Cognitive Dissonance is a well documented effect but it has a lot of problems too.
everynametaken Send a noteboard - 14/05/2010 12:40:42 AM
The biggest problem is that it is very tough to get a person to engage in a behavior that he or she didn't originally intend without realizing he or she was "coerced" into doing it. As soon as the person realizes he or she was "pushed" into that behavioral direction the consistency effect disappears.
The other problem with cognitive dissonance is that it typically only works on weaker, peripheral beliefs. Even if you can get a person with a strong, central belief to participate in a behavior unwittingly that person will not adjust his or her attitude to match.
The truth is we all probably adjust small, minor attitudes on a daily basis via dissonance and consistency principles but never really notice because the attitudes we adjust for consistency's sake are so minor and unimportant.
No one in advertising or marketing really uses the principles of dissonance or (other) consistency theories for those reasons. There are far more powerful effects such as classical conditioning that serve the purposes of advertisers much better.
The other problem with cognitive dissonance is that it typically only works on weaker, peripheral beliefs. Even if you can get a person with a strong, central belief to participate in a behavior unwittingly that person will not adjust his or her attitude to match.
The truth is we all probably adjust small, minor attitudes on a daily basis via dissonance and consistency principles but never really notice because the attitudes we adjust for consistency's sake are so minor and unimportant.
No one in advertising or marketing really uses the principles of dissonance or (other) consistency theories for those reasons. There are far more powerful effects such as classical conditioning that serve the purposes of advertisers much better.
But wine was the great assassin of both tradition and propriety...
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
Cached Selves. (post stolen from another board)
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It may be time for a good Style vs Content Debate.
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I both realize and try to account for it; really just a generalized case of something well known.
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"you might not have looked carefully into the mechanisms behind these phenomena"
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Just for you.
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It will perhaps amuse you to know that I have indeed contacted such a business.
- 13/05/2010 06:31:38 PM
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Cognitive Dissonance is a well documented effect but it has a lot of problems too.
- 14/05/2010 12:40:42 AM
370 Views