn that they will remain in light of the fact that they have data, for example, things like the investors and the supervisory crew, which isn’t very what the vast majority search for when investigating booking an inn, so we think there is some pointless data that the Tune Hotel site offers for most of the eople that search these sites. There isn’t anyplace close as much accommodating data that the Concorde and Shangri La offer which may simply be an explanation from Tune Hotels not having a similar elevated requirement as the other two inns and perhaps there only isn’t as much for the lodging to offer as the other two high appraised inns. The real data remembered for every one of the sites contrasts a considerable amount as far as the decisions of what is incorporated and not. At the point when we looked further into the subtleties of the data in the sites, we found that on pages about the eateries and bistros on the Concorde and Shangri La’s site they had exceptionally nitty gritty data that is extremely helpful for the client on the off chance that they are searching for data on the cafés and bistros, for example, the clothing regulation. With having this data it gives the potential clients extra information that they need and if this data wasn’t put on the site some potential clients may show up in the mistaken clothing and they would be compelled to either change their garments and return to the eatery or eat elsewhere. This data is actually a support of the clients as the data isn’t a need to be remembered for the site, however the administration pondered how to make the lives of their future clients simpler. The formats of these two sites for the data pages like the eating pages have a significant distinctive standard to one another. The Shangri La’s design and hues utilized are exceptionally loose, warming and inviting; then again the Concorde’s format is high contrast, excessively basic and looks a lot of like data. The textual style doesn’t make it welcoming to peruse, anyway the Shangri La’s textual style makes it a delight to peruse. Some data that is remembered for the Concorde’s site is fairly interesting to a lodgings site. There is data on professions, for example, how to go after a position for Hard Rock Hotels, Concorde Hotels and Resorts and different retreats in Malaysia. This is something that no one in my gathering has seen or known about previously. The Tune Hotels likewise remember this element for its site, anyway it isn’t anyplace close to the expert standard that the Concorde’s is at, as there isn’t any format of what explicit employments are accessible or where, however on the Concorde’s

Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills

Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills If it is time for you to get writingâ€"whether it is a research essay, lab report, resume, or even just an emailâ€"the task can bring unnecessary anxiety into your life. It is not uncommon for individuals to agonize over choosing the right word or to worry whether they put the comma in the right place. Is my thesis clear? Will I meet the deadline? What is a semi-colon even for? The fact that you recognize these problems and ask these questions means that getting it right matters to you. You could be a high-school student trying to come to terms with proper grammar or a seasoned writer, but we all lack confidence in our skills from time to time. Writing is intimidating and challenging but not impossible. Don’t let uncertainty cripple you from making an attempt to get your ideas down. What you have to say matters! There are many great resources available, in print and online. Picking up a basic grammar or style guide are great references for solving simple or complex problems, and there are plenty of podcasts and blogs with tips on how to improve your writing. If you are in university, check out what your campus has to offerâ€"tutoring services and writing centres provide one-on-one sessions, tutorials, and editing services. Your writing will benefit greatly from any of these types of personal attention. Of course, one of the best pieces of advice to gain confidence in your writing is to just write. Get your initial ideas down in whatever form they come to youâ€"even just simple jot notes are a great beginning. Once you have the bare bones of what you want to say, it is much easier to craft them into actual sentences and paragraphs. Before you know it, a piece of cohesive writing will appear! When you have a draft ready but know that it is not yet suitable for final submission, it is a good time to let someone else take the reins. The writers at Homework Help Canada provide editing and proofreading services and can offer great advice on how to write better papers; you can learn about the essay writing process, organization, time management, and tips on how to improve your writing. Those rudimentary ideas you jot down will benefit from careful revision so that you can be confident that your ideas are polished, clear, and effective. Your writing will improve the more you take advantage of our expert services; we are confident that you will reach academic and professional success by reaching out to us. References: Amazon.com (2015). Amazon Best Sellers: Best Grammar Reference. Retrieved August 23, 2015, from 11981 Hale, Ali. (2014). Retrieved August 23, 2015, from Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills Gain Confidence in Your Writing Skills If it is time for you to get writingâ€"whether it is a research essay, lab report, resume, or even just an emailâ€"the task can bring unnecessary anxiety into your life. It is not uncommon for individuals to agonize over choosing the right word or to worry whether they put the comma in the right place. Is my thesis clear? Will I meet the deadline? What is a semi-colon even for? The fact that you recognize these problems and ask these questions means that getting it right matters to you. You could be a high-school student trying to come to terms with proper grammar or a seasoned writer, but we all lack confidence in our skills from time to time. Writing is intimidating and challenging but not impossible. Don’t let uncertainty cripple you from making an attempt to get your ideas down. What you have to say matters! There are many great resources available, in print and online. Picking up a basic grammar or style guide are great references for solving simple or complex problems, and there are plenty of podcasts and blogs with tips on how to improve your writing. If you are in university, check out what your campus has to offerâ€"tutoring services and writing centres provide one-on-one sessions, tutorials, and editing services. Your writing will benefit greatly from any of these types of personal attention. Of course, one of the best pieces of advice to gain confidence in your writing is to just write. Get your initial ideas down in whatever form they come to youâ€"even just simple jot notes are a great beginning. Once you have the bare bones of what you want to say, it is much easier to craft them into actual sentences and paragraphs. Before you know it, a piece of cohesive writing will appear! When you have a draft ready but know that it is not yet suitable for final submission, it is a good time to let someone else take the reins. The writers at Homework Help USA provide editing and proofreading services and can offer great advice on how to write better papers; you can learn about the essay writing process, organization, time management, and tips on how to improve your writing. Those rudimentary ideas you jot down will benefit from careful revision so that you can be confident that your ideas are polished, clear, and effective. Your writing will improve the more you take advantage of our expert services; we are confident that you will reach academic and professional success by reaching out to us. References: Amazon.com (2015). Amazon Best Sellers: Best Grammar Reference. Retrieved August 23, 2015, from 11981 Hale, Ali. (2014). Retrieved August 23, 2015, from

Failures in Design and Security Principles - 1347 Words

The most common threat to a companys information assets mainly come from human error, inappropriate disclosures, and sheer carelessness on the part of the companys employees. Hackers who do intentionally tamper with the companys network often do so because they are tempted by assets they know are poorly protected. Weak security policies present the image that a company does not truly value its assets, which in turn attracts the petty thief and curiosity seeker. Therefore, the preventive element of any network security system should include a strong and enforceable security policy for its employees to follow, re-enforced by a form of technical protection (Control Data, 1999). Firewalls, antivirus programs and packet filtering devices†¦show more content†¦The levels are minor, major and critical, with critical meaning immediate action is required. The only time the system alarm is when a critical error is detected. During normal operations, the technicians monitor Vital Suites display, looking for unusual events. These events can come as a serious of major alarms that occur only a one specific time of day or a continuous string of minor alarms. These events can indicate subtle attempts at compromising the network. In the case of such events, the traffic is examined closer and any needed corrective action is taken at that time. Data collected by Vital Suite can also be used to expose points of vulnerability by looking for unused ports or poorly configured network devices. When a point of vulnerability is found, the technicians make any necessary system corrections. The true key to successful violation detection is not found with the sophistication of the tools used but in the skill of the people using them. Therefore the final element in establishing an effective detection system is creating a training program that ensures that the people monitoring the system know how to properly use the tools and how to best discover any attempt at attacking the network. Recovery No matter how well developed a network security system is, there still comes a time when the system is defeated. For this reason, a recovery plan must be established. The plan should provide for a process to regain control of the network,Show MoreRelatedSecurity Design Principles List And The Classic List Of 1975 Essay1335 Words   |  6 PagesSecurity is very important in any organization because one of the most significant values of an organization is its information in addition to that, its security is critical for business operations as well as its clients and customers. This article observes the disparity between the author’s security design principles list and the classic list of 1975. In addition to that, the general principles and a textbook coauthored by Saltzer are also examined. Multics time-sharing system had a major contributionRead MoreRisks And Risks Of Security Essay1346 Words   |  6 Pages SECURITY Concept of Security However, risk is the likelihood of something bad happening, security help to minimize risks. There is a need to recognize how risk can result from a threat. Some of the common threats are as follows: I. Unintentional threat—natural disasters like flood, fire or snow storms or equipment failure like power failure or network failure. II. Intentional threat---includes theft of laptops, software or data and fraud which translates to unauthorized access to data. In the worldRead MoreDisaster Recovery Plan624 Words   |  3 PagesAssociate Level Material Appendix D Disaster Recovery Plan Student Name: Casey DeCesare University of Phoenix IT/244 Intro to IT Security Instructor’s Name: Scott Sabo Date: 4/27/14 Disaster Recovery Plan Due in Week Three: For your selected scenario, describe the key elements of the Disaster Recovery Plan to be used in case of a disaster and the plan for testing the DRP. 1 Risk Assessment 1 Critical business processes List the mission-criticalRead MoreSummary : Cyber Security Principles And Policy Options1005 Words   |  5 PagesSummary for Cyber security - principles and policy options Cyber security is one of the major problem now a days because this problem doesn t consent with a single company or a state, all over the world are facing Cyber security problems. Some of the countries are consistently improvising their security. Some of the most prescient threats to cyber security are online identity theft, critical infrastructure protection, industrial cyber espionage and bonnets. Online identity theft is mostlyRead MoreEvaluation Principles, Performance Measures For Microsoft Corporation And Their Corresponding Products And Services Based On Completeness, Compliance1510 Words   |  7 Pagesand ability to prevent critical infrastructure failure. Research and evaluation presents policy strengths and weaknesses, then recommended changes discussed. Evaluation criteria of the cybersecurity policy identified include; critical infrastructure system recovery efforts, data protection and privacy, national policy efforts, and compliance and regulatory standards. Within the evaluation principles, performance measures for preventing system failure and maintaining resiliency are presented in qualitativeRead MoreEssay on Human Resources Management1168 Words   |  5 Pagesdevelopment D) appraisal 2) The first step in a training program is to ________. A) assess the programs successes or failures B) design the program content C) conduct a needs analysis D) train the targeted group of employees 3) What is the second step in the training process? A) assess the programs successes or failures B) present the program to a small test audience C) design the instructional content D) conduct a needs analysis 4) James is currently identifying the specific job performanceRead MoreEssay about History of the Computer1245 Words   |  5 Pagesexecute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile and distinguishes them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore, computers with capability and complexity ranging from that of a personal digital assistant to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasksRead MoreDesign A Functional Prototype Of Monitoring System1103 Words   |  5 Pages1.0 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this project is to design a functional prototype of monitoring system for a security purpose and the system use WIFI as a transmission medium. Standard monitoring systems such as CCTV use cable to connect from a camera to the monitoring station. This project is intended to use a wireless transmission to transmit video from camera to monitoring station. This project also to overcome the power supply issues of main power supply to operate the device. The uninterruptibleRead MoreFinancial Engineering1614 Words   |  7 PagesENGINEERING Unit I: Introduction to Financial Engineering- Scope- Tools- Financial Engineering Vs. Financial Analysis- Factors contributing to the growth of financial engineering.- Innovative Products of the Last twenty years- present changing scenario of securities industry. Unit I: Introduction to Financial Engineering Unit I see the prescribed Text book. Unit II is OK What is Finance? †¢ Finance is about the bottom line of business activities †¢ Every business is a process of acquiring and disposing assetsRead MoreAssignment : Designing Technical Safeguards1050 Words   |  5 PagesAssignment 1: Designing FERPA Technical Safeguards Darryl W. Anderson CIS 349 January 15, 2017 In the past, academic and administrative computer systems were isolated, either for security reasons or as a result of limited interconnectivity with other computers. Today, nearly any information that an administrator, teacher, student or parent might is available through a network connection. Course lectures are presented are viewed and students submit their assignments via the internet

Capital Punishment And The Death Penalty - 2061 Words

Capital punishment is an issue that has been continuously debated for the past few decades and will keep on being discussed and argued about for a long time to come. Capital punishment is the act of executing somebody as punishment for committing a particular felony and crime after being served a lawful legal trial. Executions can only be utilized by a state, and if used by non-state organizations it is considered as committing a murder. Capital punishment, which is also known as the death penalty, has a long history going back to the sixteenth Century BC. In the sixteenth Century BC Egypt, a death penalty was requested for parts of honorability, who were charged with an offense of using sorcery and magic. They were commanded to seize their own life with their own hands. The non-honorable were traditionally slaughtered with an ax. During the eighteenth Century BC, Babylonian King Hammurabi had a law that determined capital punishment for twenty-five distinct criminal acts, despite the fact of that; murder was not one of them (Kari Sable, Death Penalty, www.Karisable.com). Capital punishment has been around since the time of all prophets of the three Abrahamic faiths including Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them all). Therefore capital punishment is affirmed and confirmed in all three Abrahamic religions; Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Since capital punishment is a hotly debated issue and is considered as one of the most controversial lawsShow MoreRelatedCapital Punishment : The Death Penalty1482 Words   |  6 PagesMrs. McElmoyl 12/12/14 Capital Punishment As stated by former governor of New York, Mario M. Cuomo, Always I have concluded the death penalty is wrong because it lowers us all; it is a surrender to the worst that is in us; it uses a power- the official power to kill by execution- that has never brought back a life, need inspired anything but hate. (Cuomo 1) This is one of the main arguments against capital punishment (also known as the death sentence.) Capital punishment is the ability for a governmentRead MoreThe Death Penalty Of Capital Punishment1480 Words   |  6 Pagesjustice system, such as the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used many times in history all around the world, and it was quite popular. Many people argue that capital punishment is useful in deterring crime and that it is only fair that criminals receive death as punishment for a heinous crime. On the contrary, others see the death penalty as a violation of the 8th amendment. It restricts excessive fines, and it also does not allow cruel and u nusual punishment to be inflicted upon criminalsRead MoreThe Death Penalty And Capital Punishment931 Words   |  4 Pageswritten down (Robert). The death penalty was applied for a particularly wide range of crimes. The Romans also used death penalty for a wide range of offenses. Historically, the death sentence was often handled with torture, and executions, except that it was done in public. In this century, the death penalty, execution or capital punishment, whatever you’d like to refer it as, is the result for committing capital crimes or capital offences and it is not in public. The death penalty has been practiced byRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty991 Words   |  4 PagesCapital Punishment Imagine your having a normal morning, eating breakfast doing your normal routine. Suddenly your phone rings and when you answer you hear the worst news possible. One of your family members has just been murdered in cold blood. You cry, mourn, then become angry. You attend the court hearing and you sit less than 20 feet away from the murderer. Do you truly believe this person deserves to live? Or should they face a punishment that is equal to their crime? Some may say CapitalRead MoreThe Death Penalty And Capital Punishment1569 Words   |  7 Pagesthe death penalty also referred to as capital punishment. The death penalty is both useless and harmful to not only criminals but also their potential victims. This paper uses these horrific facts to try and convince the reader that the death penalty should be done away with before it is too late, although that time may have already come. With supporting evidence to support my cause, I hope that the following information sways at least one reader to see the harm of keeping the death penalty an activeRead MoreCapital Punishment : The Death Penalty1410 Words   |  6 PagesCapital Punishment in America In 1976 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled the Death Penalty constitutionally permissible. The debate over capital punishment has always been a topic of great controversy. Before the Supreme Court ruling in 1976 America had been practicing capital punishment for centuries. At the current time some states enforce the death penalty, while some do not. There are differences of opinion’s relating to whether or not the death penalty is the proper wayRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty1235 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is capital punishment? Why do people support it, but yet people cherish lives? Is it a moral thing to do? Should one be for or against the Death Penalty? Let’s take a look deep into the world of justices and why capital punishment still exists in today’s society. Capital punishment or the death penalty is a federal punishment given to criminals who are convicted of murders. It is the highest law punishment available that c an prevent future murders by developing fear within them. Capital punishmentRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty1017 Words   |  5 PagesName: Lucas Falley Topic: Capital Punishment Background: Capital punishment, or the death penalty, has existed for thousands of years. For as long as there has been organized society, the death penalty has existed in numerous cultures and civilizations. Throughout the years the methods have changed, but the use of capital punishment is becoming a pressing matter. Amnesty International reports that there are 140 countries worldwide that have abolished the death penalty, while over 50 countries stillRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is A Capital Punishment1271 Words   |  6 Pages What is the death penalty? The death penalty is a capital punishment that is punishable by death or execution. This is usually given to people that have committed serious offences or capital crimes. There are 31 states in the United States that are for the death penalty. Crimes that are punishable by the death penalty, vary from state to state. Examples of such crimes are; first degree murder or premeditated murder, murder with special circumstances, such as: intende d, multiple, and murder whichRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty1539 Words   |  7 PagesCapital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty, has been the center of debate for a long time. Capital punishment may be defined as the â€Å"[e]xecution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense† (Capital Punishment). Up until 1846, when Michigan became the first to abolish the death sentence, all states allowed legal practice of capital punishment by the government (States). Currently, there 32 states still supporting the death penalty and 18

A Fools Manual to Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness Explained

A Fool's Manual to Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness Explained The Chronicles of Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness Actually, there was approximately the identical amount of happiness of both rich and poor types of individuals. They seem to be so afraid of being lonely that they fail to recognize a toxicity in their social connections. If someone is indifferent to comfort or higher life standards, then their happiness does not rely on material wealth. Obviously, a wealthy person has the ability to pay for treatment, but it doesn't guarantee that happiness can be gained. Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness Secrets School should occur in the evenings. Students are accustomed to the fact which their professors give them with the assignment's topic. They should be allowed to pray in school. Many students think that it is a waste of time. What You Don't Know About Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happines s You are able to develop hobbies which are fun for you and do them as a type of relaxation. You will see people with more money indulging in dangerous activities attempting to fill the void they can't explain. For that reason, it would be far better for someone to make their hobby, the thing he really loves doing the most to turn into his real job. After a time, the individual gets bored and looks for different things. The Basic Facts of Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness Our writers have much experience and understand how to make any sort of paper sound just brilliant. So far as the students are involved, writing a research paper is among the toughest and frustrating endeavor in their opinion. Even should you need to purchase research paper done in 6 hours, you can depend on us. An argumentative paper is part of the persuasion. What all you will need is getting the assistance from a specialist and EssaysChief is going to be the expert that you seek out. Experienced and attentive When you seek the services of an expert essay writer at our service, you obtain an opportunity to cooperate with an individual, who has an unbelievable educational background. Low rates, nice discounts There is not any need to devote all your savings, when you pay for essay. You may get a very good medical cover and pay for the very best treatment but cannot guarantee decent health. The Hidden Secret of Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness All you need to do is give your own comprehension of happiness. One of the principal problems is to choose what happiness is. Folks usually draw happiness from other things. Some individuals find happiness in altering the world for the better. Happiness is a difficult word to define. If you're not healthy, you won't get to relish life. Life is much better than it was 50 decades ago. Folks can opt to be happy even if all does not appear to work materially. They realize the value of good health, and that is why people are spending a lot of time doing research trying to find the cure to different illnesses. Money satisfies the bodily needs of the individual, but people want to recognize that happiness isn't physical. It also does not change the way people feel about you. The 30-Second Trick for Argumentative Essay Topics about Service and Happiness At our essay assistance, essays are always delivered in a brief moment. You're able to chat with them until you find one which it is possible to buy argumentative essay from. An argumentative essay requires you to choose a topic and have a position on it. It can be an enjoyable thing to write if you are familiar with what it entails. What You Must Know About Argumentat ive Essay Topics about Service and Happiness Unless you're already conscious of all of the advantages and disadvantages and you've got a firm mind-set in respect to the discussed issue, it may appear quite hard to come up with one specific point of view. When speaking about the range of the paragraphs you ought to have, there's no a frequent rule. Remember you have to drag somebody who will read your essay on your side, which means this to achieve that you need to demonstrate a strong argument built on facts, evidences, examples and so forth. The main reason is you will not be healthy enough to do the things you like doing but will be limited. There are invariably a broad range of opinions on the field of technology, and here are our favourite things to consider on this issue. As an issue of fact, the content of your essay is dependent on what you're likely to write about. Don't neglect to bring a strong hook at the beginning (introduction paragraph) and wind up with an impressive conclusion to earn the reader want to talk about the interesting persuasive essay topics of your selection. Your reader ought to be convinced your argument is valid.

Roberto Clemente Essays - Roberto Clemente, Clemente,

Roberto Clemente Team: Pittsburgh Pirates Roberto Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico on August 18th 1934. He was the first Hispanic baseball player to be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. He was also the second baseball player to be put on a postage stamp. Roberto Clemente was plagued with back pain during his career, but still he proved to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Roberto Clemente had always like baseball. He was also fortunate to join a professional Puerto Rican baseball team at the age of 17. He spent his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers farm team. He was thinking about quitting because he was treated very strangely. The franchise was trying to hide Clemente from the Giants so when he played good, they would bench him. But when he did bad, they would keep him in the game. Clemente later returned to Puerto Rico after his first, disappointing season to visit his brother, who was dying from a brain tumor. While he was there, a drunk driver smashed into his car and permanently damaged three spinal discs, which would bother him through the rest of his career. In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Clemente for $4,000 and put him out in right field. During his first season he gunned down 18 runners. He got 20 runners out in his second season. In his second season he had a .311 batting average and had 5 homeruns. Then in 1958 he led the National League in outfield assists with 22. In 1960 Clemente had a fantastic year. He hit 16 homers, batted .314 and had 94 R.B.I's (runs batted in). He led his team to the National League pennant. And shocked the nation with an upset over the Yankees in the World Series. Clemente batted .310 for the series. He won his first batting title in 1961, hitting .351 with 23 homers, 10 triples, and 89 RBIs. Clemente used to overswing the bat and his head would "bob" when he swung a bat. So Clemente started using a heavier bat. After that he went on to enjoy 11 of 12 seasons with his batting average above .300. In late December of 1972 an earthquake struck Nicaragua. More than 6,000 people were killed, 20,000 injured. After hearing that some of the supplies they had sent to Nicaragua were not getting to the right people, Clemente decided to take matters into his own hands. He flew to Nicaragua in a cargo plane and make sure that distribution was carried out properly. On New Year's Eve he boarded an overloaded DC-7 Air Force Plane that he rented for $4,000 to fly to Nicaragua. The plane crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff. Roberto Clemente was the first Hispanic baseball player ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1994 a statue of him was unveiled at Three Rivers Stadium at the all-star game.

5 tips healthcare recruiters dont want you to find out

5 tips healthcare recruiters dont want you to find out Healthcare recruiters are facing one of the largest hiring uphill battles in recent memory, which leaves more negotiating room on the table for job seekers looking to get into the healthcare industry. Healthcare recruiters are dealing with a qualified workforce shortage in numbers that haven’t been seen previously. Hospitals and healthcare systems have been expanding, planned investments are coming to fruition, and an aging workforce that needs to be replaced are all adding onto the plate of addition hires that healthcare recruiters need to make. As a new entry into the job seeking realm, you might be wondering about some tips or tricks that you could use to help leverage your experience and skillset to get a new job in the healthcare industry. HospitalCareers.com recently published an article titled â€Å"5 Secrets Healthcare Recruiters Don’t Want You To Know, which contains a wealth of tips to help new job seekers in their healthcare career job search. Use this resou rce to learn some tips and tricks that healthcare recruiters don’t want you to find out about when negotiating in your job search.Here’s a look at the 5 tips healthcare recruiters don’t want you to find out:Qualified job applicants per job posting are decliningWhile the healthcare industry has been steadily adding jobs at a faster rate than any other industry, qualified candidates who apply to these recent job postings are declining. This means that the time it takes to fill a recent job posting is rising, which costs healthcare recruiters and healthcare systems more money to fill each position. In addition, the number of baby boomers who are retiring increases each year with once-filled positions now needing new hires to combat rising turnover rates.New healthcare job seekers can leverage the rising number of open positions by catering their resumes and cover letters to match each open position or position category. This helps separate you from the rest of the applications that often feel manufactured or duplicated without much care between each position.Salaries are on the riseAs the demand for qualified healthcare job seekers rises, salaries and additional benefits packages are rising over time as well. Healthcare recruiters are taking drastic measures to attract new talent to their open positions and job seekers are being rewarded for their tailored education and experience in the healthcare industry.Job seekers can leverage the recent upward trend of salaries and compensation packages by highlighting how their skill set would make them a stronger fit for the open position than some of the lesser-qualified candidates that a healthcare recruiter might be considering.Hiring budgets are getting tighterEven though new healthcare jobs are being posted faster than healthcare recruiters can fill them, hiring budgets are getting tighter each year. Healthcare recruiting managers want to decrease the amount of time and resources they spend each year on filling open job postings, which creates a struggle for healthcare recruiters. Increasingly, healthcare recruiters need to fill positions with qualified applicants who will remain with the hospital or healthcare system for the long term so that they can decrease the costly turnover ratio.A job is a commitment between both the employer and employee. New job seekers can use the knowledge of tighter hiring budgets to convey their commitment to the company for the long term, which will help separate themselves from those candidates who will jump ship at the first chance.Niche job boards account for most recruitmentIncreasingly niche job boards account for more qualified recruiting than standard job sites. Some of the largest job board sites like Indeed, CareerBuilder, and Monster are increasingly littered with spam and job postings that make it difficult to separate qualified candidates from spam candidates. Some of the largest job board sites allow candidates to upload their re sume and then spam applications to any job they feel they might be qualified for without an in-depth look at the job requirements or details.This means that healthcare recruiters are increasingly turning to niche related job boards to hire more qualified candidates and narrow down their pool of applicants. With the increased restrictions mentioned above for healthcare recruiters, job seekers can increase their chance of earning a new position by using niche specific job boards.Applicant tracking systems are phasing out qualified applicantsAs more organizations switch to large applicant tracking systems, more qualified applicants are being phased out unintentionally. Applicant tracking systems help narrow down the field of prospective applicants based on different criteria set out by the recruiter. Filling out these applicant tracking systems takes more time than simply clicking on a potential job posting, and qualified applicants are deciding to skip them entirely. The thinking from those who skip these applicant tracking systems is that they can fill out a great quantity of potential job postings, than fill out a quality application.This leaves room for those qualified job seekers who don’t mind filling out these detailed applicant tracking systems and showcase a prime example of quality over quantity, something that every healthcare recruiter wants to see. New healthcare career job seekers can separate themselves from those individuals who choose to apply elsewhere, and be a part of the smaller pool of applicants that a healthcare recruiter has to sift through.Well there you have it, 5 tips healthcare recruiters don’t want you to find out when attempting to secure a new job in the healthcare industry. Moving forward in your journey to securing a new position, you can be confident that you have additional knowledge that will make your job search go a little easier.About the author:Ryan Bucci is a Content Strategist with HospitalCareers. Hospital Careers is the leading platform for healthcare and hospital jobs with over 25,000 job postings, career advice, and career insights.

Profile of Richard Kuklinski

Profile of Richard Kuklinski Richard Kuklinski was one of the most diabolical, and notorious, confessed contract killers in American history. He took the credit for over 200 murders while working for various mafia families, including the murder of Jimmy Hoffa. Because of his sheer number of kills, as well as his approach to killing, many believe he should be considered a serial killer. Kuklinskis Childhood Years Richard Leonard Kuklinski was born in the projects in Jersey City, New Jersey to Stanley and Anna Kuklinski. Stanley was a severely abusive alcoholic who beat his wife and children. Anna was also abusive to her children, sometimes beating them with broom handles. In 1940, Stanleys beatings resulted in the death of Kuklinskis old brother, Florian. Stanley and Anna hid the cause of the childs death from the authorities, saying he had fallen down a flight of steps. By the age of 10, Richard Kuklinski was filled with rage and began acting out. For fun, he would torture animals, and by the age of 14, he had committed his first murder. Taking a steel clothing rod from his closet, he ambushed Charlie Lane, a local bully, and leader of a small gang who had picked on him. Unintentionally he beat Lane to death. Kuklinski felt remorse for Lanes death for a brief period, but then saw it as a way to feel powerful and in control. He then went on and nearly beat to death the remaining six gang members. Early Adulthood By his early twenties, Kuklinski had earned the reputation as being an explosive, tough street hustler who would beat or kill those who he didnt like or who offended him. According to Kuklinski, it was during this time that his association with Roy DeMeo, a member of the Gambino Crime Family, was established. As his work with DeMeo advanced his ability to be an effective killing machine was recognized. According to Kuklinski, he became a favorite hitman for the mob, resulting in the deaths of at least 200 people. The use of cyanide poison became one of his favorite weapons as well as guns, knives, and chainsaws. Brutality and torture would often precede death for many of his victims. This included his description of causing his victims to bleed, then tying them up in rat-infested areas. The rats attracted to the smell of blood would eventually eat the men alive. The Family Man Barbara Pedrici saw Kuklinski as a sweet, giving man and the two married and had three children. Much like his father, Kuklinski, who was 6 4 and weighing over 300 pounds, began to beat and terrorize Barbara and the children. On the outside, however, the Kuklinski family was admired by neighbors and friends as being happy and well adjusted. The Beginning of the End Eventually, Kuklinski started making mistakes, and the New Jersey State Police were watching him. When three associates of Kuklinskis turned up dead, a task force was organized with the New Jersey authorities and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Special Agent Dominick Polifrone went undercover and spent a year, and a half-disguised as a hit man and eventually met and gained Kuklinskis trust. Kuklinski bragged to the agent about his proficiency with cyanide and boasted about freezing a corpse to mask his time of death. Afraid Polifrone would soon become another of Kuklinskis victims; the task force moved quickly after taping some of his confessions and getting him to agree to do a hit with Polifrone. On December 17, 1986, Kuklinski was arrested and charged with five counts of murder which involved two trials. He was found guilty in the first trial and reached an agreement in the second trial and was sentenced to two life sentences. He was sent to Trenton State Prison, where his brother was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl. Enjoying the Fame While in prison, he was interviewed by HBO for a documentary called The Iceman Confesses, then later by author Anthony Bruno, who wrote the book The Iceman as a follow-up to the documentary. In 2001, he was interviewed again by HBO for another documentary called The Iceman Tapes: Conversations With a Killer. It was during these interviews that Kuklinski confessed to several cold-blooded murders and spoke of his ability to detach himself emotionally from his own brutality. When on the subject of his family he uncharacteristically showed emotions when describing the love he felt towards them. Kuklinski Blames Childhood Abuse When asked why he had become one of the most diabolical mass murderers in history, he cast blame on his fathers abuse and admitted the one thing he was sorry for was for not killing him. Questionable Confessions Authorities do not buy everything Kuklinski claimed during the interviews. Witnesses for the government who were part of DeMeos group said Kuklinski was not involved in any murders for DeMeo. They also question the number of murders he claimed to have committed. His Suspicious Death On March 5, 2006, Kuklinski, age 70, died of unknown causes. His death came suspiciously around the same time he was scheduled to testify against Sammy Gravano. Kuklinski was going to testify that Gravano hired him to kill a police officer in the 1980s. Charges against Gravano were dropped after Kuklinskis death because of insufficient evidence. Kuklinski and the Hoffa Confession In April 2006, it was reported that Kuklinski had confessed to author Philip Carlo that he and four men had kidnapped and murdered union boss Jimmy Hoffa. In an interview aired on CNNs Larry King Live, Carlo discussed the confession in detail, explaining that Kuklinski was part of a five-member team. Under the direction of Tony Provenzano, a captain in the Genovese crime family, he kidnapped and murdered Hoffa in a restaurant parking lot in Detroit. Also on the program was Barbara Kuklinski and her daughters, who spoke about the abuse and fear they suffered at the hands of Kuklinski. There was one telling moment which described the true depth of Kuklinskis sociopathic brutality. One of the daughters, described as Kuklinskis favorite child, told of her fathers attempt to get her to understand, when she was 14, why if he killed Barbara during a fit of rage, he would also have to kill her and her brother and sister.

An Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

An Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example â€Å"Multilingual Identities in Higher Education: Negotiating the ‘Mother Tongue’, ‘Posh’ and ‘Slang’†, Journal of Language and Education, Vol. 24., no. 1,pp. 21-39. Preece’s articles analyses linguistic diversity amid minority ethnic undergraduates students classified as from broadening participation background in a new University in Britain. The author recognizes that students negotiate multilingual and bidilectal identities within the framework of an academic writing programme considered as offering English language remediation. Leung, C., Harris, R. and Rampton, B. 1997. â€Å"Multilingualism in England,† Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, no. 7, pp. 224-241. The authors point out about the recent reactions to multilingualism in the national education systems and point to the increasing tension between education policy and research. The authors then suggest that there is so much that has happened in the study and und erstanding of multilingualism in England. To analyze this, the authors focus on the dynamic and contested connections amid educational policy, academic debate and daily sociolinguistic practice. As multilingualism in growing in the United Kingdom as a result of immigration, urban areas are becoming more diverse in their utilization of language. This is resulting in local government regulations being imposed to provide for those who do not speak the prevailing language. These policies are targeted at ensuring diversify and acceptance amid the scope of languages and speakers in any given region. School curriculums are making it possible for students to learn each other’s languages and so make sure good communication between distinct cultures. It is at times presumed that English is sufficient, but in global terms just 60 percent of the population are native speakers and 75 percent speak no English at all. Research on the internet reveals a decline in the relative influence of E nglish online, from 51 percent of traffic in 2000 to 27 percent as of 2011. The United Kingdom requires a multilingual population in order to succeed in a globalised universe, for global citizenships, for diplomacy, security and in global relations and for creating a taskforce to operate proficiently in trade and investment. In spite of the numerous interest groups affected by multilingualism and development of new ways to quantify the linguistic topography in the UK’s exhaustive information on UK multilingualism has only presently surfaced. The in particular emerges from conflicting definitions of language capability and situational usage, with non-standardized measures utilized to explain these (Edwards, 2004). The engagement of the state with the subject of multilingualism functions at numerous levels. The United Kingdom has not general official regulation on multilingualism, even though the EU supports trilingualism. Public discussions about multilingualism are London tra nsforms often, though there is some persistency in promoting specific forms of bilingualism, specifically through formal learning. There is prejudice in the conceived positions of distinct languages. Bilingualism appears to be regarded as an asset if it is learned as opposed to the acquired language prestige. On the other hand, bilingualism is conceived as an inadequate if possessed in a migrant home. There are discussions over if and how the past

The Role Transport Innovations, Including Containerization, Play in Essay

The Role Transport Innovations, Including Containerization, Play in the Emergence and Development of International Business - Essay Example This reflects on the growth of efficiency and productivity gained by international firms owing to the use of containers in the transport of merchandises along global regions (Levinson, 2010). Based on the above discussion, the paper intends to critically analyse the use of transportation and containerization practices in the enhancement of international trade. It would tend to analyse the impact of development of transportation infrastructures and containerization in international trade. The above evaluation would be conducted while also endeavouring to understand the factors prompting such growing significance of transport and containerization in international trade. Innovation generated in the existing modes of transportation is observed to potentially impact the growth of global trade and business mechanisms. The development of oceanic transport across the Atlantic Ocean is observed to largely benefit the growth of American trade and economy. Similarly, the emergence of the jet plane is also observed to potentially contribute in the swifter movement of documents and cargo from one part of the globe to another. This also contributed in the development of trade and business activities on a global sphere. Innovation generated in the development of ocean transport systems is also observed to make the same cost effective in nature (Ballenger,2000). The cost effectiveness of transport activities conducted through oceanic transport is observed to sustain a reduced price of products traded on an international business platform. Development of faster and easier means of transport is taken to rightly contribute in the effective utilisation of resources available on a global scale to generate efficiency and productivity in trading activities along multinational borders. This feature in turn contributes in promoting the development and growth of future trading and economic activities along the international markets (Afuah 2009) The

Essay --

As the policy pyramid shows, the best security begins with upper management creating an actual policy or mandate to implement security. The policy should be based on industry standards and regulations such as ISO 17799 and HIPAA. Procedures, practices and guidelines form the basis for all security technology. Products such as ESM measure policy compliance with policies and modules for operating applications, systems and databases. These then interact with the actual computer environment. the components of an effective information security policy : †¢Security accountability: Stipulate the security roles and responsibilities of general users, key staff, and management. Producing accountability within these three staff categories will help your organization comprehend and manage expectations and provides a foundation for enforcing all other ancillary policies and procedures. This section should also define various classes of data, such as inner,basic and external, and confidential. By classifying the data, you can then make stipulations as to what varieties of employees are accountable for, and capable to modify or distribute, certain classes of information. For example, you may send out memos that say, "No confidential data may be circulated outside the business without management sign-off." †¢Group service plans: Generate policies for protected remote access, IP address administration and router, switch and configuration security procedures, and access listing (ACL) stipulations. Before they can be implemented, Indicate which important staff have to review which change procedures. For example, your security staff should review all recommended ACL modifications before your network administrators implement the changes. Define your r... ...n making options about method configuration and employ. This method will help you create specific safety goals along with a plan to tackle them. Before you manage protection you have to have a method to measure its usefulness. Your corporate security plan provides the suitable baseline standards against which to calculate compliance. There is no need to commence from scratch. Instead of analyzing each and every risk, take a look at what others are doing. Meet up with standards of due treatment by using current standards and industry "greatest practices". Focus on regulations and requirements from industry, partners and government. Some small companies have the propensity to outline security policy from the bottom up, beginning with the features of the equipment at hand. Medium and large businesses know that noise security guidelines begin in the top straight down.

Persuasive Communication Theory

Persuasive Communication Theory in Social Psychology: A Historical Perspective Icek Ajzen University of Massachusetts – Amherst From M. J. Manfredo (Ed) (1992). Influencing Human Behavior: Theory and Applications in Recreation and Tourism (pp 1– 27). Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 1 Few subjects in social psychology have attracted as much interest and attention as persuasive communication. One of the first topics to be systematically investigated, persuasion has been the focus of intense research efforts throughout much of social psychology's brief scientific history.Untold experiments have been conducted to unravel the intricate web of factors that appear to play a role in determining the effectiveness of a persuasive message. These attempts have revealed a degree of complexity that seems to defy explanation and that poses serious obstacles to theory construction. However, recent years have seen considerable progress at the the oretical level and a resurgence of empirical work has done much to invigorate the field and provide a better understanding of the fundamental psychological processes underlying persuasion.To appreciate the significance of these developments we must compare the emerging ideas and research findings with those from earlier efforts. The present chapter is designed to provide the required historical perspective. Since it aims to review developments in our understanding of the persuasion process, emphasis is placed on ideas and theories rather than on methodological or practical concerns; empirical research findings are summarized only in broad outline when needed to make a point of theoretical significance.The solution of problems created by recreation and tourism often involves persuasion in one form or another. As the chapters in the second part of this book illustrate, recreationists must be persuaded to observe rules of safety, to avoid conflicts with other visitors, and to keep thei r impact on the environment to a minimum. Although social psychologists have rarely tested their ideas in the context of recreation and tourism, the findings and conclusions discussed below have obvious implications for any attempt to influence beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in this domain.THE NATURE OF PERSUASION Persuasive communication involves the use of verbal messages to influence attitudes and behavior. Although the context of persuasion must necessarily be considered, the verbal message, designed to sway the hearts and minds of the receivers, is at the core of persuasive communication. Through a process of reasoning, the message exerts its influence by force of the arguments it contains. As we shall see below, this emphasis on reasoning sets persuasive communication apart from other social influence strategies.Structure of a Message As a general rule, a message consists of three parts: An advocated position, a set of general arguments in support of the advocated position, and specific factual evidence designed to bolster the general arguments (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). The advocated position may be a stand on a particular issue (e. g. , support for a tax increase) or a recommended action (e. g. , donating blood). The general arguments will typically supply reasons for adopting the advocated position, and justification for the arguments is provided in the form of factual evidence.Consider the question of instituting a senior comprehensive examination for undergraduate college students. Petty and Cacioppo (1986, pp. 54-59) published some examples of general arguments and supportive evidence they have used in their research program. Among the major arguments contained in Petty and Cacioppo's messages were the claims that instituting a comprehensive exam raises students' grade point averages and leads to improvement in the quality of undergraduate teaching. The factual evidence in support of the first argument was formulated as follows (pp. 4-55): The N ational Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a five-year study conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University. The results of the study showed that since the comprehensive exam has been introduced at Duke, the grade point average of undergraduates has increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exams, grades increased by only 8% over the same period. The prospect of a comprehensive exam clearly seems to be effective in challenging students to work harder and faculty to teach more effectively.It is likely that the benefits observed at Duke University could also Persuasive Communication Theory Page 2 be observed at other universities that adopt the exam policy. If accepted as valid, the factual evidence should result in acceptance of the argument that instituting a senior comprehensive exam will raise grade point averages, and acceptance of the argument in turn should increase the likelihood that receivers will endorse the po sition in favor of instituting a comprehensive exam, as advocated in the message.There is, of course, no assurance that receivers of a message will in fact accept the arguments and evidence it contains. On the contrary, identifying the factors and conditions that produce acceptance of information contained in a message is the major purpose of persuasion theory and research. Alternative Influence Strategies In order to develop a better understanding of the nature of persuasion, it is instructive to contrast persuasion with a few alternative influence strategies. The review offered here is far from exhaustive but it will help highlight some critical aspects of persuasive communication.Coercive Persuasion People can be induced to behave in a prescribed way by offering a sizable reward for compliance or by threatening severe punishment for noncompliance. This strategy of change can be very effective in producing the desired behavior, but its effectiveness is contingent on supervision (F rench and Raven, 1959) and has few lasting effects on beliefs or attitudes. Enduring attitude change by means of coercion is more likely in the context of total institutions, such as prisons, mental hospitals, or prisoner-of-war camps.Situations of this kind enable control over many aspects of an individual's life for an extended period of time. Even here, however, enduring attitude change is difficult to obtain and often fades after release from the institution (see Schein, 1961). Hypnosis and Subliminal Perception Instead of trying to overcome resistance to change by force of coercion, one can attempt to circumvent conscious opposition by means of hypnosis or presentation of subliminal messages. Posthypnotic induction can be used to instruct individuals upon awakening to engage in specified behaviors or to hold new attitudes (e. . , Rosenberg, 1956). There is, however, some question as to whether hypnosis actually represents an altered state of consciousness that can be used to ci rcumvent people's usual resistance to manipulation of their beliefs and actions (cf. Barber, 1965; Wagstaff, 1981). Use of subliminal perception to bring about change is similarly problematic. Its effectiveness depends on the presentation of information at an intensity level too low for conscious perception, yet high enough for it to enter unconscious or subconscious awareness.Clearly, such a fine balance demands careful calibration and, given individual differences in perceptual acuity, may not be achievable in a mass communication context. In any event, even when subliminal perception can be demonstrated, its effects on attitudes and behavior tend to be of rather small magnitude (cf. Erdelyi, 1974). Conditioning and Affect Transfer Another way of trying to avoid resistance to change involves the use of conditioning procedures. It has been argued that attitudes can be changed by means of classical conditioning (e. . , Staats and Staats, 1958) and that behavior can be influenced thr ough the systematic use of reinforcements in an instrumental conditional paradigm (e. g. , Krasner, 1958). Since the advantage of conditioning in comparison to direct persuasion rests on the assumed ability of conditioning to operate without awareness of the influence attempt, the extent to which individuals submitted to conditioning form hypotheses about systematic associations created in the conditioning paradigm is of crucial importance.Contrary to earlier claims, it now appears that there is no convincing evidence that adult human beings can be conditioned without awareness (cf. Brewer, 1974). An idea related to classical conditioning has emerged in the recent marketing literature where it has been proposed (Batra and Ray, 1986; Mitchell and Olson, 1981) that positive or negative affect elicited by one stimulus (the advertising) can transfer automatically to an associated stimulus (the advertised brand). This Persuasive Communication Theory Page 3 ffect transfer, however, is ass umed to occur only when individuals have no other, more informed basis, for evaluating the brand in question (Shimp, 1981). Moreover, given the results of research on conditioning in human beings, it can be assumed that affect transfer, if it occurs at all, occurs only in the presence of awareness of the contingencies involved. Subterfuge obvious heuristic in a persuasion context has to do with the communicator's credibility. The position advocated in a message may be accepted if the message comes from a highly credible source but rejected if the source is perceived to lack credibility.When using this rule of thumb, receivers accept or reject the advocated position or action without considering the merits of the arguments contained in the message. Conclusions Whereas the strategies discussed thus far all in one way or another try to prevent or neutralize awareness of, and thus resistance to, the influence attempt, the strategies considered here subtly manipulate the situation in ord er to promote a psychological state that leads people voluntarily to engage in the desired behavior.The foot-in-the-door technique (Freedman and Fraser, 1966) and other sales ploys are good examples of this approach. When using the footin-the-door technique, a small request SQ acceded to by most individuals SQ is followed by a much larger request. Due presumably to the commitment produced by agreeing to the small request, conformity with the large request tends to increase. An alternative strategy involves first confronting a person with an unreasonably large request and then appearing to compromise by offering compliance with a smaller request.In a highly readable book, Cialdini (1988) describes a number of ways in which subterfuge of this kind can be employed to elicit behaviors that might otherwise not be performed. Subterfuge strategies take advantage of people's various needs to reciprocate any favor received, to be liked by others, to be consistent, and so forth. Compliance is secured without the benefit of discussing the merits or costs of the requested action. Heuristics We have noted that change by means of persuasive communication is based on a careful deliberation of the pros and cons associated with an advocated position or ction. We shall see in subsequent sections, however, that receivers of a message sometimes make judgments about the advocated position without going through an elaborate reasoning process. Instead, they may rely on heuristics or rules of thumb to arrive at a conclusion (cf. Chaiken, 1980, 1987). The most Our discussion shows that social influence can operate in a variety of ways and that various strategies are available to take advantage of the different possibilities. Nevertheless, persuasive communication occupies a unique position in the matrix of social influence.Of all the available strategies it is the only one that appeals to reason, attempting to bring about change and compliance by convincing the individual of the valid ity or legitimacy of the advocated position. This tactic can be much more difficult than, say, coercion, but it also has important advantages. Besides being more compatible with democratic and humanistic values, persuasive communication can produce profound and lasting change, a goal not easily attained by other means. THE PERSUASION CONTEXT No message appears in a vacuum.At a minimum, we can usually identify the source of a message: an editor of a newspaper editorial, a lawyer pleading a client's case before a jury, or a movie star asking for donations to a charity. The communicator's identity, however, is only one of the many factors that constitute the context of persuasive communication. Classical analysis (Lasswell, 1948) has divided communication into several distinct aspects that can be summarized as who says what, how, and to whom. More formally these aspects are known as source, message, channel, and receiver factors; together, they constitute the context of 1 persuasion.So urce Factors Source factors are observed or inferred characteristics of the communicator. They include biological attributes such as age, race, height, and sex; behavioral features such as Persuasive Communication Theory Page 4 facial expressions, mannerisms, hand and body movements, and the way the communicator is dressed; social properties such as income, power, and social status; and personality traits such as self-confidence and extraversion. The most frequently studied source factors, however, are the communicator's credibility and attractiveness.Credibility refers to the perceived expertise and trustworthiness of the communicator. In other words, does the communicator have the knowledge to provide an informed opinion on the issue in question and, if so, can he or she be trusted to present all relevant information in an unbiased fashion? As noted earlier, persuasion is generally assumed to increase with credibility. It has similarly been proposed that the amount of change is in fluenced by the attractiveness or likability of the source, whether attractiveness is defined in terms of physical features or psychological and behavioral characteristics.Receiver Factors On the opposite end of the communication context, parallel to source factors, are characteristics of the receiver or audience to whom the message is addressed. These characteristics include the receivers' personality traits, sex, social status, intelligence, involvement, and so forth. Any attribute of the audience, or combination of attributes, may provide a context that contributes to the effectiveness of the message. Channel Factors The context of the message is also defined by the means used to communicate it.Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message (the general arguments and factual evidence) constant across channels, different modes of communication will often vary i n terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form.Thus, it may be difficult in some instances to determine whether differences in persuasion are due to variations in the communication channel or to associated contextual differences that may confound the observed effect. Message Factors Potential confounding of a more serious kind can occur in the case of message factors because variations message features are often accompanied by differences in content. Message factors concern the ways in which information is communicated to the audience.Among the factors that have been considered are the order in which arguments are presented, one- versus twosided presentations, and emotional versus nonemotional appeals (e. g. , humorous messages or messages that arouse fear versus neutral messages). To see why variations in message characteristics are often confounded with differences in message content, consider the case of one- versus two-sided communications. Clearly, to present both sides of an issue, an effective message must contain information and arguments not contained in a message that supports only the advocated position.In a twosided message, the communicator mentions arguments that could be used to support the opposite side and then proceeds to refute those arguments. In addition, of course, the communicator also discusses the arguments in favor of the position advocated in the message. Only this part is the same as or similar to the one-sided message. In the case of emotional versus neutral appeals, problems of confounding occur because humorous or fear-arousing communications generally contain information and arguments specifically designed to generate these emotions.It is thus difficult to separate the effects of fear or humor from the effects due to differences in the information contained in humorous versus nonhumorous messages or in high- versus lowfear messages. Situational Factors The persuasion context contains several situational variables that do not fit easily into the traditional framework of source, message, channel, and receiver factors. Among these situational variables are distraction and forewarning. Distraction can be the result of environmental noise, or it can be internal as when a person is preoccupied with other concerns.Forewarning refers to the availability Persuasive Communication Theory Page 5 of information before exposure to the message, which warns the receiver either that an influence attempt is imminent or that the communicator is planning to advocate a certain position. In either case, forewarning may prepare receivers to rally their defenses against the forthcoming message. The Hovland Tradition Scientific work on persuasive communication began in earnest during World War II in an attempt to determine the eff ects of war-time propaganda (Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield, 1949).This was followed by a period of intensive experimental research at Yale University in the 1950s under the direction of Carl Hovland (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953; Sherif and Hovland, 1961). Although it was extremely prolific and highly influential, the program of research initiated by the Hovland group produced very few generalizable conclusions. By the late 1960s, disappointment with this approach had become widespread (see Eagly and Himmelfarb, 1974; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In this section we review the major lines of work in the Hovland tradition and consider some of the reasons for its failure.Theoretical Orientation The empirical work of the Hovland group was guided by a loose theoretical analysis based on learning principles, and by a conceptual framework that incorporated context variables (source, message, channel, and receiver factors), target variables (immediate attitude change, retention, behav ior change), and mediating processes (attention, comprehension, and acceptance) (see McGuire, 1969, 1985). Very briefly, the theoretical analysis assumed that attitude change involves learning a new response to a given stimulus (the attitude object).Exposure to a persuasive message suggests the new response (the advocated position) and provides an opportunity to practice the response. The various contextual factors were assumed to facilitate learning by reinforcing and firmly embedding the new response in the receiver's response hierarchy. Empirical Research The conceptual framework of context, target, and mediating variables served to organize thinking about the persuasion process. However, much of the empirical research in the Hovland tradition dealt primarily with the impact of contextual factors.Thus, in the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of studies were conducted to examine the effects of source credibility and attractiveness; receiver intelligence, self-esteem, and involvement; fea r appeals and order of presentation; distraction and forewarning; and a multitude of other contextual variables (see McGuire, 1985 for a recent review). Little attention was devoted to the dependent variable that serves as the target of the communication, although persistence of change over time was an early concern (see Cook and Flay, 1978). Of the mediating variables, only attention and comprehension were directly assessed.Thus, many studies contained a recall or recognition test to measure the degree to which the message was â€Å"received† (McGuire, 1968), that is, the degree to which the message was attended to and comprehended. Generally speaking, the purpose of the test was to make sure that reception did not vary across conditions of the experiment, and that whatever effects were observed could not be attributed to differences in reception. In other words, the goal was usually to rid the experiment of the mediating effect of reception, rather than to study reception i n its own right.Note also that the conceptual framework had little to say about the content of persuasive communication and what its role in the persuasion process might be. Message content was treated largely as a given, while the questions addressed had to do with the effects of contextual factors on the amount of change produced by the message in question. We shall see below that this approach to the study of persuasive communication was one of the major reasons for the failure of the Hovland tradition. Effects of source factors.One of the first lines of research initiated by the Hovland group dealt with the effects of communicator credibility (Hovland and Weiss, 1951), and innumerable studies since have manipulated this variable. Of all the contextual factors studied in the Hovland tradition, variations in source credibility have produced the most consistent findings. By and large, communicators high in expertise and trustworthiness tend to be more persuasive than communicators with low standing on these factors. However, even here, somePersuasive Communication Theory Page 6 contradictory evidence has been reported. Source credibility does not always increase the amount of change, and in some situations it can even have a negative effect (cf. McGuire, 1985, p. 263). Other source characteristics are generally found to have no simple or easily predictable effects on persuasion. The communicator's attractiveness, education, intelligence, social status, and so on can serve as cues for inferring expertise and can thus affect persuasion.However, these indirect effects do not appear to be strong enough to produce consistent results across different investigations. Effects of receiver factors. Age, gender, intelligence, self-esteem and other individual differences among receivers are rarely found to have strong effects on persuasion, and the results of different investigations are often inconsistent. Moreover, receiver factors are found to interact in complex ways with each other and with additional factors such as the complexity of the message, the type of arguments used, the credibility of the communicator, and so on.Effects of channel factors. A rather discouraging picture also emerged with respect to the effects of the medium of communication. While visual messages tend to be better liked and attended to than spoken or written messages, recall is sometimes better for written material, and adding pictures to print can be distracting (see McGuire, 1985, p. 283). In light of these contradictory effects, it is hardly surprising that empirical research on channel factors has produced largely inconsistent results.Effects of message factors. Some of the most complex patterns of findings are associated with message factors such as emotional versus nonemotional appeals, message style, and ordering of message content. With respect to the latter, consider for example whether one should state the message's basic position at the outset or at the end. Stating it at the beginning may have the advantage of clarity, making the source appear more trustworthy, and of attracting the attention of receivers sympathetic to the advocated position.It can also have the disadvantage, however, of lowering interest and antagonizing receivers initially opposed to the advocated position (McGuire, 1985). Other message factors can have equally complicated effects. To illustrate, consider the degree to which the message arouses fear or concern. Contrary to expectations, initial research (Janis and Feshbach, 1953) showed a low-fear message to be more effective than a high-fear message in producing compliance with recommended dental practices.Later research, however, has often found the opposite effect, and many investigations have reported no differences between high- and low-fear messages (for reviews, see Boster and Mongeau, 1985 and Higbee, 1969). Similarly inconsistent findings have emerged with respect to the effects of humor in persuasive comm unication (see Markiewicz, 1974). Retrospective In light of largely inconsistent research findings concerning the effects of contextual variables, many investigators became discouraged with the Hovland approach.Thus, after editing a book on attitude change in 1974, Himmelfarb and Eagly reached the following pessimistic conclusions: After several decades of research, there are few simple and direct empirical generalizations that can be made concerning how to change attitudes. In fact, one of the most salient features of recent research is the great number of studies demonstrating that the empirical generalizations of earlier research are not general, but contingent on conditions not originally apparent. (Himmelfarb and Eagly, 1974, p. 94. ) In fact, the complexity of the persuasion process noted by Himmelfarb and Eagly in their reference to contingencies has been a favorite explanation for the failure of the Hovland approach. This explanation holds that persuasion is influenced by so many different factors interacting with each other that only complicated, multidimensional research strategies can cope with the complexities. However, when investigators have studied higher-order interactions, no clear or replicable patterns have emerged.Indeed, there is serious doubt that the search for complicated interactions can ever be a viable strategy (cf. Cronbach, 1975; Nisbett, 1977). The role of the receiver. Besides failing to advance our understanding of the persuasion process, the complexity explanation had the Persuasive Communication Theory Page 7 unfortunate effect of hiding the basic shortcomings of the Hovland tradition and thus delaying the search for alternatives. As is usually the case, realizing where this approach went wrong is much easier in retrospect than it was at the time.Perhaps without meaning to, the Hovland group cast the receiver in a rather passive role whose task was to â€Å"learn† the information and recommended position presented in a message. Attention and comprehension would assure that the information was absorbed, and persuasion would thus follow automatically. This view of the receiver stands in clear contradiction to much that is known about information processing. People are far from passive receivers of information.Instead, they usually act on the information that is available, integrating it (Anderson, 1971), constructing interpretations of their own (Neisser, 1976), and going in many ways beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). This is just as true in the domain of attitudes as it is in other areas of information processing. For example, research on impression formation has shown that people draw far-ranging inferences about the attributes of another person on the basis of very limited information (Asch, 1946; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Wiggins, 1973).Such inferences are often said to rely on â€Å"implicit theories of personality† (Schneider, 1973) which might suggest, among other things, th at if a person is said to be hostile, he is also likely to be rash, aggressive, and inconsiderate. Several other lines of research demonstrate more directly the potential importance of inference processes in persuasive communication. Thus it has been shown that a persuasive communication designed to produce a change in one belief will also lead to changes in other, related, beliefs (McGuire, 1960a; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970).It is even possible to produce change by merely making people aware of inconsistencies among their beliefs or values (McGuire, 1960b; Rokeach, 1971) in a process McGuire has termed the â€Å"Socratic† effect: After reviewing their beliefs, people tend to change some of them in the direction of increased logical consistency. In short, there is every reason to expect that receivers exposed to a persuasive communication may engage in an active process of deliberation that involves reviewing the information presented, accepting some rguments, rejecting others, and drawing inferences about issues addressed that go beyond what was mentioned in the original message. The image of the passive learner fostered in the Hovland tradition is thus highly misleading, and misses the most important aspect of persuasive communication: the receiver's capacity for reasoning and for being swayed by the merits of a well-presented argument. Persuasion by the Peripheral Route The passive-learner view of the receiver implicit in the Hovland approach quite naturally led to a focus on the persuasion context.If the communicator's task is to make sure that receivers learn and absorb the contents of the message, concern turns to a search for conditions that facilitate attention to the message and comprehension of its arguments, with a concomitant lessening of interest in what the receiver does with the information that is received. Ironically, recent theory and research have established the potential importance of contextual factors, at least under certain wellspec ified conditions. Once we realize what these conditions are, we can begin to understand the reasons for the inconsistent findings of research conducted within the Hovland paradigm.In the previous section we emphasized the active role of the receiver who may engage in an elaborate process of reasoning about the merits of the arguments presented in the message. This view assumes, first, that receivers are in fact sufficiently motivated to exert the required cognitive effort and, second, that they have the ability to carefully process the incoming information. It now appears that contextual factors influence persuasion only when one or both of these conditions are not met (Chaiken, 1980; Petty and Cacioppo, 1981, 1986).Motivation to process the message and elaborate on it is largely a matter of the receiver's involvement. Different aspects of the self may be activated in a given situation, depending largely on the issue addressed, and as a result, different kinds of involvement can be generated. Specifically, the message may create involvement by dealing with receivers' enduring values, with receivers' ability to obtain desirable outcomes or avoid undesirable outcomes, or with the impression receivers make on others Persuasive Communication Theory Page 8 (Johnson and Eagly, 1989).However, when the message has few implications for enduring values, for important outcomes, or for selfpresentation, it produces little motivation to carefully deliberate its contents. Ability to process a message is related to factors internal to the receiver as well as to external factors. Among the internal factors are familiarity with the issues and cognitive ability and intelligence, factors that tend to increase capacity for information processing; and preoccupation with other matters and lack of time, which tend to reduce the ability to elaborate.External factors that increase the ability to process include message repetition and clarity of presentation, while external distraction and use of complicated language can reduce processing ability. Some of the contextual factors studied by the Hovland group can come into play when internal or external factors lower the receiver's ability to process the information presented in the message. Empirical Research When ability and motivation to process the message are low, receivers can use peripheral cues (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) or cognitive heuristics (Chaiken, 1980) to form their opinions.Chaiken assumed that receivers of a message, even if they are not very greatly involved, nevertheless are motivated to hold a â€Å"correct† view on the issue. Since, under conditions of low motivation and ability, receivers are either incapable or unwilling to deal with the merits of the advocated position, they look for contextual or peripheral cues that might provide a basis for forming an opinion. Perhaps the most powerful such cue is the communicator's credibility, and it may be argued that this is the reason for the relatively consistent findings associated with communicator credibility.The heuristic strategy might in this case involve the following line of reasoning: â€Å"If this expert on the matter says so, it must be right. † This heuristic appears quite reasonable in that it accepts the position advocated by a credible source, even if one has not carefully scrutinized the arguments presented. Receivers can also use the source's attractiveness, or factors related to the message such as the number of arguments it contains, as peripheral cues. Thus, a message coming from a iked source might be viewed as more trustworthy, and one that contains many arguments (even if specious) might be seen as more reliable than a message that contains few arguments. Note, however, that these rules of thumb are far less convincing as a rational basis for accepting or rejecting an advocated position, and it is perhaps for this reason that factors of this kind often fail to have strong or consistent effe cts on persuasion. In any event, relying on heuristics obviates the need for careful message processing, and at the same time provides a basis for adoption of a position on the issue.Recent empirical research tends to support this view of the peripheral route to persuasion, although some complications have recently been noted (Johnson and Eagly, in press). Since excellent reviews are available elsewhere (Chaiken, 1987; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), we limit our discussion here to an example concerning the effects of source characteristics. Recall that communicator attractiveness was one of the source characteristics studied in the Hovland paradigm that did not have a clear and consistent effect on persuasion.If treated as a peripheral cue used only when processing motivation or ability is low, more consistent findings tend to emerge. Attractiveness of the source has been varied by attributing the message to famous versus unknown individuals (Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann, 1983) or to a likable versus an unlikable person (Chaiken, 1980). The investigators also manipulated the degree of involvement and found, as expected, that communicator attractiveness has a significantly greater effect on persuasion under low than under high involvement.Conclusions Work on the peripheral route to persuasion suggests that the source, message, channel, and receiver factors studied in the Hovland tradition can indeed influence the effectiveness of a message, but that this is likely to be the case only under conditions of low motivation or low ability to process the message. Such conditions can be obtained in the psychological laboratory that ensures some degree of attention by a captive audience even if the receivers have little interest in the topic or lack the ability to process the information presented (Hovland, 1959).In more naturalistic field settings, receivers who Persuasive Communication Theory Page 9 lack the motivation or ability to process a message can usually leave th e situation, while those who remain and are exposed to the message will tend to be sufficiently involved and able to process the information it contains. Persuasion by the peripheral route is clearly an inappropriate model for many realistic situations, and it is often inapplicable even in the artificial context of the laboratory.REASONING AND PERSUASION Even when it works, there is something distinctly unsatisfactory in the demonstration of change via the peripheral route, because the change brought about does not represent persuasion as we usually think of it. We noted at the beginning that it is the process of reasoning, the evaluation of the merits of arguments in favor and opposed to the advocated position, that is at the heart of persuasive communication. Persuasion involves more than simply oing along with an expressed point of view because of the presence of some peripheral cue; it requires that the advocated position be accepted only after careful scrutiny of the message an d after application of whatever other information the receiver can bring to bear. Moreover, change produced by the peripheral route is generally of little practical significance. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) noted that peripheral attitude change tends to be shortlived, tends to be susceptible to counterpropaganda (McGuire, 1964), and tends to have little effect on actual behavior.Clearly then, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view it would be to our advantage to focus less on the context of persuasion and more on the central processes that occur when a person is exposed to a message. Persuasion by the Central Route In the remainder of this chapter we examine persuasion that occurs when the receiver of a message is sufficiently able and motivated to give at least some scrutiny to the contents of the communication and to evaluate the merits of the arguments it contains.This has been termed the central route to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981) and the deliberations re ceivers perform are known as systematic information processing (Chaiken, 1980). Instead of asking what makes a given message more effective, we must now ask how to construct an effective message. That is, what arguments, when systematically processed via the central route, will have the greatest impact on the receiver's attitudes and behavior? Before we can review what is known about this question, however, we must consider the role of the receiver in greater detail. The Elaboration Likelihood Model.The peripheral route to persuasion discussed earlier is one of two tracks a receiver can take in Petty and Cacioppo's (1981, 1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The second track is persuasion via the central route. According to the ELM, central route persuasion depends on and is determined by the degree to which receivers elaborate on the information presented in the message. Briefly, during exposure to a persuasive communication, receivers are assumed to generate arguments of thei r own, either in support of the advocated position (pro arguments) or opposed to it (con arguments).These cognitive responses determine the direction and degree of change in attitudes and behavior. Increased motivation and ability to process the information in the message is, according to the model, associated with an increase in the number of cognitive responses (pro and con arguments) generated. To the extent that the number of arguments generated on the pro side exceeds the number of arguments on the con side, the receiver will change in the advocated direction. When elaboration leads to the production of more con than pro arguments, however, either no change or a â€Å"boomerang effect† (change in the opposite direction) may occur.From the communicator's point of view, therefore, motivation and ability to elaborate on message content is a two-edged sword. If, on balance, the thoughts generated by the receiver favor the advocated position, then the central route to persuas ion works to the communicator's advantage. On the other hand, if the receiver's cognitive responses consist predominantly of counterarguments, then elaboration on message content can be quite detrimental to the communicator's purpose.A number of studies, summarized in Petty and Cacioppo (1986), have examined the role of cognitive responses in the persuasion process. In these studies, cognitive responses are elicited Persuasive Communication Theory Page 10 in a free-response format following exposure to the message. The thoughts listed by the receivers are coded as either in favor or opposed to the advocated position, and the number of responses of each type is determined. Results, by and large, support the idea that the production of cognitive responses increases with motivation and ability to elaborate.Moreover, it is also found that changes in attitudes and behavior are consistent with the pattern of cognitive responses that are generated: a balance of thoughts in favor of the adv ocated position tends to be associated with change in the desired direction. 2 Yielding and Impact. Consideration of cognitive responses generated by receivers in the course of exposure to the message is, however, not sufficient to account for observed changes in attitudes and behavior. For change to occur in the central mode, some of the receiver's fundamental beliefs and values must undergo modification.Elaboration on the message may in fact lead to changes in cognitive structure, but evidence for the production of pro- or counter-arguments does not, in itself, assure that such changes have indeed taken place. Work on the elaboration likelihood model has focused primarily on cognitive responses to the message and has not dealt directly with changes in cognitive structure. The ideas discussed below are based on other recent work concerning persuasive communication via the central route (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, 1981).According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a message can bring about chang es in a receiver's cognitive structure in one of two ways. First, in a process termed yielding, acceptance of arguments presented in the message can produce changes in corresponding beliefs held by the receiver. Consider, for example, a pregnant smoker who initially is not aware that cigarette smoking can adversely affect the health of her unborn baby. This woman is now exposed to a message containing an argument and supportive evidence that establish the link between smoking and adverse health effects on the fetus.To the extent that the argument is accepted, it produces yielding in the sense that the woman's cognitive structure now contains a new belief that corresponds directly to the argument in question. That is, she now believes, as stated in the message, that smoking may have ill effects on her unborn baby. Changes in a receiver's primary beliefs, however, can extend far beyond the information directly contained in the message. Such changes that go beyond the information given are termed impact effects.To illustrate, the pregnant woman exposed to the message that smoking can have detrimental health effects on her fetus may infer that she would feel guilty if she did not stop smoking and that her doctor would want her to quit, even though neither argument was explicit in the message. It is also possible, however, for her to draw inferences that would work against the aims of the communicator. For example, the woman may unexpectedly form the belief that quitting would be even worse than continued smoking because it would result in overeating.These impact effects can, of course, play a major role in the woman's decision to quit or not to quit smoking. Evidence for the importance of considering yielding as well as impact effects can be found in a study on drinking reported in Ajzen and Fishbein (1980, pp. 218-242). Persuasive Argumentation The challenge facing a communicator trying to produce change via the central route is to create a message that will orig inate favorable responses, produce yielding to its arguments, and generate impact effects in accordance with the advocated change.Arguments contained in a message can be considered effective to the extent that they influence the receiver's cognitive structure. The essential question, therefore, is what makes an argument effective. In light of the fact that rhetoricians have written about argumentation for over 2,000 years, it is surprising how little empirical knowledge is available about the relative effectiveness of different types of arguments (McGuire, 1985). An analysis of this problem reveals at least three important aspects of an argument's effectiveness: novelty, strength, and relevance.Below we discuss each of these aspects in turn. Argument Novelty Persuasive Communication Theory Page 11 An argument contained in a message may well be accepted (i. e. , believed to be true), but if the receiver already held the belief in question before exposure to the message, no change in belief structure would result (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). To be effective therefore, an argument contained in a message must not be part of the receiver's initial belief system. Some empirical evidence for this proposition can be found in research on group decision making (Vinokur and Burnstein, 1974).In the course of group discussions, members who offer novel arguments in support of a given decision alternative are found to be more influential than members who raise points that are well known to the rest of the group. Argument Strength Besides being novel, an argument must also be strong if it is to sway the receiver to adopt the advocated position. A strong argument is one that tends to produce agreement (positive thoughts) and does not encourage generation of many counterarguments (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Although it is not clear what makes a strong argument, its strength or weakness can be empirically established.Earlier in this chapter we gave an illustrative example of a pe rsuasive argument taken from Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) research program. The argument asserted that instituting a senior comprehensive examination would raise grade point averages (see p. xx). This argument and the associated evidence make a strong case for the advocated position. Compare this to the following argument, also designed to generate support for a comprehensive exam. The National Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a study they conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University.One major finding was that student anxiety had increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exam, anxiety increased by only 8%. The Board reasoned that anxiety over the exams, or fear of failure, would motivate students to study more in their courses while they were taking them. It is likely that this increase in anxiety observed at Duke University would also be observed and be of benefit at other universities that adopt the exam policy (Pe tty and Cacioppo, 1986, p. 57). Although this argument is quite similar in structure to the strong argument presented earlier, it appears to present a much weaker case.In fact, this argument is typically found to generate many counterarguments. Clearly, in order to create an effective message, it is in the communicator's interest to select strong arguments and avoid including arguments that tend to elicit negative thoughts about the advocated position. Argument Relevance Related to the question of an argument's strength is its relevance to the advocated position. An argument may be strong in the sense that it generates few counterarguments and many pro arguments, but if it addresses an issue that is not directly relevant to the advocated position, it may fail to produce the desired effect.This point is often not sufficiently appreciated. Suppose a communicator would like to convince students to attend an anti-apartheid demonstration in Washington, D. C. , and thus exposes the studen ts to a persuasive message against apartheid in South Africa. Although the arguments contained in the message may be strong in the sense that they are believable and generate few counterarguments, the message may not be very effective as a means of inducing students to go to Washington.To make the message more relevant in terms of this goal, one would have to include strong arguments that deal more directly with the advantages of attending the planned demonstration. A relevant argument, then, is one that changes those primary beliefs of the receiver that are directly related to the target of the influence attempt, that is, to the attitude or behavior the communicator wishes to affect. Different target variables are based on different primary beliefs, and an effective message must be tailored to fit the target in question.General discussions of different target variables and their respective foundations of primary beliefs can be found in Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, 1981) and in Fishbei n and Manfredo (Chapter xx, this volume). It is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an in-depth review. Briefly, Fishbein and Ajzen distinguish Persuasive Communication Theory Page 12 among beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors as possible targets of a persuasive communication. To effect a change in any one of these target variables, the message arguments must be directed at the primary beliefs that provide the basis for the target in question.The first step in the construction of a message, therefore, requires a decision about the relevant primary beliefs, a process that cannot be left to intuition but must be guided by a model of the target's determinants. Social psychologists have discussed a variety of approaches to understanding beliefs and attitudes and their relations to behavior, but perhaps the most popular models can be found within the framework of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and its recent extension, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988).The discussion below considers each target variable in turn; however, a full understanding of the process is gained only by considering the relations among the different variables. Changing behavior. According to the theory of reasoned action, many behaviors of interest to social psychologists are under volitional control and, hence, are in an immediate sense determined by the intention to perform the behavior in question. A successful persuasive communication designed to change a certain behavior must therefore contain arguments that will bring about a change in the antecedent intention. The theory of planned behavior oes beyond the question of intended action, taking into account the possibility that the behavior of interest may not be completely under volitional control. To be successful, the message may have to provide information that will enable the receiver to gain volitional control and overcome potential obstacles to perfor mance of the behavior. A review of evidence in support of these propositions can be found in Ajzen (1988). Changing intentions. The antecedents of behavioral intentions are, according to the theory of reasoned action, the person's attitude toward the behavior and his or her subjective norm.The attitude toward the behavior refers to the evaluation of the behavior as desirable or undesirable, and the subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior in question. The theory of planned behavior again adds to this model a consideration of volitional control. When issues of control arise, intentions are influenced not only by attitudes and subjective norms but also by perceived behavioral control (Ajzen and Madden, 1986; Schifter and Ajzen, 1985).A persuasive communication designed to influence intentions (and thus also behavior) can be directed at one or more of the intention's three determinants: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavio ral control. Changing attitudes. We arrive at the level of primary beliefs as we consider the determinants of a person's attitudes. According to the theory of reasoned action, attitudes are a function of salient beliefs about the attitude object (a person, group, institution, behavior or other event). Each salient belief links the object to an attribute or to an outcome in the case of a behavior.The attitude is determined by the strength of these beliefs and by the evaluations associated with the attributes (Fishbein, 1963; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Beliefs about the attitude object that are salient prior to presentation of the message can be elicited in a free-response format. The message is then constructed such that it will either change some of the existing beliefs, either in their strength or their evaluations, or introduce new beliefs into the belief system. Changing beliefs. To change a specific belief on an issue, the persuasive communication has to address some of the info rmation on which the belief is based.Several probabilistic models that link prior information to a given belief have been proposed and validated (McGuire, 1960b; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970; for a review see Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 1977). These models suggest that the information introduced by the persuasive communication must be information from which the belief in question can be probabilistically inferred. Conclusions The focus in recent years on the central route to persuasion holds great promise for a better understanding of persuasive communication.This route deals with the essence of the persuasion process, with changes in the fundamental beliefs on which the receivers' attitudes and actions are based. Although much remains to be done, social psychologists have gained considerable insight into some of the cognitive processes that are at work during and Persuasive Communication Theory Page 13 after exposure to a persuasive communication, and into the practical aspects of constructing an effective message. SUMMARY This chapter provided a brief historical perspective on persuasive communication theory in social psychology.No attempt was made to discuss all theoretical developments in detail as this task would require a book in itself. Instead, the focus was on a few dominant lines of theoretical development, from the beginnings of scientific research on persuasion in the 1940s to the present day. The work initiated by Hovland and his associates tended to view the receivers of a persuasive communication as passively learning the information presented and then changing their beliefs and attitudes accordingly. This view led to a concern with contextual factors, and virtual neglect of the contents of the communication and its processing by the receiver.Few generalizable conclusions emerged from the research guided by this approach, and by the late 1960s the failure of the Hovland approach was widely acknowledged. Progress was recorded when attention t urned from contextual or peripheral factors to persuasion via the central route. Contextual factors were found to be important only under conditions of low involvement or low ability to process the message. It was discovered, however, as a general rule, that receivers of a message are far from passive, engaging in an active process of analyzing and elaborating on the information presented.It became clear that the effects of a persuasive communication could not be understood unless careful attention was given to these cognitive processes. Theoretical and empirical developments of the past two decades have enabled us to consider receivers' cognitive responses during exposure to a message, yielding to the arguments contained in the message, and the message's impact on other beliefs not explicitly mentioned. These developments have also resulted in a much closer examination of the contents of persuasive communications, with an eye toward selecting arguments that will have the maximum ef fect on the target of the influence attempt.In this way, the theoretical developments of recent years have important implications for the practitioner who is concerned with constructing effective persuasive communications. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 14 REFERENCES Ajzen, I. 1985. From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In: J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann, eds. Action-control: From cognition to behavior. Heidelberg: Springer: 11-39. Ajzen, I. 1988. Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Chicago: Dorsey Press. Ajzen, I. , & Fishbein, M. 1980. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Ajzen, I. & Madden, T. J. 1986. Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. 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