The Six Stages of Persuasion

PR is all about influencing audiences. By providing a variety of information through a variety of channels, PR induces change in the beliefs, attitudes, or behavior of specific groups of people.

There is a lengthy pathway, however, between engaging in PR practices and persuading intended audiences to alter their behaviors in desired ways.

In order to fully understand how PR campaigns work, it‘s important to know and understand the six stages of persuasion.

1. Presentation: The intended audiences are presented with key messages through media placement (3 - 6 months into the campaign and ongoing).

2. Attention: With repeated exposure, intended audiences will see and recognize the messages (approximately 6 - 9 months into the campaign).

3. Comprehension: Intended audiences comprehend the value of the offering (9 months and onward).

4. Acceptance: Audiences believe the messages (9 - 12 months).

5. Retention: Audiences remember the messages and identify the messages with the company and its products or services. This is when the company becomes branded (12 months—to up to 2 years).

6. Action: Audiences change their behavior in the desired direction, i.e. they buy the product or service, approach the company for deals, attend the event, etc. (12 months to 2 years).

Success!



The Six Stages of Persuasion - To learn more about this author, visit Patti D. Hill's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
Guerrilla Persuasion
	Marketing is persuasion at its core. You must persuade individuals or groups to part with one of their most prized possessions: -- their money.
Why Transformation Efforts Fail
	Why change initiatives, whether they were intended to boost quality, efficiency, sales or profitability, or reverse business spiral usually only generate lukewarm results or fail.
Book Review: Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want
	Dave Lakhni's book describes the fine line between the art of persuasion and manipulation (Dave was raised in a cult - he's well-studied in manipulation and has applied his knowledge effectively in business.) While ...
The Six Stages of Persuasion
	Public relations is all about influencing intended audiences. The road from presentation of ideas to actually influencing behavior can be a long one.
Book Review: Waiting For Your Cat To Bark?
	The subtitle of this book (”Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing”) gives a hint about its purpose: how to appeal to your prospective customers. While the book can be enjoyed by any small business owner, t...

---

Related Forum Posts
	The 4 Ps or Paoni's "Markteting Remix"?
	Re: Beyond Booked Solid by Michael Port