Persuasion theory is a general mass communication theory that perceives messages aimed at changing the attitudes of the audience. The idea of persuasion begun between the 1940s and 1950s after research on the effectiveness of propaganda in business and politics. In most cases, campaigns and advertisement switch from manipulation into persuasion. In mass communication, messages are successful if they embed similar opinions with the audience. Persuasion links to several theories that argue about discussion, behavior and attitude. The method of reasoned action/ planned behavior estimates the discrepancy between behavior and attitude.
The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was formulated in 1980 by Fishbein and Ajzen. The formulation was as a result of attitude research from the Expectancy-Value Models . The two researchers held a simple case to evaluate the relationship between behavior and attitude ( Montano & Kasprzyk, 2015 ). The main idea rotated at estimating the discrepancy between behavior and attitude. In this case, the two main terms are attitude and behavior. At first, the behavior resembles voluntary behavior. However, behavior was discovered to be involuntary and uncontrollable ( Gass & Seiter, 2015) . The condition resulted in the inclusion of perceived behavior control. The revision led in a new terminology that described the theory as the theory of planned behavior. Precisely, the method of planned behavior predicts deliberate and proposed actions.
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The theory suggests that a person’s behavior is determined by his/her intention to execute the behavior. The plan is, in turn, the primary function that configures their attitude towards the behavior ( Paul, Modi & Patel, 2016 ). The personal aim of acting is the primary determiner of the approach. For instance, a student behavior towards different environments (school and home) is created by the student. In most cases, the behaviors of a single person are said to change from one situation to the other. Therefore, the intention is the most accurate predictor of behavior. Description of a person’s attitude is understood from a combination of different concepts. The development of a view can, therefore, be determined as an inbuilt process.
The process is described by intention to behave. The cognitive representation of an individual willingness to execute a behavior is referred to as intention. In typical cases, the desire to perform the behavior is mainly the immediate antecedent of behavior ( Ajzen, 2015 ). When the behavior is completed, the other party can describe the attitude of a person basing from the behavior exploited. On the other hand, the behavior is the function of the first attitude towards the subjective norm.
The intention is determined by several factors that rotate around the subject victim. These include the attitude toward a given behavior, control of perceived behavior and subjective norms. The theory specifies that only a few defined attitudes toward the subject behavior can predict the behavior accurately. Measuring the behavior requires keeping at least one factor as a constant to the specific reaction. When weighing people’s views toward a response, we always consider their subjective norms. In consideration are their beliefs about their friends’ judgment on their behavior in question. Mainly, people want to maintain a good reputation for their special people. In this case, knowing a person’s belief is as important as learning his/her attitude towards a specific behavior.
Lastly, the intention is influenced by perceived behaviors. Perceived behavior control can be expounded as a specific perception of an ability to alter the nature of an action. A general rule evaluates the strength of a person’s intention to perform a behavior basing on the subjective form and the attitude ( Tuck & Riley, 2015 ).
The relationship between actual behavior and the intention is intimately affected by three conditions.
1. The purpose of the person must remain stable and constant from the time measuring until the completion of performance.
2. The individual engaged in the research is in full control to decide on whether to execute the behavior to ensure the behavior is 100% voluntary.
3. The behavioral intention must be specified to predict a specific behavior.
Core Assumptions of TPB
The new improved version of TRA enters a new element in the picture of the previous form. When the theory is employed, the results, in turn, influence the decisions, choices and natural behaviors of a person. The method also upholds some primary assumptions considered in the Theory of Reasoned Action. Talking of a new improved version, we identify modifications on the new approach. From the suppositions in the Theory of Reasonable Action, the intention of the candidate reflects his perception of favorability or specific personal attitude towards an act. The condition is also influenced by the cognitive and perceived beliefs related to his actions.
Similar to the TRA, the subjective norms individuals are privy to also exert some impact on their intentions. The nature of any individual explains this. At some extent, every individual understands the magnitude of wrong decisions (Chen, 2016). Mainly, people react in a particular behavior considering the impact on close friends. Resulting behaviors and intentions of a person are affected by the perceived behavioral control. In this case, the perceived behavioral control can be internally or externally. The internal control is the way the individuals understand the nature of their power. In this case, it focuses on how individuals rank themselves based on skills, knowledge and abilities. On the other hand, the external factors have ways of shaping the behaviors of the individuals. These include approval or acceptance of peers, friends and family.
Recently, waking up in time had always been my greatest weakness. At some point, I attended my lectures late since I took more time before I got prepared. Since then, I bought an alarm clock and programmed it to ring every morning at 5 o’clock. The schedule worked well all through, but I could not tell whether the alarm was functioning daily. At some point, I used to hear the alarm ring, but I couldn’t respond accordingly. My intention was waking up immediately; the alarm called for my attention. However, I occasionally snoozed after the alarm went off.
My daily practice to beat my all-time challenge ended up unfruitful even after so many sacrifices and modification of the system. The primary reason for the failure was the nature of my intention. The intention of implanting an alarm clock in my room was not sound proof that I will overcome. The implementation of plans is not always 100% since some behaviors are not completely voluntary
Conclusion
The Theory of Reasoned Action is merely useful without some more modification. The dual theories are similar besides a few adjustments made on TRA to come up with TPB. The latter questioned the existence of voluntary control and social norms. These modifications incorporated allows for reliability and accuracy in evaluating the attitude of an individual. Moreover, they help in predicting his planned, deliberate and resulting from actual behavior.
References
Ajzen, I. (2015). The theory of planned behaviour is alive and well, and not ready to retire: a commentary on Sniehotta, Presseau, and Araújo-Soares. Health psychology review , 9 (2), 131-137.
Chen, M. F. (2016). Extending the theory of planned behavior model to explain people's energy savings and carbon reduction behavioral intentions to mitigate climate change in Taiwan–moral obligation matters. Journal of Cleaner Production , 112 , 1746-1753.
Gass, R. H., & Seiter, J. S. (2015). Persuasion: Social Inflence and Compliance Gaining . Routledge.
Montano, D. E., & Kasprzyk, D. (2015). Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, and the integrated behavioral model. Health behavior: Theory, research and practice , 95-124.
Paul, J., Modi, A., & Patel, J. (2016). Predicting green product consumption using theory of planned behavior and reasoned action. Journal of retailing and consumer services , 29 , 123-134.
Tuck, M., & Riley, D. (2017). The theory of reasoned action: A decision theory of crime. In The reasoning criminal (pp. 156-169). Routledge.
