The Importance of Ethical behavior and its significance in persuasion.

The Importance of Ethical behavior and its significance in persuasion.

The importance of ethical behavior is to abide by a set of unwritten rules that is either aimed at a status quo performance, like majority of people who choose to reap the benefits of the doing what is expected of us. On the other hand ethical behavior can have a negative side in which certain people choose to scheme, trick, or deceive others for personal gain. The significance of both positive or ethical behavior and its significance in persuasion is the underlying message attained by the receiver at the end of interaction.

When you exert positive ethical behavior and apply this to persuasion, there is little room in the thought process of the receiver to not believe or at least consider what is being offered. One example of this is when I go to Whole Foods in Dallas, Texas; I am normally bombarded with different venders trying to catch my eye with invigorating mottos regarding the product they are trying get me to taste. I normally try around three samples and finish my shopping then leave. I can always rest assure that there is never a hassle trying to persuade me to go to Whole Foods to grocery shop because I know, by the time I leave the store, I won’t be hungry. Due to the reciprocity of the vendors and the entire Whole Foods atmosphere, they have persuaded a non believer of shopping to become a dedicated shopper with positive verbal greetings and their play on emotions with food. The best theory to describe how constructive traits operate would be through the “The Direct Effects Model of Immediacy”. The book states that the Direct Effects Model “suggests that warm, involving, immediate nonverbal behaviors significantly enhance the persuasive effects of a message” (Andersen, 1985, 1999; Segrin, 1993). This ultimately allows the receiver to open up and feel more comfortable in order for a better chance at persuasion.

Unethical behavior and persuasion are looked upon as immoral. In order to fully grasp the concept on unethical behavior and persuasion you have to understand how something is declared immoral. These are the rules that people know is right but instead they choose to satisfy their personal goal which is to deceive as many people with games such as reverse psychology, manipulation, or seduction. Deconstructive traits such as verbal aggressiveness and hostility play roles leading up to the gimmicks and seduction of negative ethical behavior. The book states “Research on argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness has examined how the persuasion process is influenced by these traits” (Seiter p. 126). One ethical theory that impact ethical practices is “Nonverbal immediacy behaviors are nonverbal acts that simultaneously signal warmth, decrease psychological or physical distance between communicators, are interpersonally stimulating, and signal availability for communication” (Andersen, 1985). Another ethical theory is the Likelihood Expectancy Model which states: (Seiter 2011, p. 176).

The first type of persuasion results from the careful and thoughtful consideration of the merits of the information presented in a message and is called the central route. The second type of persuasion results from cues in a persuasive context, such as an attractive source, without necessitating scrutiny of the actual merits of the information; this is called the peripheral route.

In conclusion, ethical behavior is assessed in either a positive or negative way. Depending on the overall tactics used in the process of persuasion, this will determine if the person used moral behavior or not. Deconstructive and constructive language plays a part in being able to distinguish the difference in terms of positive or negative persuasion. Ethical behavior and persuasion share a dual quality of they both are able to change minds. The significance of both positive or ethical behavior and its significance in persuasion is the underlying message attained by the receiver at the end of interaction and the tools used in order to change a person mind.

References

Andersen, P. A. (1999). Nonverbal communication: Forms and functions. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. Andersen, P. A. (1985). Nonverbal immediacy in interpersonal communication. In A. W. Seigman & S. Feldstein (Eds.), Multichannel Integrations of Nonverbal Behavior (pp. 1–29). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Seiter. (2011).  Perspectives on Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining. Pearson Learning Solutions).Segrin, C. (1993). The effects of nonverbal behavior on outcomes of compliance-gaining attempts. Communication Studies, 44, 169–187.